The Romans

The point of the Roman year is to begin to understand the greatness of Rome, its lasting influence over all of subsequent history, its debts to Greece, and its role in preparing the world for the coming of Christ, who is the "desire of the nations" (Hag 2:7) and in whom God fulfills his promise to Abraham to bless all the peoples of the world, by uniting in the one body of Christ those from "every tribe, language, people, and nation" (Rev 5:10).

The Roman year, then, begins in Greece and ends in Christ and his Church. In Christ, the genius of Athens, Rome, and Jeruselum converge, so that the barbarian tribes of Europe are eventually united in one communion despite the sometimes violent differences between them, and the Gospel is eventually proclaimed to the end of the earth. This convergence is symbolized by the fact that the inscription over the Cross was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. It is also evident in the art and literature of Christian Europe (e.g., Dante), which takes up the thought, heroes, and myths of Greece and Rome - and the ideals that they longed for - and puts them in the service of the Gospel. The Roman year should therefore focus both on key events in Roman and Christian history. It should begin by reflecting on Roman ideals (law, nobility) and Rome's self-understanding of its 'divine' and universal mission. And it should culminate in the history of the Church, its saints and heroes, its early struggle to emerge from obscurity, and its unlikely conquest of the empire. The very center of this history, of course, is the Incarnation, the coming of God in the flesh, which transfigures the world from within.