Merry Christmas from Rome!

"Oh there's no place like Rome for the holidays..."! There's no place like home either, and I do miss home right about now - but at the same time, I thank God for His great blessings on us this semester, that we have been able to be in Rome to experience His presence, His Incarnation, in so many special ways.

For Christmas Eve and Christmas Day it has been both spiritually intense and really low-key. It is true that we stood in line for almost 4 hours to get into Midnight Mass (Pope's homily here), and then didn't get home until 2:30 in the morning - and that wasn't really "relaxing", but at the same time, today on the Lord's Day we quite simply took Him at His Word - and spent the day enjoying the Sabbath for the most part. We slept in a bit, got up to get to the Holy Father's Urbi et Orbi blessing at St. Peter's (text here, or see the Holy Father's "Merry Christmas!" in tons of languages here!), and then (those of us without family here) came back to the house to prepare a kind of Christmas dinner (I made my meatballs. If you know me, you know how much I love my sweet 'n sour BBQ meatballs!! :)

I pray that all of you have had a joyful and Spirit-filled Christmas as well, graced with the peace that only Christ can bring. You are all in my prayers today as we celebrate the coming of the Savior, born of the Virgin - may He come again soon in all His glory!