Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Beatification of Servant of God John Paul II

from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (January 14, 2011)
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=9518

An original pencil rendering of Pope John Paul II
by Paula Maloney of Osgoode Ontario






Sunday, January 16, 2011

Pope John Paul II Beatification

Excerpt of Decree for John Paul II's Beatification

"Sign of the Depth of Faith and Invitation to a Fully Christian Life"

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 14, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is an excerpt of the decree written by the Congregation for Saints' Causes regarding the beatification of Servant of God John Paul II, published today by Vatican Radio. The prefect of the saints' causes dicastery is Cardinal Angelo Amato.

The full text can be found on ZENIT's Web page: www.zenit.org/article-31459?l=english

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Beatification: Sign of the depth of faith and invitation to a fully Christian life

The proclamation of a Saint or of a Blessed by the Church is the fruit of putting together various aspects regarding a specific Person. First, it is an act which says something important in the life of the Church herself. It is linked to a "cult," i.e. to the memory of the person, to his full acknowledgment of him in the awareness of the ecclesial community, of the country, of the Universal Church in various countries, continents and cultures. Another aspect is the awareness that the "presentation on the altars" will be an important sign of the depth of the faith, of the diffusion of faith in the path of life of that person, and that this sign will become an invitation, a stimulus for us all towards a Christian life ever more profound and full. Finally, thesine qua non condition is the holiness of the person's life, verified during the precise and formal canonical proceedings. All this provides the material for the decision of the Successor of Peter, of the Pope in view of the proclamation of a Blessed or of a Saint, of the cult in the context of the ecclesial community and of its liturgy.
John Paul II's pontificate was an eloquent and clear sign, not only for Catholics, but also for world public opinion, for people of all color and creed. The world's reaction to his lifestyle, to the development of his apostolic mission, to the way he bore his suffering, to the decision to continue his Petrine mission to the end as willed by divine Providence, and finally, the reaction to his death, the popularity of the acclamation "Saint right now!" which someone made on the day of his funerals, all this has its solid foundation in the experience of having met with the person who was the Pope. The faithful have felt, have experienced that he is "God's man," who really sees the concrete steps and the mechanisms of contemporary world "in God," in God's perspective, with the eyes of a mystic who looks up to God only. He was clearly a man of prayer: so much so that it is from the dynamism of his personal union with God, from the permanent listening to what God wants to say in a concrete situation, that the whole of "Pope John Paul II's activity" flowed. Those who were closest to him have been able to see that, prior to his meetings with his guests, with Heads of State, with Church high officials or ordinary citizens, John Paul II would recollect himself in prayer according to the intentions of the guests and of the meeting that was to come.

1. Karol Wojtyla's contribution to Vatican II Council

After Vatican II, during the pontificates of Paul VI and of John Paul II, the manner of presentation, and thus of self-presentation of the papacy, has become quite expressive. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the pontificate of John Paul II, the Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs published in 2004 a book entitled "Go Forth in the Whole World." Giancarlo Zizola, a "vaticanist," remarked on the fact that "the papacy has conquered its citizenship in the realm of public visibility, breaking away from the siege of worship marginalisation where it had been kept by decree of secular society, in the name of a militant vision of the liberal tenet of Separation of Church and State" (p. 17). A German historian, Jesuit Klaus Schatz, speaking of Paul VI and of John Paul II, underlined the meaning of the "papacy on the way" -- thus in conformity with Vatican II -- more in the manner of a missionary movement than as a static pole of unity. Schatz refers to the manner of interpreting the papal mission as a challenge to "confirm the brothers in the faith" (Luke 22:32), in a way tied to structural authority, but with a strong spiritual and charismatic hint, in link with the personal credibility and rooted in God himself.

Let us pause a moment to consider Vatican II. The young archbishop of Cracow was one of the most active Council Fathers. He made a significant contribution to the "Scheme XIII" which was to become the Pastoral Constitution of the Council "Gaudium et Spes" on the Church in the Modern World, and to the Dogmatic Constitution "Lumen Gentium." Thanks to his studies abroad, bishop Wojtyla had a concrete experience of evangelisation and of the mission of the Church, in Western Europe or in other continents, but above all of totalitarian atheism in Poland and in the other countries of the "Soviet Block." He brought all this experience to the Council debates, which were certainly not like drawing-room conversations, extremely courteous but void of contents. Here was a substantial and decisive effort to insert the Gospel's dynamism into the conciliar enthusiasm rooted on the conviction that Christianity is capable of furnishing a "soul" to the development of modernity and to the reality of the social and cultural world.

All this was to be of use in preparing for the future responsibilities of the Successor of Peter. As John Paul II said, he already had in his mind his first encyclical, "Redemptor Hominis," and brought it to Rome from Cracow. All he had to do in Rome was to write down all these ideas. In this encyclical, there is a wide invitation to humankind to rediscover the reality of Redemption in Christ: "Man (…) remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. This, as has already been said, is why Christ the Redeemer 'fully reveals man to himself.' [...] man finds again the greatness, dignity and value that belong to his humanity. In the mystery of the Redemption man becomes newly 'expressed' and, in a way, is newly created. [...] The man who wishes to understand himself thoroughly -- and not just in accordance with immediate, partial, often superficial, and even illusory standards and measures of his being -- he must with his unrest, uncertainty and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ. He must, so to speak, enter into him with all his own self, he must 'appropriate' and assimilate the whole of the reality of the Incarnation and Redemption in order to find himself (No. 10). [...]

"This union of Christ with man is in itself a mystery. From the mystery is born 'the new man,' called to become a partaker of God's life, and newly created in Christ for the fullness of grace and truth. [...] Man is transformed inwardly by this power as the source of a new life that does not disappear and pass away but lasts to eternal life. [...] This life, which the Father has promised and offered to each man in Jesus Christ (…) is in a way the fulfilment of the 'destiny' that God has prepared for him from eternity. This 'divine destiny' is advancing, in spite of all the enigmas, the unsolved riddles, the twists and turns of 'human destiny' in the world of time. Indeed, while all this, in spite of all the riches of life in time, necessarily and inevitably leads to the frontier of death and the goal of the destruction of the human body, beyond that goal we see Christ. 'I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me ... shall never die'" (No. 18).
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On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text of decree: www.zenit.org/article-31459?l=english

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Homily by Fr. Tony Van Hee, Pro Life Mass, Assumption Parish, January 8, 2011

The Pilgrimage of Masses, January 8, 2011, 10 a.m., Assumption Parish


Homily by Fr. Tony Van Hee

As I see it, worldwide abortion, is the greatest single evil, in all of human history, apart from the death of Christ. Not this abortion, or that abortion, or many abortions, but worldwide abortion. And the greatest external force we are fighting against in this struggle, on the human level, in my opinion, is the mainstream media, which forms public opinion, for good or ill.

In regard to worldwide Christianity, and Western Civilization, the greatest threat seems to be, a lack of faith, a lack of belief in God, atheism in all its forms. But neither the mainstream media, with its lies and propaganda, nor atheists with their unbelief, and their hatred of the God they say does not exist, are the real enemy. The real enemy is Satan, “a murderer from the beginning …[a deceiver] … a liar and the father of lies” (8:44), and with him a whole host of fallen angels.

“For”, as St Paul says, “we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12).

The mainstream media, the unbelievers, and all others who are fighting against us, are not the enemy. They are only misguided and deceived pawns, in the hands of Satan and his fallen angels.

So we have to use discernment. We want to encourage and cooperate with all that is good in the mainstream media, and in unbelievers, but firmly oppose and reject all that is not good.

Because this is a cosmic struggle far beyond our very limited capacities, we must remember the greatness of our God, who only allows evil, in order to bring about a greater good. We don’t always see the greater good, so we have to have faith and trust. In order to encourage this faith and trust in God, we must keep in mind the greatness of our God, who created the whole universe, which I am told, has a hundred billion galaxies, such as our Milky Way Galaxy, and in each of these galaxies, a hundred billion stars.

In each of our bodies, I am told, we have a hundred trillion cells, and the Bible tells us, that this great God of ours has numbered the hairs on our head, and the sands on the sea shore.

Yet, God is greater than all of His creation, the whole of the universe, angels and mankind included, so we have nothing to fear, if we have faith and trust in Him. It is His household, so to speak, that is all messed up, and as head of His household, He is not losing sleep over it. He has it all in hand.

He grieves because of our suffering, and our stupidity, and our sinfulness, but He is bringing good out of it all. He has it all in hand. If He can keep an ever expanding universe, a hundred billion galaxies, each with a hundred billion stars, swirling around in space, in mathematical precision, and number the hairs on our head and the sands on the seashore, He can surely bring about good in all that is happening to us here and now, to us, the Mystical Body and Beloved Bride of His Son.

If He allowed the crucifixion of His own Son, the greatest evil in all of human history,in order to bring about the greatest good in all of human history, our redemption and our salvation, He can surely bring good out of “this present darkness”.

And what is our part in all of this? Well, pretty small, but absolutely essential. We, ourselves, are pawns in this cosmic struggle between Satan and his fallen angels, and St Michael and his good angels, including each of our guardian angels. Our part in this cosmic struggle is, as it were, merely to show up for work each day, whatever that work may be, trusting that God will use us and our works, keeping in mind that each and every one of our least thoughts, words and actions, when united with His Son’s, is of infinite value, and will live on eternally, whether it be gathered up in an eternal symphony of love and praise, or whether it be included and preserved insome other magnificent way, eternally.

Nothing is lost to God. Nothing is wasted. And nothing can alter the victory that has already been won for us, over all these evil forces,

Friday, January 7, 2011

Saint Brother Andre, Mass of Thanksgiving, Notre Dame Cathedral January 6 2011

Well like I said I was so looking forward to taking lots of pictures but unfortunately one of the ushers asked me not to take any pictures during the mass . Since I didn't get very many pictures I included one of my sister at the Restaurant before mass and the last two are a couple of photos I took on my way home of the Christmas Lights on our street.





















Thursday, January 6, 2011

January 6th: Feast of the Epiphany and of Saint Brother Andre

Diocesan Celebration of thanksgiving

The Archbishop invites all to attend the diocesan Eucharistic celebration which will be held on the first feast day of St. Brother Andre, on Jan 6, at 7:30 pm at Notre Dame Cathedral.
I am surely going and will take loads of pictures.

Vigil for Nascent Human Life at Notre Dame Cathedral in Ottawa 2010 (Eng...

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!

In the Church Calendar, January 1st marks the Feast Day of Mary the Mother of God. May the words that Mary spoke to Saint Juan Diego give you comfort and hope during this new year.

"Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything."
(Words of Our Lady to Juan Diego)