By a stroke of amazing grace, I have actually completed more than two full years of the STB program in theology at the Angelicum. I just finished my courses on the Old Testament Prophets and Christian Worship (which was a class mainly on liturgy). It has taken me 4 years to take these two years of classes.
I remember several years ago, Ron showing me the full roster of classes I would need to take to get the degree. I cried and said it would be impossible. In fact, it still seems impossible to me! Nine courses per semester for three years, plus two years of philosophy (which I already had), plus comps and a thesis. How would that be imaginable for a mother of 6 who also teaches philosophy at times and who contributes to a nonprofit ministry for mothers? Not to mention the life challenges of living abroad plus all the other hurdles and opportunities life presents.
Yet here I am, one year away from finishing. It will not happen next year, as I have agreed teach philosophy next year. But then the following year, God willing, the STB awaits.
I pray in immense gratitude to God and to my husband and children for all they have done to make this incredible opportunity possible. A pontifical degree in theology! Astonishing.
I am soooo grateful for this gift from Ron! It's the Hebrew Bible translated into English. Why is that so important to me, a Christian?
In my studies at the Angelicum, I have become keenly aware that the translators of all standard editions of the Bible sanitize the original Hebrew. If the Hebrew includes foul language, the Vulgate, the Septuagint, and the modern language translations all do things to clean it up. But then you lose so much of the original, and you miss nuances and even whole major points of God's revelation to humanity.
It is the first translation to be written all by one person (rather than a committee) since the Renaissance! Apparently this translation made a big splash when it came out in 2018.
While I hope to learn Hebrew soon, this three-volume set will tide me over.
Then I'll ask for Ron to get me the Old Testament in Hebrew. . . that'll be another, very exciting day!
It's really not a good idea to drive to the Trevi Fountain.
Most people in Rome know that, and even we know that, most of the time.
On this particular Sunday, Ron and I were going to visit a new friend at the Greg. Somehow Ron thought that, since the ZTL was not activated on Sunday, we could drive there.
But you have to pass the Trevi Fountain to get there! Not sure how we missed that. . . but suffice it to say that Ron saw the 7,000 tourists, and made the excellent judgement to turn around. How he did a 180 in a one-lane cobblestone street, I do not know. I think physics were against him. Somehow he always manages.
Birthday dinner--You guessed it, homemade tacos!
From start to finish all day, Annie was delightful, grateful, thoughtful, and thanked us a hundred times for making her birthday so special. I've really never met anyone quite like Annie. She has the most robust sense of delight, the fiercest commitment to happiness, while being humble and keenly aware of those around her. I love that girl and hope she never changes! Don't lose that magical personality, Anne Therese!
Holy Thursday might be my favorite day of the year. The Mass is so palpably life-changing, soul-repairing, and world-mending. The Institution of the Eucharist is impossible to recognize sufficiently.
The Magnificat readings for today are so moving, so right.
Becoming Catholic, for me, was mostly about the Eucharist. The Gospel of John chapter 6 is so clear: Christ intended a literal, not figurative or metaphorical interpretation of his words about eating his flesh.
I am humbled and in awe that God has given me the greatest treasure of my life: the Eucharist.
One of the best aspects of studying theology at the Angelicum is getting to know my classmates. They are seminarians, nuns, monks, religious and laity from all over the world. Sr. Marie Linn, Sr. Lucy, and Sr. Therese are from a congregation in Vietnam. These women are the chosen few who get to go to Rome to study. They will return and teach a generation of sisters, teachers and formation instructors back home.
Another group I love are the Brothers of Divine Charity. They serve the poorest of the poor around the world. Josamir was my first friend from this group. We sat next to each other in our course on Grace among others and got through a year of studies together. Now I am friends with his confreres Etienne and Gilbert (both from French-speaking Africa), Francisco and now Jorge. They have invited my family to a play they are putting on in a couple of weeks. The cast includes monks as well as the homeless people they serve. I love it!
Simon is one of the most joyful people I've ever met. Regan is humble and kind. All in all, I am a much better person for having met these saints-in-the-making, They are all people who have dedicated their lives to God in the most radical way they knew how. I am blessed by their witness, the intensity of their faith, their courage and perseverance. I aspire to be as holy as they some day.
Annie is the reason we went to Vienna. She wants to look into the University of Vienna for her college years, and living in Vienna some day is a main motivator for her to learn German right now in middle school. It positively amazes me that her seventh grade is in German and Italian, and that she is doing so well. She often does better than the majority of her classmates on tests and assignments, even the ones in German! She has been studying it for 8 months, while many of them have been studying in German at this school since Kindergarten. Way to go, Annie!
As she and I explored the city center on the first day of our trip, she "Ooooo!"-ed and "Aaaaaaaah!"-ed the whole way through. Finally she announced, "It's settled. I am going to live here someday."
It was an incredible unlikelihood that cannot be coincidence that when we traveled to Vienna we rented a flat that was across the street from the Hundertwasser Museum and Village, given that Sebastian had just studied Hundertwasser in school. Sebastian introduced me to this modern Viennese artist and showed me Sebastian's favorite paintings, which were all hanging in this gem of a museum.
Our mini-spring break trip to Vienna was paradisiacal. We ate apfelstrudel, went to the opera, breathed the Austrian air and walked on pristine streets. I planted myself at the Cathedral of St. Stephen and studied the architecture and sculpture with the help of a book for many hours. I am not sure which knocks me off my feet more, the interior (with its lacy Gothic pointed arches) or the exterior (Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque elements can all be detected).
After hours alone at the cathedral (while Ron took the kids to the zoo), Ron met me for a date in the old town. It was a magical day and my Viennese blood was re-oxygenated. Friendly reminder: I am not Italian! It is astonishing how disconnected these two lines are, the Austrian-Germanic and the Italian. There is virtually no point of intersection. While the EU connects Austria and Italy and that gives the impression that they are kin to one another, they are not. It is helpful for me to remember that appearances can be deceptive, so that I do not feel so crazy when in Rome. I am not Italian, and that's okay! God bless Italy. And God bless Austria.
Ron blesses me more than I can say! We had a wonderful day in Rome celebrating his birthday.
