As a seminarian, I am constantly forming myself to be ready to save souls, to be ready to confront the problems of the world, to be ready to be a priest. A lot of that right now is dedicated to studies. With all the pontifical universities in Rome, those of us here probably have the best philosophical and theological formation available.
A little while back, I visited the Scala Santa with my mother. (Scala Santa means Holy Stairs and across from St John Latern then have the steps that Christ would have ascended to Pilate’s palace on Good Friday.) There is a little sign beside them saying you can only go up them on your knees in about 8 different languages, but given the 20 people already on them, we didn’t need the sign to get the point.
The 28 steps are ideal for doing the 14 Stations of the Cross. As we ascended I passed or was passed by a few ladies crying, a middle aged man whose hands were still dirty from his work, an older lady who had to grab the hand rail with both hands to ascend each step, and a group of, I assume, Philippine pilgrims.
Rome may have the best ecclesiastical universities in the world but this is where we can see sanctity. So often, I bet these simple people are better off than the smartest theologians.
