Sermon preached on Lent III at St. John's Hills Road in Cambridge.
This is the extended version of the sermon I preached at St. John's church in Cambridge this morning, with the longer intro that was cut off for the sake of brevity but which I wanted to include in the blog. As a young child, my favorite memories were the weekends I would spend with my grandmother. She used to take me on walks in our native Rome, we would visit the ancient ruins, museums, churches. Among my favorite churches we first visited together is the basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. The church stands on ancient foundations, it was built over a temple dedicated to Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. Quite ironic for a Dominican foundation, the religious order founded by Saint Dominic in order to evangelize the world through studying and preaching. The church is only a short distance from the Pantheon, and right outside its unassuming façade, marked by plaques remindful of the Tiber river floodings, stands Bernini’s fine elephant sculpture, supporting an Egyptian obelisk, s...
