It is the holiest Christian shrine. But, until March 2017, it was in danger of imminent collapse.

The shrine goes by an odd name, the Edicule, meaning “little house. ” It sits under a great dome in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre. No bigger than a good-sized garage, its marble-clad walls are festooned with hanging oil lamps and mismatched candlesticks with bare, energy-efficient lightbulbs. Daily, thousands of visitors line up for hours to see the sacred spot believed to be the burial place of Jesus.

They say the best things in life are free—and I believe it. No amount of money can buy a sense of real belonging with your family, friends, and community, or assure health in body, mind, and soul. As I think about my own life, there is almost nothing that I really care about that I earned, planned, or even expected. It has all been a gift.

One of the first things I learned as a parent is that kids are like sponges. They soak up everything around them—even the things we don’t want them to. When they’re young, it’s easier to limit all of the sources from which they pick things up. We can monitor what they watch, listen to, or hear us say.

In 1205, Saint Francis of Assisi heard these words in a vision: “Rebuild my church, for you see it is falling into ruin. ” Every so often, religious institutions become rigid and need to be revived and reborn. Catholics teach that “the Church was reformed but is always in need of reformation. ” Reformation is the perpetual process of conversion that is needed by all individuals and by all institutions.

Paul, Apostle of Christ

In AD 64, Rome is burning. Emperor Nero blames the destruction on the Christians living there. He imprisons the aging apostle Paul (James Faulkner) and any other Christian he can capture.