It's Her Birthday!

Yesterday I presided at our 7:15 Mass here at the house as we celebrated Mary's birthday. The Gospel was Matthew's genealogy, and it reminds us how much joy God brings to us through seemingly small things, like the birth of a new life.

In the evening my classmates took me out to dinner to celebrate the vigil of my 30th birthday. We enjoyed an excellent meal outdoors, and then walked down through the forum to the Colosseum, as all of the streets of Rome were closed off for Notte Bianca, an end-of-summer celebration with tons of music, shows, and events. We saw the mayor out in the streets--everybody was out walking, and would be most of the night. One of my classmates realized that actually the whole shebang was for Mary's and my birthdays . . .