Thanks for stopping by this morning, and I hope you have the chance to one day come to Rome!
You're all in my prayers.
Your friend,
Jay
Monday, March 11, 2013
Roman Itinerary | Musings from Rome
Hello blogolites! Want to come to Rome? Monsignor John Abruzzese has some tips for you!
Thanks for stopping by this morning, and I hope you have the chance to one day come to Rome!
You're all in my prayers.
Your friend,
Jay
Thanks for stopping by this morning, and I hope you have the chance to one day come to Rome!
You're all in my prayers.
Your friend,
Jay
Prayer Requests | Musings from Rome
This is just a quick post to thank all of you who have left comments or
have contacted me. I am enjoying the
conversations.
It can feel quite isolating when you are away from home even in the beautiful city of Rome. I would like to tell all of you who have asked for prayers while I am in Rome that I will certainly do that when I am in St. Peter's at Blessed Pope John Paul II's tomb.
In a special way I will remember a young man Mike who is engaged and PJ and of course Kevin's father-in-law. I will also remember all those who have written in and asked that their named or someone they know be put in the prayer box.
I know that Father Reed remembers those people everyday and I will do the same while I am in Rome. If you would like a person remembered while I am here please leave their name in the comments. I ask that you also remember my family, the CatholicTV Staff and me in your prayers.
It can feel quite isolating when you are away from home even in the beautiful city of Rome. I would like to tell all of you who have asked for prayers while I am in Rome that I will certainly do that when I am in St. Peter's at Blessed Pope John Paul II's tomb.
In a special way I will remember a young man Mike who is engaged and PJ and of course Kevin's father-in-law. I will also remember all those who have written in and asked that their named or someone they know be put in the prayer box.
I know that Father Reed remembers those people everyday and I will do the same while I am in Rome. If you would like a person remembered while I am here please leave their name in the comments. I ask that you also remember my family, the CatholicTV Staff and me in your prayers.
Your friend,
Jay
Prepping for Conclave | Musings from Rome
Hello to all you blogolites.
We had a surprise guest today here in
Rome: the sun! It has been very cloudy and raining a great
deal the past week so this was a welcome change. I hope it lasts.
Tim and I went to St. Peter's Square this
morning to shoot some interviews and some promos. On the way we bumped into Terry Donilon, the
Secretary for Communications for the Archdiocese of Boston. We have only seen Terry a couple of times
because of his busy schedule and our schedule put us in different locations in
the city.
Back to the square.
They are setting up for the election of a pope. The Vatican has a lift truck that they used
to install the curtains in the middles balcony where the new Holy Father will
walk out from.
As I was watching the installation of the curtain I made my way over to the the beautiful statue of St. Peter holding the keys to the Church and was struck by the view of the balcony behind the statue. It is striking to see the picture of St. Peter and behind him look at the balcony where the successor of Christ will walk out from:
The staff at the Vatican is huge in number. They are buzzing around the square
preparing. They are only outnumbered by
the security. Here is a picture of the
staff removing some of the barricades so they can put in chairs:
The number of press here is growing by the minute. Some try to sneak into the square but they
are quickly confronted and ushered out.
The press mostly line the gate that surrounds the square. They actually are in the street and cars need
to dodge them. As I wrote in a previous
post these are the best drivers in the world.
No horns, just quick turns and cuts in traffic.
It is an amazing day in Rome as the world prepares for
the Conclave. Stay with the CatholicTV
Network and in particular Father Reed, Msgr. Maroney, Kevin Nelson, and me for
exclusive coverage. You can watch on
CatholicTV.com, your iPhone/iPad or Android, Roku or GoogleTV.
Stay well,
Jay
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Rainy Day | Musings from Rome
Hello to all my blogolites!
Today I woke up to blue skies and warm temperatures in Rome.
Throughout the city, the Cardinals celebrated Masses at their titular churches. Scot Landry covered Cardinal Sean O'Malley's Mass very well on his blog. There are also some beautiful pictures from the very talented George Martel.
Now back to those blue skies; they didn't last. It is now pouring out and the Tiber river is expanding and flowing rapidly.
A couple of quick observations about Rome. After watching the scooters and small cars whip around each other and weave in and out, dodging people and other vehicles I was convinced that these were the worst drivers in the world. After watching them more closely I am now sure that they are in fact the best drivers in the world. They never hit each other or pedestrians. It is like a live demonstration of the game frogger were the frog tries to get across the road. These drivers are truly remarkable! They move at rapid speed, all over the place, with scooters darting in front of them and nothing happens. They do not beep their horns or slam on the breaks. Truly remarkable.
It's thundering and I have a small tv in my room to help ride out the storm. It has over 900 channels to choose from, which is the good news. Every one of those 900 channels are in Italian. The bad news: I do not speak Italian.
Stay well and please pray for all the Cardinals voting in the Conclave.
Your Friend,
Jay
Today I woke up to blue skies and warm temperatures in Rome.
Throughout the city, the Cardinals celebrated Masses at their titular churches. Scot Landry covered Cardinal Sean O'Malley's Mass very well on his blog. There are also some beautiful pictures from the very talented George Martel.
A couple of quick observations about Rome. After watching the scooters and small cars whip around each other and weave in and out, dodging people and other vehicles I was convinced that these were the worst drivers in the world. After watching them more closely I am now sure that they are in fact the best drivers in the world. They never hit each other or pedestrians. It is like a live demonstration of the game frogger were the frog tries to get across the road. These drivers are truly remarkable! They move at rapid speed, all over the place, with scooters darting in front of them and nothing happens. They do not beep their horns or slam on the breaks. Truly remarkable.
It's thundering and I have a small tv in my room to help ride out the storm. It has over 900 channels to choose from, which is the good news. Every one of those 900 channels are in Italian. The bad news: I do not speak Italian.
Stay well and please pray for all the Cardinals voting in the Conclave.
Your Friend,
Jay
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Press Coverage | Musings from Rome
Hello my fellow blogolites! This afternoon I would like to discuss the media presence in Rome.
One word to describe it is massive. I have been to Rome many times to cover events because we are a television network and our role is to bring programming into homes that inspire people to live out their faith more fully. I was fortunate to be in Rome from the death of Blessed Pope John Paul the II through the election of Pope Benedict the XVI. I do not think that anything will top those few weeks in regards to media, but this is close.
While most stations have huge crews and gigantic budgets, CatholicTV has just Tim and I to cover this life changing moment. There is a line of satellite trucks costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to send their stories around the world. We use Skype and the Internet to send ours for free.
 |
| Tim Stonesifer |
It is with this charge that Tim and I continue to search out the stories that will affect people's lives in a positive way. Our role is simple; bring people closer to Christ through the use of television and media. I pray we are doing that and I thank all of you for your kind comments and affirmation and support.
Let us join together and witness history together.
Your friend,
Jay
Picture blog | Musings from Rome
Hello to my fellow blogolites!
Before I tell you about the special blog I will bring to you this morning, apologies are in order. I have been writing this blog for a week and have not recognized the fine work of Helen Lee. For this I am sorry. I send my musings back to the States and somehow Helen makes them coherent and uploads them onto the page. She is the engine that makes this vehicle run.
Today we are going to take a photo tour of my walk up tithe dome of St. Peter, or as it is called in Italian, the cupola. In all my travels to Rome I have never gone to the cupola so this will be an adventure for all of us.
I actually got a bit confused and it took me a few minutes to figure out how to get outside. My confusion may of been from exhaustion because of my "brave" decision to take the stairs.
Let's discuss the stairs. Here are a picture of my feet on the stairs.
As you can see they are very small and this next picture looking up shows how steep they are to climb and how the walls lean way to the right.
As I climbed my shoulder and head hit the wall to the left. In full disclosure, I found this interesting and fun.
I finally made it out onto the outside of the cupola and WOW! It is breathtaking. Literally it takes your breath away. Before me was the city of Rome in all its beauty. Here you will see pictures of the square.
The Vatican Gardens
The Sistine Chapel
Vatican offices
I could have stayed in the cupola all day but alas I had work to do in other parts of the city.
From there I made my way down into St Peter's and then out to the square where I typed this blog.
Well I hope you enjoyed this picture blog, and thanks to Helen, Tim and Fr Reed for all their help in making th
is possible. Stay well.
Your Friend,
Jay
Before I tell you about the special blog I will bring to you this morning, apologies are in order. I have been writing this blog for a week and have not recognized the fine work of Helen Lee. For this I am sorry. I send my musings back to the States and somehow Helen makes them coherent and uploads them onto the page. She is the engine that makes this vehicle run.
Today we are going to take a photo tour of my walk up tithe dome of St. Peter, or as it is called in Italian, the cupola. In all my travels to Rome I have never gone to the cupola so this will be an adventure for all of us.
Tim and I arrived early to climb the stairs, we thought there would be a long line but it was just us and a couple of young ladies. We had our choice of taking the stairs or the elevator. Being brave we chose the stairs. I found out that brave and foolish are sometimes closely related. What a climb. Our first stop was inside the cupola looking down into St. Peter's. Here you can see the view.
Let's discuss the stairs. Here are a picture of my feet on the stairs.
As you can see they are very small and this next picture looking up shows how steep they are to climb and how the walls lean way to the right.
As I climbed my shoulder and head hit the wall to the left. In full disclosure, I found this interesting and fun.
I finally made it out onto the outside of the cupola and WOW! It is breathtaking. Literally it takes your breath away. Before me was the city of Rome in all its beauty. Here you will see pictures of the square.
The Vatican Gardens
The Sistine Chapel
Vatican offices
I could have stayed in the cupola all day but alas I had work to do in other parts of the city.
As I made my way down, the first exit led me to an area right behind the statues of Jesus and the apostles that reside on top of St Peter's basilica. Here's a picture from a position you rarely see.
From there I made my way down into St Peter's and then out to the square where I typed this blog.
Well I hope you enjoyed this picture blog, and thanks to Helen, Tim and Fr Reed for all their help in making th
is possible. Stay well.
Your Friend,
Jay
Friday, March 8, 2013
We have a conclave! | Musings from Rome
Hello to all you blogolites!
A date has been set for the Conclave. It will start this Tuesday afternoon. In the morning the Cardinals will celebrate a Mass at St. Peter's Basilica.
It has been with much prayer and anticipation that the faithful have awaited this decision. The Cardinals from around the globe have been meeting with each other to discuss issues and concerns that need to be examined in the Church. It seems as though there has been much discernment and reflection before they decided on a date. A time and date was not the issue, but coming to a consensus of what needed to be addressed and taking the time to understand first what the questions that should be asked must be, and then the answers to those questions had to be developed and scrutinized.
The Vatican is a tiny country surrounded by Italy. But this small country has the attention of the world.
That focus will be intensified starting on Tuesday and grow with each moment that a pope is not named. There is an excitement and a sense of wonder as we await the decision of the Cardinals on who will be the next leader of the Catholic Church.
Let us continue to pray that the Holy Spirit guides these men in their deliberations.
Your Friend,
Jay
A date has been set for the Conclave. It will start this Tuesday afternoon. In the morning the Cardinals will celebrate a Mass at St. Peter's Basilica.
It has been with much prayer and anticipation that the faithful have awaited this decision. The Cardinals from around the globe have been meeting with each other to discuss issues and concerns that need to be examined in the Church. It seems as though there has been much discernment and reflection before they decided on a date. A time and date was not the issue, but coming to a consensus of what needed to be addressed and taking the time to understand first what the questions that should be asked must be, and then the answers to those questions had to be developed and scrutinized.
The Vatican is a tiny country surrounded by Italy. But this small country has the attention of the world.
That focus will be intensified starting on Tuesday and grow with each moment that a pope is not named. There is an excitement and a sense of wonder as we await the decision of the Cardinals on who will be the next leader of the Catholic Church.
Let us continue to pray that the Holy Spirit guides these men in their deliberations.
Your Friend,
Jay
You are not alone | Musings from Rome
Hello blogolites!
I hope all is well with you wherever you are reading this blog. For the third day in a row it was a rainy morning in the beautiful city of Rome. In a sense that was very appropriate because today we interviewed the pilgrims from Boston who were following the steps of Blessed John Paul II.
It was in 1979 that he visited Boston, Massachusetts and celebrated a Mass in an absolute downpour. During the the Mass, to great applause, he said, "America the beautiful, even in the rain."
So it was in this gloomy rainy backdrop today that the pilgrims would complete their journey from his birth and baptism in Poland, to his resting place inside St. Peter's Basilica. Father Chris O'Connor, who is leading this pilgrimage, celebrated Mass at the tomb of blessed JPII with the pilgrims as his congregation and with Father Jonathan Gaspar and Father Eric Bennett con-celebrating.
During his homily Father Chris said something that resonated with me. He used a line that Blessed John Paul II often quoted, "be not afraid."
During this time of Papal transition we are like a flock of sheep without our Shepard. We are almost adrift as we eagerly await the election of a new Holy Father. But we should not be afraid because God walks beside us to guide and comfort us in good times and bad. He only waits for us to invite Him into our hearts and minds. He is the anchor that keeps our boat buffeted from the waves of doubt and rocks of despair. How fortunate and loved we are as He calls all of us by name.
The world is waiting for our new Shepard but God is ever present and permeates the air we breathe and move in. As St. John said, " God is Love."
Thank you for reading my blog and know you are never alone!
Your Friend,
Jay
I hope all is well with you wherever you are reading this blog. For the third day in a row it was a rainy morning in the beautiful city of Rome. In a sense that was very appropriate because today we interviewed the pilgrims from Boston who were following the steps of Blessed John Paul II.
It was in 1979 that he visited Boston, Massachusetts and celebrated a Mass in an absolute downpour. During the the Mass, to great applause, he said, "America the beautiful, even in the rain."
So it was in this gloomy rainy backdrop today that the pilgrims would complete their journey from his birth and baptism in Poland, to his resting place inside St. Peter's Basilica. Father Chris O'Connor, who is leading this pilgrimage, celebrated Mass at the tomb of blessed JPII with the pilgrims as his congregation and with Father Jonathan Gaspar and Father Eric Bennett con-celebrating. During his homily Father Chris said something that resonated with me. He used a line that Blessed John Paul II often quoted, "be not afraid."
During this time of Papal transition we are like a flock of sheep without our Shepard. We are almost adrift as we eagerly await the election of a new Holy Father. But we should not be afraid because God walks beside us to guide and comfort us in good times and bad. He only waits for us to invite Him into our hearts and minds. He is the anchor that keeps our boat buffeted from the waves of doubt and rocks of despair. How fortunate and loved we are as He calls all of us by name.
The world is waiting for our new Shepard but God is ever present and permeates the air we breathe and move in. As St. John said, " God is Love."
Thank you for reading my blog and know you are never alone!
Your Friend,
Jay
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Feeling sorry for myself | Musings from Rome
Hello to all my blogolite (my new term) friends!
We just heard that a date was not set for Conclave in the morning session as they await the arrival of one final Cardinal. Today they discussed finance, which is required during the transition of a papacy.
I have to admit, when I heard the news that a date was not set I was disappointed. OK, I was more than disappointed. I was passing angry and going right to ticked on the emotion scale.
Don't get me wrong, I love Rome. In fact, it's my favorite city and I have a number of friends here. It's that I miss my family and I'm going to miss my children's play, sports playoffs, and most importantly their smiles. Don't the Cardinals know I have things to do?!
But I thought about it and realized something important. They do care that I have things to do, and they care that you have things to do, and they want to make sure they make the right decision so that this faith that is so important to all of us is protected.
They cannot rush to judgment. They need to take their time, pray, and make a decision that will be of benefit to the Church and the world.
What an awesome responsibility it is to be charged with being the Vicar of Christ. The Holy Spirit is part of these deliberation as are all of us through our thoughts and prayers. We need to trust in the process. We need to pray for these decision makers. We, and I especially mean me, need to realize that we are not picking out our furniture or a car; we are choosing the Apostolic Successor to Peter.
In a world that demands quick answers and instant updates, I say let's all slow down and become part of this historic moment, opening our hearts and minds to the reality that God does not have a stop watch.
Thank you my fellow blogolites and know I am thinking of you while in Rome.
Your friend,
Jay
We just heard that a date was not set for Conclave in the morning session as they await the arrival of one final Cardinal. Today they discussed finance, which is required during the transition of a papacy.
I have to admit, when I heard the news that a date was not set I was disappointed. OK, I was more than disappointed. I was passing angry and going right to ticked on the emotion scale.
Don't get me wrong, I love Rome. In fact, it's my favorite city and I have a number of friends here. It's that I miss my family and I'm going to miss my children's play, sports playoffs, and most importantly their smiles. Don't the Cardinals know I have things to do?!
But I thought about it and realized something important. They do care that I have things to do, and they care that you have things to do, and they want to make sure they make the right decision so that this faith that is so important to all of us is protected.
They cannot rush to judgment. They need to take their time, pray, and make a decision that will be of benefit to the Church and the world.
What an awesome responsibility it is to be charged with being the Vicar of Christ. The Holy Spirit is part of these deliberation as are all of us through our thoughts and prayers. We need to trust in the process. We need to pray for these decision makers. We, and I especially mean me, need to realize that we are not picking out our furniture or a car; we are choosing the Apostolic Successor to Peter.
In a world that demands quick answers and instant updates, I say let's all slow down and become part of this historic moment, opening our hearts and minds to the reality that God does not have a stop watch.
Thank you my fellow blogolites and know I am thinking of you while in Rome.
Your friend,
Jay
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