Quo Vadis, Domine?

 

Rev. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy:  “Quo Vadis Domine?  
“Quo Vadis Domine is the name of my favorite church in Rome. It lies just outside the gates of my favorite place in Rome, the Callistus Catacombs. It is a tiny, old church, easily missed by tourists looking for “the grandeur that was Rome.” It commemorates the time in the life of Christianity when St. Peter decides to remain in Rome, rather than go to another city in order to avoid persecution and death. While the historical environment of that time (54–68 AD) is well known, the precise historical details of Peter’s choice are not. The spiritual drama of Peter’s decision, however, has been illuminated and immortalized by the Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature, Henryk Sienkiewicz, in his 1905 masterpiece Quo Vadis.  At the climactic moment of the novel, Peter is leaving Rome with his friend, Nazarius, during the height of Nero’s persecution of Christians. He meets the risen Jesus on the outskirts of the city. Jesus, however, is walking into, not out of, Rome:

The traveling staff fell out of Peter’s hand. His eyes were fixed immovably ahead. His lips were open, and his face reflected unbelievable surprise, immense joy, and rapturous exaltation. Suddenly he threw himself on his knees, his arms lifted upward and stretched to the light, and his lips cried out: “Christ! O Christ!” His head beat against the dust as if he were kissing the feet of someone only he could see. Then there was silence.“Quo vadis, Domine?” his voice asked at last, punctured by his sobbing. “Where are you going, Lord?”  Nazarius heard no answer. But a voice of ineffable sweetness and abundant sorrow rang in Peter’s ears, “When you abandon my people,” he heard, “I must go to Rome to be crucified once more.”The apostle lay still and silent with his face pressed into the dust. Nazarius thought he had either died or fainted, but he rose at last, picked up his pilgrim’s staff, and turned again toward the seven hills.

“Quo vadis, domine?” the boy asked like an echo of the apostle’s cry.” 

I beg you, in a way that is worthy of thinking beings, think of God’s mercy, my brothers and sisters, and worship Him, offering your living bodies as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God. Do not model yourselves on the behavior of the world around you, but let your behavior change, modeled by your new mind. This is the only way to discover the will of God and know what God wants…           (Romans 8:1–3)

Quo Vadis Domine?          Rev. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy
        http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/mccarthy2.htmlby

When I visited the Quo Vadis Church and viewed these footrpints, they appeared to be about 18 inches long.  Big , big feet!

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