Wrapping Up

In a couple of days we will say goodbye to Europe and head home. After five weeks of living out of one small suitcase apiece, Susan and I are ready for familiar surroundings. We look forward to seeing our family and will be anxious to see everyone in our church family in another five weeks.
We spent Monday evening and Tuesday with a friend from Bowling Green. Father Jerry Ridney, priest at Holy Spirit was in Rome for a 35th reunion of his seminary class. He went to school in Rome. He brought a friend from his graduating class who serves a church in Minnesota and we had a great time touring several plazas and then had dinner together at the restaurant of The Twelve Apostles (I’m not kidding). We talked about communion in the Catholic tradition well into the evening. I learned there are Catholic theologians who are looking at communion within the life of the church in different ways. I was glad to get a couple of names and titles of books to read. Jerry’s friend quoted Thomas Merton who said “if you do not love, you cannot experience communion.” The meal we shared sitting along the street at the Twelve Apostles seemed a lot like communion.
On Tuesday we took a bus to Tivoli to a villa built by a 16th cardinal. Jerry Ridney and Gregory went with us. It had a beautiful courtyard filled with fountains that were fed by water that came in from the mountains through Roman aqueducts. It is easy to see why Martin Luther was put out with the wealth and extravagance of the cardinals in Rome. I did try to remind myself that in those days many of the cardinals were from royal families and had little religious training. Setting aside the inconsistencies of such extravagance and I just enjoyed the beauty.
Today, Wednesday, I completed my search for art work depicting communion. I found a beautiful Last Supper scene in the Sistine Chapel done by Michelangelo. There was also a tapestry in the Vatican Museum dating to the Renaissance that had only 11 Disciples. Judas got left out.
My last visit to a religious site in Rome turned out to be the most rewarding. What I saw there, as well as what I’ve experience in my travels will make me look differently at the way faith is experienced and practiced. I can’t get into all that now, but I’ll share just a little of what I saw. I visited the Catacombs of Priscilla which is off the beaten path for tourists. Located along the ancient road Salaria, it is believed a woman from a Senatorial family gave the old mined out area to early Christians as a burial ground. It dates to the mid to late 2nd century. In some of the rooms some pictures remain on the walls above tombs. There are pictures of fish, an early sign for Christians. There are peacocks, early signs for resurrection. There are several OT scenes. The oldest know picture of Mary and baby Jesus is in the upper corner of one of these burial chambers. And there was what is called the “breaking of bread.” It is a drawing of five men and a woman sitting Roman style at a table being served bread by the host who is a man with a beard. There are seven baskets of loaves and fishes and there is a wine cup on the table. This picture drawn before the church had the support of the emperor seems to depict communion where men and a woman gather about Jesus’ table where there is great abundance. There is no cross or crucifix in the catacombs, nor are there images of judgment and torment. What does all that say? Volumes about what the church may have believed about life and death before the church managed to gain power by way of a Roman Emperor named Constantine.
I have lots to think about and digest over the next few weeks, but tomorrow is a free day to just walk around some of the plazas, eat as much gelato as I can, enjoy another good meal with Sue and gladly come home on Friday.