Foot-washer

St. Agnes Catholic Church Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul Apostles  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062925-Mass.cfm  The city of Rome is founded on a myth of twin infants, Romulus and Remus, who were raised and nursed by a she-wolf.  The two brothers grew, became shepherds in central Italy, and leaders of a growing community.  All was well until a dispute between the brothers arose over which of the seven Roman hills they should build their new city upon.   In anger, Romulus slew his brother Remus, and became king of the city and empire, Rome, which would be named for him.  In this way, Roman civilization was raised by wolves and founded in blood.  It was a legacy that would metastasize as the city became a republic, and the republic became an empire spanning three continents.   Seven centuries after Rome’s legendary founding, another two men entered the Eternal City.  Like Romulus and Remus these two came to found a new c...

St. Agnes Catholic Church 4th Sunday in Easter Cycle A Apr 29 & 30, 2023 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/043023.cfm Ten years ago, Kate and I travelled to Rome and the Vatican for our honeymoon.  We spent a couple days exploring St. Peter’s Basilica, which as I am sure you know is the biggest church in the world, located in Vatican City where the pope lives and the global Catholic Church is centered.   We signed up for a special tour that took us deep into the necropolis underneath St. Peter’s Basilica. The great church was built onto what used to be a cemetery on Vatican Hill on the spot where St. Peter was martyred. It takes about an hour to explore this subterranean cemetery.  The ground slowly rises until you come to an ancient tomb, which is marked by a very simple monument that is scrawled with Greek graffiti saying, “this is Peter.” In the center, is a simple, transparent box containing the very bones of Peter.   As we ascended back t...