The Cause for Canonization

In recent months I have been watching the progression of the process towards beatification and ultimately, canonization of several "saints in waiting". These are people, who for various reasons, have caught my attention over the years and to whom I have looked for wisdom and inspiration. So in no particular order, here's my list:

Damien de Veuster, SSCC, Leper Priest of Moloki. I read Fr. Damien's story many, many years ago and was amazed by his faithfulness and courage. Fr. Damien's mission was to the lepers of Hawaii during the late 19th century. He died of leprosy in 1889. You can read about Fr. Damien on www.leperpriest.blogspot.com. Fr. Damien was canonized on October 11, 2009.

Pope John Paul II. John Paul the Great is currently on the "fast track" towards beatification. In December, Pope Benedict signed a decree on the virtues of Pope John Paul II, which means that he can be beatified as soon as the Vatican certifies that a miracle attributed to his intercession has occurred.

The late, great Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. Archbishop Sheen returned home to Glory on December 9, 1979. His cause for beatification and canonization was opened in 2002 by the Diocese of Peoria, IL, where Fulton Sheen had been an altar boy at St. Mary's Cathedral. Archbishop Sheen is perhaps best known for his television program, "Life is Worth Living" which aired back in the 1950's & can still be seen on EWTN. His best known writing is perhaps, Life of Christ, a book to which I often turn for study, reflection, and the joy of reading about our Lord's life. Read more about Archbishop Sheen at www.archbishopsheencause.org

And this weekend, January 31, 2010, the cause for beatification and canonization of Maria Esperanza of Venezuela will be officially opened by the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey.  Usually known as Maria Esperanza of Betania, Maria received apparitions of our Blessed Mother at Finca, Betania where Mary referred to herself as "Mary, Virgin and Mother, Reconciler of all Peoples and Nations." The apparitions were approved by Bishop Pio Bello Ricardo on November 21, 1987. You can learn more at www.mariaesperanza.com

Let us pray that all may be found worthy of sainthood and may their prayers join with ours in the Communion of Saints.

If you have a favorite "saint in waiting", I'd love to hear their story. Please feel free to post your comments and favorites here.

What Pope John Paul II means to me...

Today is the 4th anniversary of the passing into Eternal Glory of our beloved Pope, John Paul II.

Pope John Paul II passed away the same year I entered into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, so he was my Pope for only a very short time. But he had become, for me, a guiding light on my journey home to the Catholic Church.

So it seems only right that today I write about my feelings for Pope John Paul during this first year of my own Catholic blog.

As we all know, John Paul was bigger than life. His presence demanded that you pay attention; his words demanded that you listen.

I began to listen a couple of years before my conversion to the Catholic faith, mostly by watching the Catholic television network, EWTN. I watched it pretty faithfully for a couple of years before I even dreamt that one day I would be a Roman Catholic. I would watch Life on the Rock with Jeff Cavins and I would watch Daily Mass celebrated at the Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, broadcast in the evenings.

I remember one particular winter when I was sick as a dog with whooping cough for almost six months and would spend the evenings huddled up in a blanket in my recliner, full of cough meds and prescription anti-biotics, dozing on and off throughout the evening. I would turn Daily Mass on at 7:00 and sit there with my eyes closed, just listening. Then I would continue to listen to whatever Catholic programming was on after Mass.

This was very comforting to me. I knew that I would not be jolted awake by scenes of violence or profanity. I could literally ‘rest in the Lord’ while I gathered my strength for the next day.

And it was during that winter that I became acquainted with John Paul II. I heard him spoken about with deep respect and affection. I heard others talk about his teachings. I watched him celebrate Holy Mass at St. Peter’s on Holy Days. I began to look for news about him and to schedule time to watch EWTN if I knew he was going to be televised. I began to feel my own deep respect and affection for this man.

At that time, I knew that as Pope, he was the head of the Roman Catholic Church, but that was all I really knew about the Papacy. I didn’t know that he was the Vicar of Christ, that he had received his authority from St. Peter himself, through Apostolic Succession, I didn’t know that he would become such a powerful influence in my own spiritual life.

As we all know, Pope John Paul II was a prolific writer. It has been said that you could spend the rest of your life studying the words and thoughts of JPII and not be able to fully digest all that he had to offer. His books, his encyclicals, his poetry… so much to take in.

One of his teachings, however, that has drawn me in and captivated my attention, is a series of Wednesday messages, given over a period of about six years, beginning in 1978 right after his election to the Chair of Peter. These teachings are known as Theology of the Body.

I remember my pastor in 2005, Fr. Paul, talking about Theology of the Body (TOB) and stating that it would take Catholic scholars and laity a hundred years to fully ‘unpack’ these remarkable teachings. But that these teachings on human sexuality would literally ‘revolutionize’ society’s distorted ideas about the role of human sexuality and its place in our lives. Through TOB, we would learn that our sexuality is so much a part of who we are and who we are called to be, beings made in the image and likeness of God, that we would find new freedom and wholeness in our lives and use the God given gift of our sexuality as it was intended to be used – as a divine expression of the life of the Trinity.

TOB is, in its major components, a study in anthropology, in sociology, and in theology. It is a ‘right ordering’ of our human desires and needs firmly grounded in the Person of Jesus Christ. It is a life-changing study. And I can only wish that I had found it much earlier in my own life!

John Paul II was a man of remarkable depth, deep intellect, and an uncanny ability to convey complex theological ideas in layman's terms. This deep study of the human person is accessible to everyone.

Our parish has over the last five years offered studies of TOB. We started out with a beginner’s class, just noting the basics of this remarkable teaching. We moved on to a deeper level with Theology of the Body Explained, presented by Christopher West, who has made the ‘unpacking’ of this material his life’s vocation.

We are now in the middle of an advanced class, going deeper and deeper into the profound implications of life lived authentically, as either a married or celibate person. This advanced level class is called Into the Heart and is again taught by Christopher West, using the text of John Paul II's Man and Woman He Created Them.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg of JPII’s writings. His encyclicals alone need more time to be delved into and the gold nuggets of his rich wisdom mined.

There is no better person to study (outside of Jesus Christ Himself), if you want to know the deep wisdom of our Christian, and Catholic, heritage.

As this blog often deals with various apparitions of our Blessed Mother, I end with this: a few days after the passing of John Paul II into Glory, it was reported by one of the Medjugorje visionaries, that during an apparition of our Lady, John Paul II was seen standing beside our Blessed Mother, young and vibrant. Mary told the visionary, ‘Here is my son – he is with me.’

John Paul II lives in the fullness of the Kingdom of God and enjoys the Beatific Vision.

May Jesus Christ be praised! Amen

Book Review - Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia and the Biggest Funeral in the World by Anthony Doerr

Four Seasons in Rome in the author’s personal account of a year spent in Rome in 2005 living on an American Academy Fellowship.

Doerr’s wife Shauna had just delivered twin boys and their peaceful, adult life was turned up-side down by the inclusion of two new babies. Doerr recounts the struggles and joys of their new topsy-turvy life: adjusting to twins while learning to live in a foreign country. Either one of those experiences would be daunting enough; but to combine the two was an adventure beyond his imaginings. Coming from Boise, Idaho, the cultural differences, language barriers and sheer ‘newness’ of life in Rome was fascinating fodder for a writer.

This book is poetic prose. Doerr writes with brutal honesty, charming wit and descriptive precision. I could see and feel and taste through Doerr’s words with an amazing clarity. I felt as if I, too, had experienced first hand some of the delightful and not-so-delightful adventures that the Doerrs’ shared during their year in Rome and the Umbrian countryside.

Doerr was there for the death and funeral of our beloved Pope, John Paul II. He witnessed first hand the thousands upon thousands of pilgrims who flooded into the Eternal City for what Doerr describes as the ‘biggest funeral in the history of the world’.

As someone who is planning on visiting Rome this year, I found this book to be insightful and inviting. I can’t wait to experience Rome for myself and this book has only encouraged me all the more to pursue that dream.

Until the Vatican Rules, Don't Dismiss Medjugorje

John Ellis says Catholics should keep an open mind about the claims of the town's 'seers' -
27 June 2008


This in an article I came across this morning in Catholic Herald, the most widely-read Catholic newspaper in the United Kingdom. I thought it was worthy of posting, as so many do not understand what is actually happening in Medjugorje as regards the Vatican Commission and the opposition the visionaries have faced for over twenty-five years. May our Blessed Mother continue to bless each and every one of us with her encouragements and prayers.

On June 24 1981 six children in a sleepy mountain village in what was then Yugoslavia claimed to have seen the Blessed Virgin. Twenty-seven years later, those same "seers", adults now, insist they are still being visited by the Mother of God, and many millions of people from all over the world, believers and unbelievers, have flocked to Medjugorje. Even priests, bishops, archbishops and cardinals in their thousands have been on pilgrimage there. Yet still the town's very name can be relied upon to provoke frothy splutterings of vitriolic condemnation from dyed-in-the-wool sceptics - as indeed did Lourdes and Fatima in their time. The epitome of Catholic orthodoxy, Medjugorje seems to be only about peace, prayer, renewal and reparation.

So why all the fuss? The two most-voiced grumbles of the Medjugorje-bashers are these: the inordinate length of time the "visions" and "interior locutions" have endured, and the perception that somehow those who go on pilgrimage there - along with the Franciscan priests who minister to them - are disobeying the local Ordinary. Yet any ruling, any decision to be made concerning events at Medjugorje, is no longer in the hands of the Bishop of Mostar; and while the Church is certainly well able to denounce fraudulent visions or visionaries when required, it never allows itself to pronounce in favour so long as the phenomenon continues and until all relevant facts have been gathered and carefully studied.

In the case of Medjugorje the jury is still out. Meanwhile, the Vatican has made clear that the faithful are free, both lay and religious, to go on pilgrimage there, but even where such pilgrimages are attended by a priest or bishop, they must not be seen as being arranged by the clergy. That is the status quo. There are those who seem concerned that the "visionaries", instead of retiring to the cloister, have chosen to marry and raise families. Have they forgotten La Salette? Besides, in an age addicted to profligacy and promiscuity, where marriage is demeaned and family life dangerously weakened, might not this example be both relevant and timely? And perhaps those who are too eager to convince themselves that Medjugorje, far from being heaven-sent, is satanic in origin should look again at its fruits, for surely this is our best measure.For almost two decades now the International Youth Festival held during the summer in Medjugorje has each year attracted tens of thousands of good, faithful, discerning young Catholics, the very best of the world's youth - and perhaps our only hope for a better tomorrow.

These are the spiritual children of John Paul II, faithful to the Magisterium, disciples of orthodoxy, not easily deceived. And is it really possible that Satan laughs up his diabolical sleeve at the 50 million communicants who have tasted Our Lord in Medjugorje, many for the first time in years? Are dark forces, then, responsible for such fervour at Holy Mass and Eucharistic Adoration seen there, and for the daily rosary for a sick, deluded, traumatised world? There is surely a dilemma here, for if that is the case then logic tells us hell itself stands ready to crumble, since "a house divided against itself must fall".When the Medjugorje "visions" began in 1981 the then Bishop of Mostar, the late Pavao Zanic, was keen to support the children.

He urged his priests to "accept God's providence", insisting that the "visionaries" were all to be trusted. Later, choosing to interpret one of the children's messages, purportedly from the Blessed Virgin, as a reprimand for having dealt harshly with the local Franciscan priests - whose "crime" was saying Mass for a group of pilgrims - he remarked during a meeting of prelates gathered to discuss the phenomena: "The Blessed Mother would never admonish a bishop"; and therefore, ipso facto, the apparitions were a fraud. Archbishop Franic of Split, who was convinced they were dealing with "affairs of heaven", retorted: "In the Book of the Apocalypse the Holy Spirit admonishes seven bishops!"Any serious student of Medjugorje has to ask some difficult questions.

What was Bishop Zanic's state of mind? During one television interview he spoke of "wiping out Medjugorje", while on another occasion he recommended "burying" it. On April 1 1985 the cardinal in charge of the Vatican State Secretary's office urged Croatian Cardinal Franjo Kuharic to demand that Bishop Zanic "suspend the airing of his own personal statements and renounce making judgments". He refused. Here was a bishop so intent on wiping Medjugorje off the map that he was even prepared to disobey his superiors and set himself against them. Interestingly, the very first commission to investigate the happenings in the mountain village was authored by Bishop Zanic. It proved to be nothing less than a whitewash, his "commission" consisting almost entirely of individuals hostile to the phenomenon, its avowed aim being to totally discredit both "visionaries" and Medjugorje itself.

Once the Vatican understood the extent of Bishop Zanic's opposition his commission was disbanded and a new one set up in its place. Unfortunately, the Balkans war and the subsequent splitting up of Yugoslavia brought everything to a grinding halt, since it meant the Vatican no longer had a local Ordinary with whom it could conduct the Church's business. The incumbent Bishop of Mostar, Ratko Peric, was a close friend of his predecessor and, while not subject to Bishop Zanic's obsessive rants, he is not an advocate for Medjugorje.

Yet it is important to reiterate that the Church's position remains as before insofar as pilgrims are at liberty to visit Medjugorje, and in fact the Vatican has frequently insisted that proper and adequate provision is made for them.For those wishing to examine the fruits of Medjugorje it must be admitted that these are rich indeed. There are stories of conversions and reversions by the hundreds of thousands. The Cenacolo community established there to rehabilitate young drug addicts and tearaways has been successful beyond most people's wildest dreams. The orphanage, originally for war orphans but now open to any child in need of parenting, is thriving, thanks mainly to the goodwill of pilgrims.

Many bishops, archbishops and cardinals the world over are convinced Medjugorje is genuine; many others hold the opposite view. Pope John Paul II counted himself with the believers, more than once stating his desire to make the pilgrimage. Sadly, both Bishops of Mostar in turn determined to deny the Holy Father that pleasure. Since, politically speaking, even the Supreme Pontiff could not go there without formal invitation from the local bishop, they made sure that offer was never extended to him.

Medjugorje dissenters might spend a truly enlightening retreat in the quiet village in the mountains, perhaps kneeling in the open air with 5,000 other "God's idiots" for Eucharistic Adoration; or attending one of many daily Masses, in several languages, each concelebrated devoutly by a dozen or more priests; observing (perhaps joining) the international team of priests who, seven days and evenings a week, generously hear confessions, both in the confessionals and in the open air, sometimes until midnight.

Is this the "fraud", the "addiction damaging to our health" that one Jesuit writer alleges? Until the Church decides, surely we should all stand back, observe with Christian charity, weighing the pros and cons without presumption.