BEATO! BEATO!

Santo Padre, some days you are but a distant memory to me, yet deep in my heart I know how influential you were to my following Christ.  Your love for the youth of the Church inspired and encouraged me, and continues to do so.  I remain so very grateful to your yes to God in all things - your vocation, your episcopal appointment, your election to the papacy, and especially your yes to the corporal suffering you endured on earth, to show the world how to unite our pain to His on the cross.  Holy Father, you are my hero!  

My spiritual grandfather will be beatified in a few short hours by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI!  I will attempt to watch a bit of the beatification coverage (beginning at 1:30AM our time, about an hour from now), but I am so exhausted that I am not sure I will make it very long.  In any event, I rejoice with the rest of the world and look forward to many celebrations in the days, weeks, and months to come to honor and remember the heroic life of Father Karol.  

"Remember, Christ is calling you; the Church needs you; the Pope believes in you and he expects great things of you!"  

Beato Giovanni Paolo, prega per noi!

Blessed John Paul, pray for us!  

a presto :)
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UPDATE: Regrettably, I fell asleep with EWTN on before the coverage even began, rats!  Thankfully it is on tape-delay later today.  :)

Giovanni Paolo

In the midst of all of the joy surrounding my sister-in-law's wedding on April 2nd, there was but a brief moment where I was able to recall the events of the same day six years earlier, when, as an 18-year-old freshman in college, I kept vigil for 36 hours, waiting on word about my ailing spiritual grandfather, His Holiness John Paul II.  The time I spent on April 2, 2011 reflecting on the events of April 2, 2005 was but a sliver in the 24-hour day.  There was, after all, a most joyous occasion to celebrate that day - the marriage of B's sister!  

Yet in the back of my mind, I remembered John Paul, and the feelings and emotions and sentiments of that day six years ago.  I recall clearly the feeling of abandonment, that our grandfather had gone before us, and I remember vividly the palpable grief that followed his passing from this life into the next, which eventually changed to immense joy at the thought that he, John Paul would now, by the mercies and grace of God, spend eternity with the Lover of his soul.  It was a painful, grief-filled, yet joyous week between John Paul's passing and his funeral Mass.  

And in the midst of the grief and the sorrow that accompanied the passing of John Paul, God was there, truly present to Holy Mother Church.  While the faithful waited anxiously for a new shepherd to be elected, God knew exactly what His Church needed - and gave us a tremendous gift in the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to the papacy.  It is a gift for which we could never be adequately thankful.  

To say that I look forward to John Paul's imminent beatification is most likely an understatement.  For awhile, B and I joked about throwing a "beatification party," and if our finances weren't so tight, we would be considering it more seriously.  I could not ever thank John Paul enough for his influence on my young life - for assuring me of his love for and hope in the youth of the Church, for encouraging me in my own personal sufferings by his example, and by his countless prayers from Heaven since his passing.  To honor John Paul's memory in our own small way, should God grant us the gift of sons, our second boy will be named John Paul, and I trust that he will have a loving patron, his namesake, offering many prayers on his behalf.  

Holy Father, thank you for your witness of Christ's love to all of us, and for your yes to God's desire that you guide His holy Church.  Pray for us as we strive to follow your example!  

a presto
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humility

It is no surprise that there are disagreements among the faithful of the Catholic Church.  Day in and day out there appear to be dozens of teachings, doctrines, and precepts of the Catholic faith that are controversial and difficult for her members.  (For example: the Church's teachings on homosexuality, the Church's teachings on birth control, the Church's understanding of faithful citizenship, etc.  The list really could go on and on and on.) A particularly difficult teaching for some of the faithful is the Church's traditional teaching that She is only able to ordain men to the priesthood of Jesus Christ.  The Holy Father, Venerable (but soon to be Blessed!) John Paul II, went so far as to promulgate an Apostolic Letter concerning this very topic.  

In the 1994 Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, John Paul writes (emphasis my own): 

Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.  

John Paul makes it perfectly clear: there is no ability whatsoever for the Catholic Church to ordain women to the priesthood.  Period.  

Despite this Apostolic Letter, there has been dissent - sometimes particularly vocal dissent at that.  There is even an organization brazenly referring to itself as "Roman Catholic Womenpriests."  On its website (the link I will not provide, for fear of potentially causing my small readership to be scandalized), there are, in living color, photos of "ordinations," female "bishops," and female "priests".  There are even photographs of "Masses" and "liturgies" which these "priests" purport to have celebrated!  Needless to say, the Church does not recognize these "priests," these "Masses," or these "ordinations."  And sadly, these "ceremonies" still occur, and cause scandal for more and more of the faithful.  

Yet today, I read a beautiful story of humility regarding Norma Jean Coon, one of the purported "Womenpriests."  Her humility is completely inspiring.  

I wish to renounce the alleged ordination and publicly state that I did not act as a deacon as a part of this group except on two occasions, when I read the gospel once at mass and distributed communion once at this same mass. I withdrew from the program within two weeks of the ceremony because I realized that I had made a mistake in studying for the priesthood. I confess to the truth of Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis . I confess the authority of the Holy Father on these issues of ordination and recognize that Christ founded the ordination only for men.

Formally, I relinquish all connection to the program of Roman Catholic Women Priests and I disclaim the alleged ordination publicly with apologies to those whose lives I have offended or scandalized by my actions. I ask God's blessings upon each of these folks and their families.

She proceeds to close her remarks with a beautiful, humble prayer to our Lord.  Read her remarks in their entirety here.  

What a blessed example, that those souls who appear to be the most lost, can still find their way back to our good God.  And what's more, no matter how lost a soul may be, our Lord, in His infinite mercy, will forgive the repentant sinner.  How often do I need these reminders!  However cloudy my own conscience might be and however sinful I (and humanity) may be, our Lord is always waiting, with open arms, to welcome back the repentant sinner.  He is always ready to bestow His mercy - it is our weakness, our pride, and sometimes our fear that keep us from asking for that mercy, particularly in the Sacrament of Confession.  What love!  What mercy!   And.....what strength of will it takes us to return to receive His open invitation to sanctifying grace. 


a presto

grandfatherly wisdom.

"Do not be afraid!"

"Do not be afraid.  Do not be satisfied with mediocrity.  Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."

"Open wide the doors to Christ!"

"Do not forget that true love sets no conditions; it does not calculate or complain, but simply loves."

"Love of Christ does not distract us from interest in others, but rather invites us to responsibility for them, to the exclusion of no one."  

Venerable (but soon to be Blessed) John Paul II, I beg your prayers.  

papal ponderings with a new president-elect

Very recently, as in, the past few days or so, I've thought a lot about our late Holy Father, the great Giovanni Paolo Secondo, as the Italians call him. So often I'm so caught up in the happenings of the world and of life itself, that I often forget about him, a man I consider a spiritual grandfather, who, as Christ's Shepherd of Souls on earth held the youth of the Church very close to him, reminding them constantly of God's great call for their lives and of his fond affection for them. 

I wonder how he would respond to today's world. Granted, it hasn't been that long since he was with us, but I feel as though he would probably have enough to say about today's events and happenings. That's the beautiful thing about the Holy Father, regardless of who he is. When he speaks, the world listens. And not just listens. It listens attentively, with great care and respect for him and for the office he holds. His successor came to the United States just over six months ago, and people came out in droves to see him. I heard from the second-in-command for the UN police that the General Assembly was packed. I wonder what he would think about yesterday, what he would have to say to our new President-Elect with that fiery Polish spirit he had. I wonder what his response would be to the political messianism that has run so rampant in this country for the past few months. I can't help but think that part of him would point a big Polish finger in our direction and point us towards our true hope, to remind us that our hope is not in mere mortals, but in He, the Word of the Father, who came to us so humbly on a cold night. To perhaps chastise us for becoming so wound up in the things of this world. To re-orient us in the direction of Truth Himself. This isn't to say that our wonderful German Shepherd hasn't done that already. He's already provided us with his thoughts on the world in more ways than one. His arguments against relativism and for freedom in Christ are truly things the world needs to hear in these trying days. He reminded us not long ago to place our hope not in men, but in God. Il nostro papa Benedetto just seems more meek when it comes to vocalizing these things. His tremendous authority as Vicar of Christ is displayed so beautifully in his writings - he truly has a heart for the written word, and that's a great gift to the world. Part of me just feels that if President-Elect Obama and the charistmatic John Paul II who the cardinals elected in 1978 were to meet someday, my pope would win him over in a heartbeat.

Maybe this is just me trying to synthesize the past day's events. Maybe it's just me trying to think through what the next four years might be like in those areas most crucial to human dignity - the elderly, the handicapped, the poor, most specifically, the unborn of our nation. Or maybe it's just me being me, remembering our Giovanni Paolo, and trying to think of what he might say to this country after having elected Senator Obama.

john paul wisdom

Two quotes I found from JP2 as I scoured through my belongings this week, that I wanted to save somewhere virtual.....  

Now I would like to tell you of something personal. With the passing of time, the most important and beautiful thing for me remains the fact that I have been a priest for more than fifty years, because everyday I can celebrate Holy Mass! The Eucharist is the secret of my day. It gives strength and meaning to all my activities of service to the Church and to the whole world. - General Audience, October 8, 1997  

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is ... an important daily practice and becomes an inexhaustible source of holiness ... It is please to spend time with (Christ), to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple and to feel the infinite love present in his heart.
- The Church and the Eucharist

He's been gone for nearly three and a half years, and yet he's still teaching me. And I figure I still have plenty more to learn from him.