Video: Pope Benedict speaks with Astronauts

Compliments of Nasa.gov, is this video.

The Holy Father had an exchange with the astronauts after briefly addressing them.  He expressed his hope for continued improvement for Gabby Giffords, the wife of Commander Mark Kelly.  He then asked some questions of the astronauts.

Interesting what zero gravity does with long hair, eh? I suppose there is no such thing as a bad hair day in space. But, I suspect there is a scary hair day - LOL.

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iPhone App: iChant Gregorian

With a tip of the veil to Sr. Catherine Wybourne, aka @Digitalnun on Twitter, I discovered this neat little app for iPhone.  If you are learning to sing chant it could prove to be a handly little tool.   I have downloaded it and see that it si also available for iPad and iTouch. 

It is fairly easy to learn get the hang of getting into the "rhythm" of chant.  I actually find site reading little square notes easier than modern notation.  However, because I have very little understanding of music theory, scales, etc., I can't simply pic up a page of chant and sing the right notes without help. 

The tool is not something for listening to Gregorian chant.  Rather, it is an aid for those who are practicing.  When you touch the screen you can hear the notes for a given clef (see an explanation of Gregorian notation here). 

Shown above is the Do Clef.  Note that the app allows you to transpose which is handy when the notes run too high or low for a given singer or group.  Here is one example of a transposition (compare to that at the top):

As you can see, there is also the Fa Clef.

See more at the iTunes store on iChant Gregorian.  Android users might want to search their app store, as well.  The developer states in the combox of this post at Musica Sacra last year that he was working on a version for that OS.  

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The Pope, St. Teresa, and Subjectivism...

The Holy Father addressed the Pontifical Theological Faculty Teresianum on it's 75th anniversary. In his address he spoke of the need for all Christians to have spiritual direction. There's no doubt that a good spiritual director is needed, ideally, by everyone.  As many can attest, finding one is another story.  Sometimes, the next best bet is to read the Way of Perfection by St. Teresa of Avila, or the Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis De Sales. 

In the first part of his address Pope Benedict talks about St. Teresa of Avila. He then shifts to talk about spiritual direction. This was particularly interesting (emphasis mine in bold).

As she has never failed to do, again today the Church continues to recommend the practice of spiritual direction, not only to all those who wish to follow the Lord up close, but to every Christian who wishes to live responsibly his baptism, that is, the new life in Christ. Everyone, in fact, and in a particular way all those who have received the divine call to a closer following, needs to be supported personally by a sure guide in doctrine and expert in the things of God. A guide can help defend oneself from facile subjectivist interpretations, making available his own supply of knowledge and experiences in following Jesus. [Spiritual direction] is a matter of establishing that same personal relationship that the Lord had with his disciples, that special bond with which he led them, following him, to embrace the will of the Father (cf. Luke 22:42), that is, to embrace the cross.

Human fallen nature functions almost like a set of blinders. Others often see things in us about which we are unaware. When that someone is a trained spiritual director, rooted in the Church's richest understanding of the spiritual life, they can help us to navigate these areas. Teresa is very big on self-knowledge and self-mastery. You really cannot have self-mastery without the former. 
The Holy Father brings up that word "subjectivist". Stop and think for a moment what that means. Here, we have a simple definition from Dictionary.com:

sub·jec·tiv·ism
[suhb-jek-tuh-viz-uhm] Show IPA

–noun
1. Epistemology . the doctrine that all knowledge is limited to experiences by the self, and that transcendent knowledge is impossible.
2. Ethics .

a. any of various theories maintaining that moral judgments are statements concerning the emotional or mental reactions of the individual or the community.

b. any of several theories holding that certain states of thought or feeling are the highest good.

In society today, subjectivism is rampant.  There is a loss of objectivity, yet there must be a balance between the two, and never sacrificing objective truth for the feelings.  In prayer, people make the mistake of thinking that feelings towards prayer at a given moment somehow has an impact on it's efficacy.  Yet, the opposite is often true.  It is when we least feel like prayer and we pray; or, when we don't feel like going to Sunday Mass, but we go despite that "dryness" that it is most precious to God.  Here, it becomes a real act of love because now you do it not for your own sake, but for God's sake. 

Ponder whether feelings are truly the measure of what is good. On the moral front, we know that adultery and fornication are displeasing to God, so much so, that they were written in stone.  But many follow as the anything goes route, "if it feels good, do it".  There are probably more Christian couples cohabitating today than any other time, revealing a sad ignorance of Scripture and far less familiarity with Jesus.  Read Matthew 5:17-20.

17 "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18* For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19* Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Others will use drugs, steal, defraud others, and even sexually assault and/or commit murder because it feels right at a given moment.  Those things are obvious, but it is the little things we are confronted with each day that we need to examine against something far greater than feelings.  The greatest metric we have is Jesus Christ and he did not live by feelings, but by objective truth.  The many martyrs of the Church would have felt just fine to avoid torture and stay alive, but they followed Christ in conquering feelings, with grace, for the sake of what was good and true.

There's much more that could be said on this and I think the topic of subjectivism needs to be looked at more deeply. 

You can find the full text of the Pope's speech at Zenit: http://www.zenit.org/article-32618?l=english

Catholic Culture has a few more links on this event and the organization.

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Call to Holiness Conference - June 11 Metro Detroit

Click pic to visit the Call to Holiness Website (scroll down)

I'm still incredibly short on time.  If you click on my Twitter Feed here, or in my sidebar and scroll, you will see me passing along hot topics in Catholicism a few times daily. 

For now, I want to get word out about this conference and I hope you let others know.

From the CTH Newsletter about the 13th Conference:

Mark your calendars! Call to Holiness (CTH) will hold its 13th conference all day Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Burton Manor in Livonia.


A Response to Call to Action
Call to Holiness was formed by the grace of God to shine the light of truth on the errors being promoted by Call to Action at their Detroit conference at Cobo Hall in November 1996. Call to Action (CTA) is an organization which dissents from Catholic Church authority and magisterial teachings. When Call to Action returns to Detroit in 2011, Call to Holiness will respond with a simultaneous conference with speakers faithful to the Magisterium. [continue reading the newsletter released in the summer of 2010 at the CTH website]

Archbishop Vigneron  has offered his support and blessing on the event:

DETAILS OF CONFERENCE AND OPTIONAL FRI/SUN ACTIVITIES

Tour five historic Detroit churches and Sacred Heart Seminary

Friday, June 10: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Choose the departure point for the bus tour:
· Burton Manor, 27777 Schoolcraft Road, Livonia  
· Assumption Grotto, 13770 Gratiot, Detroit

· Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, 2609 Tenth Street, Wyandotte

Sweetest Heart of Mary, Old St. Mary’s, Holy Family, St. Aloysius, and Ste. Anne. Mass and lunch at Sacred Heart Major Seminary are included for $50. Limited to 200 participants. The tour is part of the Call to Holiness Conference June 10 - 12, 2011. Register online at www.calltoholiness.com or call 313-451-4659.

Saturday, June 11: Speakers and Dinner

Jeff Cavins, Al Kresta, Raymond de Souza, Fr. Clement Machado, and Fr. Edmund McCaffrey speak during the day. Johnnette Benkovic will be the dinner speaker. The all day conference titled Call to FIDELITY: the Power of TRUTH will take place at Burton Manor in Livonia. Registration for the daytime speakers is $45, the dinner is $35 or attend both for $69 and save! Register online at www.calltoholiness.com or call 313-451-4659.

Sunday, June 12: DIA Catholic Art Tour and Talk

1:00 pm Detroit Institute of Arts Johnnette Benkovic speaking on Communicating Truth in the Culture of Our Day

2:00 pm Docent guided tour of DIA Medieval and Renaissance Catholic art

Registration is limited to 200 participants for $25 each. Register online as part of the Call to Holiness Conference at www.calltoholiness.com or call 313-451-4659.

Brochures and fliers for bulletins are available. Please call: 313-451-4659

HELP GET THE WORD OUT
There's so much more at the Call to Holiness website.  Please go there, click around, print off some posters and brochures and put them out (always obtain permission by the pastor before putting them out in parishes, and consider pinning some up around town where there are bulletin boards).  Most importantly, register now and reserve your seat.  Also consider donating to help with costs.

Bloggers, Tweeters, people on Facebook - please help get the word out about this conference.  You can right-click any of these banners for use on your site (sidebars, bottom of posts, etc).  Just attach this url so when people click on it, they can find details: http://calltoholiness.com

 

 

PAST CONFERENCES
Check out this interesting chart/list of past speakers.

You can see photoposts of prior Call to Holiness conferences in metro Detroit in these links (hint - you will want to follow links at the bottom of some of these to see more). 

• Call to Holiness in 2009
• Call to Holiness in 2007
• Call to Holiness in 2005

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National Catholic Register's Twitter account hacked

Blogger was down for two days and I thought that was bad since there has been some interesting things happening in the world of Catholic news. 

I just went to NCRegister.com for the National Catholic Register, now owned by EWTN. I wondered why I had not seen them chirping. Here is what I found upon going to their site this evening. 

If you were following them on Twitter before, you'll want to go to http://twitter.com/NC_Register now and follow there. 

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Blogger is back....

For the better part of two days, I couldn't get into Blogger.  If you follow me on Twitter, or Facebook, you may have seen my posts there relaying this, and you will have seen the many interesting news items I was passing along.  I didn't miss the news; I just didn't get to blog it.

You were able to see most Blogger blogs because Google engineers put them into "read-only" mode. 

I read accounts of people moving to WordPress or other service because of this incident.  My attitude: Hey, it's a free service and the world doesn't start or stop because I can't blog.  I think in the nearly 5 years that I've been using Blogger, I can count on one hand how many times I was prevented from blogging for an extended period of time. Stuff happens on my home computer; it happens on my work computer.  Power goes out, internet goes out... yada, yada.  In time, you just learn to sit back and let the codies do their stuff and, like any Catholic should, offer it up!  

All kidding aside, I'd like to hear from others who switched to Word Press. What are the differences?  I might be too comfortable with Blogger.  What do I get in WP that I don't in Blogger?

I'll make a post to tomorrow to pass some things along in case you missed them.   Right now, my eyes tell me it's time for bed.  Good night!

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Happy Mother's Day to My Two Mothers...

Virgin Mary with infant Holy Child Jesus
Artist: Mark Sanislo

Today my thoughts turn to my two mothers: My birth mother, Rose, who passed into eternity two years ago, and my spiritual mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

My Mother Rose

My mother always wanted to have a dozen kids.  She beam from ear to ear upon seeing a large family.  Some years ago, in a previous parish I sometimes went to for Mass, she would marvel at a family that started coming to Mass with 9 children, and got all the more excited when we saw the mother come to Mass with yet another newborn.  For Mom, movies like "Cheaper By the Dozen" and "Yours, Mine and Ours", were among her favorites.  She loved children, but it was not meant for her to have more than three.  

Mom was never bashful about telling people, and reminding me in a joking manner, that I  ended the streak.  I gather from her explanations that I came into the world with such gusto that doctors were left with no choice but to do a hysterectomy.  It was disappointing for her.  Before and after my brother, the second oldest, she lost two babies to miscarriage.  Years later whenever she would recount this you could see the sadness in her eyes, followed by her characteristic expression, "oh well.... oh well, oh well".  She was resigned to the fact that God had other plans, but such pain can never fully be mitigated.  In recent years I have made it a habit to give Mom flowers on her birthday, and on Mother's Day with a simple message: Thanks Mom, for the gift of life! 

My Spiritual Mother, Mary

While my mother was devoted to Mary, it was my father's devotion to the Mother of God which ultimately led all of us to regard her as our spiritual mother.  I grew up in the 70's - a time in which Marian devotion fell either into neglect or attack in many quarters.  All that Mary stood for was in conflict with the feminist movement.  In my childhood parish, like many in the US, the Rosary and other Marian prayers were considered passé. 

Yet, who could be a greater sign of strength than Mary, who at such a young age didn't hesitate to say, "Yes!" to the Angel Gabriel, even though her pregnancy would raise many questions?  She shows us that strength is not found exclusively in muscle or in how well a woman can "man-up". Strength is manifested in giving up our own will for the will of God. 

Thankfully, Marian devotion, along with  Eucharistic devotion is on the rise, thanks in large part to Blessed John Paul II. 

I leave you with something from the Redemptoris Mater - the Encyclical written by Blesssed John Paul II on March 25, 1987 at New Advent.

22. We can therefore say that in this passage of John's Gospel we find as it were a first manifestation of the truth concerning Mary's maternal care. This truth has also found expression in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. It is important to note how the Council illustrates Mary's maternal role as it relates to the mediation of Christ. Thus we read: "Mary's maternal function towards mankind in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ but rather shows its efficacy," because "there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim 2:5). This maternal role of Mary flows, according to God's good pleasure, "from the superabundance of the merits of Christ; it is founded on his mediation, absolutely depends on it and draws all its efficacy from it."(44). It is precisely in this sense that the episode at Cana in Galilee offers us a sort of first announcement of Mary's mediation, wholly oriented towards Christ and tending to the revelation of his salvific power.


From the text of John it is evident that it is a mediation which is maternal. As the Council proclaims: "Mary became "a mother to us in the order of grace." This motherhood in the order of grace flows from her divine motherhood. Because she was, by the design of divine Providence, the mother who nourished the divine Redeemer, Mary became "an associate of unique nobility, and the Lord's humble handmaid, " who "cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls."(45) And "this maternity of Mary in the order of grace . . . will last without interruption until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect."(46)

23. If John's description of the event at Cana presents Mary's caring motherhood at the beginning of Christ's messianic activity, another passage from the same Gospel confirms this motherhood in the salvific economy of grace at its crowning moment, namely when Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, his Paschal Mystery, is accomplished. John's description is concise: "Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother: 'Woman, behold, your son!' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home" (Jn 19:25-27).


Undoubtedly, we find here an expression of the Son's particular solicitude for his Mother, whom he is leaving in such great sorrow. And yet the "testament of Christ's Cross" says more. Jesus highlights a new relationship between Mother and Son, the whole truth and reality of which he solemnly confirms. One can say that if Mary's motherhood of the human race had already been outlined, now it is clearly stated and established. It emerges from the definitive accomplishment of the Redeemer's Paschal Mystery. The Mother of Christ, who stands at the very center of this mystery -- a mystery which embraces each individual and all humanity -- is given as mother to every single individual and all mankind. The man at the foot of the Cross is John, "the disciple whom he loved."(47) But it is not he alone. Following tradition, the Council does not hesitate to call Mary "the Mother of Christ and mother of mankind": since she "belongs to the offspring of Adam she is one with all human beings . . . Indeed she is 'clearly the mother of the members of Christ . . . since she cooperated out of love so that there might be born in the Church the faithful.'"(48)


And so this "new motherhood of Mary," generated by faith, is the fruit of the "new" love which came to definitive maturity in her at the foot of the Cross, through her sharing in the redemptive love of her Son.

I would also like to extend a very happy and blessed Mother's Day to all mothers reading this blog.

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Archdiocese of Detroit gets a patron saint...

From the Archdiocese of Detroit:

Saint Anne has been named by the Vatican as the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Detroit. We honor the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary and prayerfully ask for her intercession.

One may pray to any saint for any intention, but a patron saint is seen as the particular advocate for a chosen place or activity.

Saint Anne is the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Though she is not mentioned by name in the Bible, we know of her through early Christian writings, the most important of which is the Protoevangelium of James, written around the year 150 A.D. We are told that Anne, the wife of Joachim, was advanced in years before her prayers for a child were answered. An angel appeared and told her she'd conceive a child who "shall be spoken of in all the world." Saint Anne's feast day is July 26. She is known as patron saint of equestrians, housewives, women in labor, cabinet-makers, and miners.

Devotion to Saint Anne became popular in the Christian East by the 4th century, and that tradition later spread to the Christian West. When the French began to colonize modern-day Quebec, they brought their devotion to Saint Anne with them, asking for her protection in the New World.

This devotion was planted on the banks of the Detroit River by the original French-Canadian settlers. Two days after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac landed with 51 others in what is now downtown Detroit on July 24, 1701, they celebrated Mass and began construction of a church named after Saint Anne. Today, Sainte Anne de Detroit is the second oldest continually operating parish in the United States. As is now recognized by the Holy See, the Church of Detroit was placed under Saint Anne's protection from its very founding.

St. Anne, Pray for us.  Bless us with many faithful priests and consecrated men and women. 

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It's been a busy week....

As you've probably noticed, this is the longest stretch I've gone without blogging. I've been really busy, just too busy to blog or get many other things done, like finishing the Holy Week photos.

I was aware of many happenings and if you follow my Twitter feed, you undoubtedly saw me pass along news there.   I DVR'd the coverage of Pope John Paul II's beatification, and tried to keep up with what was happening in pro-life circles, the Vatican Blog Meet and more.  I'll try to cover some things in the coming days.  I think the Vatican got things off to a good start by meeting with 150 bloggers, recognizing that we are here to stay.  There is much for the Vatican to learn from bloggers and many good things Catholic bloggers can learn from the Vatican.
I'm a daily Mass goer and when I don't get to Mass in the morning, then I end up going in the evening. It means I go pretty much right after work, and then I get home sometime around 8:30. It leaves too little time to make a blogpost. My house also reflects this, as well.  

I've still got a lot on my plate, but hope to be doing more posting than I did last week and I do hope to get to those photos.

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Update on Rachel

On a separate note.... For those of you who read my last blogpost concerning my cousin's daughter Rachel, she is doing very well. The upper 2/3 of her right femur was removed and replaced with a prosthetic "bone", so to speak and testing shows that there were clear margins on what was removed. With no evidence that the cancer has spread, and clear margins, it sounds very hopeful. But, she has a long road ahead of her including eight more rounds of chemotherapy. She is at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHoP) and Philly.com has her as a blogger now, under the name of "Onco Girl". The spunky 11 year old is sharing her journey there, photos and all. Even though it's only been a few days since the surgery, she is writing to it and in pretty good spirits.  Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

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Girl confronts Ewing's Sarcoma with Courage and a Blog



Rachel and Cocoa Chanel
Photo: Elizabeth Robertson/Philly.com


A young girl from Mother Teresa Regional School in New Jersey is facing the battle of her life.  She has Ewing's Sarcoma - a rare, cancerous tumor that has embedded itself in one of her thighs. The feisty 6th grader is a fighter and she happens to be the daughter of my cousin, Kurt.  Tomorrow, she will undergo surgery that will last much of the day. 

Rachel's story is profiled today at Philly.com.  What you will find is a bubbly 11 year old with a positive outlook, determinaton to win, and a desire to chronicle her "journey".   Rachel is sharing that journey in a new blog at Philly.com called, "Onco Girl".  Sometimes the best lessons are taught by young people, so do check her blog now and then, and offer some words of support. 

Most of all, I ask that in your kindness, you pray for Rachel and her family, especially Tuesday as she undergoes this surgery.  Family will provide the first update in her new blog after it is complete.

In the name of Jesus, may Mother Teresa intercede for Rachel; the Queen of Angels hold her and her family in her arms and the guardian angels of doctors guide their hands, their eyes and their minds as they work.

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Video: President addressing nation - Osama Bin Laden is dead

This post may be updated tomorrow with more links. Big crowds are gathering in Washington DC and in New York City at Ground Zero and in Times Square. You can see both live on Fox News and CNN.

The AP video cuts to the chase, cutting off the introductory part.

UPDATE 1

Massive Crowds Gathering in Washington DC and in New York
I can't embed this, so follow this link to CNN of the crowds gathering at the White House - yelling, U-S-A! U-S-A! There are far more there now than seen in the video clip taken soon after Obama addressed the nation.

People are out in the streets of New York City at Ground Zero. Reporters are saying fire engines out honking too. CNN has live video footage of both crowds on a split screen. Fox News aslo has cameras on the crowd outside the White House, and in Times Square.

UPDATE 2:

From a Catholic perspective, Father Z offers this thought:

So, Usama bin Laden is dead. He has now gone before the Just Judge and has received whatever eternal reward he merited.


I may say a prayer that he repented and God is merciful. I wonder if I will really be saying it for his sake or for my own.


I am bit concerned at the cameras on the young people jumping around like IDIOTS whooping and hollering because someone was killed....


I can understand the urge to celebrate that a paragraph of a chapter of US history has been brought to an end. I would rather see Americans welcome this news with a quiet nod of the head than with squealing in the streets. It seems to me that his death isn’t something to strut about as if it were a gold medal win at the Olympics.


I am also grateful to the military and intelligence personnel who were involved. Hard, dangerous, quite, anonymous work for the sake of the safety of others.

Point well taken.  I don't feel I'm rejoicing in his death.  It's not just that a chapter was closed. Rather, for me, it is that a man who has shown himself to be a mastermind behind mass murder, will no longer be at the game. It's not just death of Christians and Jews; this man has been victimizing Muslims, as well.  I would have been just as happy had he been captured and brought to justice.

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Blessed Pope John Paul II

For many good articles and commentaries on Pope John Paul II, and Divine Mercy, go to NewAdvent.org.  I see some great titles there and would love to sit and read, but it is off to rehearse for the Noon orchestra Mass, which is also a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form.  There will be a polish brunch in the gym afterwards.

With yesterday's long poweroutage, there is a lot of which I had to let go. 

From the Vatican's webpage on the beatification of Pope John Paul II

PAPAL MASS
ON THE OCCASION OF THE
BEATIFICATION OF THE SERVANT OF GOD JOHN PAUL II

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Saint Peter's Square
Sunday, 1 May 2011



Dear Brothers and Sisters,


Six years ago we gathered in this Square to celebrate the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Our grief at his loss was deep, but even greater was our sense of an immense grace which embraced Rome and the whole world: a grace which was in some way the fruit of my beloved predecessor’s entire life, and especially of his witness in suffering. Even then we perceived the fragrance of his sanctity, and in any number of ways God’s People showed their veneration for him. For this reason, with all due respect for the Church’s canonical norms, I wanted his cause of beatification to move forward with reasonable haste. And now the longed-for day has come; it came quickly because this is what was pleasing to the Lord: John Paul II is blessed!


I would like to offer a cordial greeting to all of you who on this happy occasion have come in such great numbers to Rome from all over the world – cardinals, patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches, brother bishops and priests, official delegations, ambassadors and civil authorities, consecrated men and women and lay faithful, and I extend that greeting to all those who join us by radio and television.


Today is the Second Sunday of Easter, which Blessed John Paul II entitled Divine Mercy Sunday. The date was chosen for today’s celebration because, in God’s providence, my predecessor died on the vigil of this feast. Today is also the first day of May, Mary’s month, and the liturgical memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker. All these elements serve to enrich our prayer, they help us in our pilgrimage through time and space; but in heaven a very different celebration is taking place among the angels and saints! Even so, God is but one, and one too is Christ the Lord, who like a bridge joins earth to heaven. At this moment we feel closer than ever, sharing as it were in the liturgy of heaven.


“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (Jn 20:29). In today’s Gospel Jesus proclaims this beatitude: the beatitude of faith. For us, it is particularly striking because we are gathered to celebrate a beatification, but even more so because today the one proclaimed blessed is a Pope, a Successor of Peter, one who was called to confirm his brethren in the faith. John Paul II is blessed because of his faith, a strong, generous and apostolic faith. We think at once of another beatitude: “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven” (Mt 16:17). What did our heavenly Father reveal to Simon? That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Because of this faith, Simon becomes Peter, the rock on which Jesus can build his Church. The eternal beatitude of John Paul II, which today the Church rejoices to proclaim, is wholly contained in these sayings of Jesus: “Blessed are you, Simon” and “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe!” It is the beatitude of faith, which John Paul II also received as a gift from God the Father for the building up of Christ’s Church.


Our thoughts turn to yet another beatitude, one which appears in the Gospel before all others. It is the beatitude of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer. Mary, who had just conceived Jesus, was told by Saint Elizabeth: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord” (Lk 1:45). The beatitude of faith has its model in Mary, and all of us rejoice that the beatification of John Paul II takes place on this first day of the month of Mary, beneath the maternal gaze of the one who by her faith sustained the faith of the Apostles and constantly sustains the faith of their successors, especially those called to occupy the Chair of Peter. Mary does not appear in the accounts of Christ’s resurrection, yet hers is, as it were, a continual, hidden presence: she is the Mother to whom Jesus entrusted each of his disciples and the entire community. In particular we can see how Saint John and Saint Luke record the powerful, maternal presence of Mary in the passages preceding those read in today’s Gospel and first reading. In the account of Jesus’ death, Mary appears at the foot of the cross (Jn 19:25), and at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles she is seen in the midst of the disciples gathered in prayer in the Upper Room (Acts 1:14).


Today’s second reading also speaks to us of faith. Saint Peter himself, filled with spiritual enthusiasm, points out to the newly-baptized the reason for their hope and their joy. I like to think how in this passage, at the beginning of his First Letter, Peter does not use language of exhortation; instead, he states a fact. He writes: “you rejoice”, and he adds: “you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet 1:6, 8-9). All these verbs are in the indicative, because a new reality has come about in Christ’s resurrection, a reality to which faith opens the door. “This is the Lord’s doing”, says the Psalm (118:23), and “it is marvelous in our eyes”, the eyes of faith.


Dear brothers and sisters, today our eyes behold, in the full spiritual light of the risen Christ, the beloved and revered figure of John Paul II. Today his name is added to the host of those whom he proclaimed saints and blesseds during the almost twenty-seven years of his pontificate, thereby forcefully emphasizing the universal vocation to the heights of the Christian life, to holiness, taught by the conciliar Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium. All of us, as members of the people of God – bishops, priests, deacons, laity, men and women religious – are making our pilgrim way to the heavenly homeland where the Virgin Mary has preceded us, associated as she was in a unique and perfect way to the mystery of Christ and the Church. Karol Wojtyła took part in the Second Vatican Council, first as an auxiliary Bishop and then as Archbishop of Kraków. He was fully aware that the Council’s decision to devote the last chapter of its Constitution on the Church to Mary meant that the Mother of the Redeemer is held up as an image and model of holiness for every Christian and for the entire Church. This was the theological vision which Blessed John Paul II discovered as a young man and subsequently maintained and deepened throughout his life. A vision which is expressed in the scriptural image of the crucified Christ with Mary, his Mother, at his side. This icon from the Gospel of John (19:25-27) was taken up in the episcopal and later the papal coat-of-arms of Karol Wojtyła: a golden cross with the letter “M” on the lower right and the motto “Totus tuus”, drawn from the well-known words of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort in which Karol Wojtyła found a guiding light for his life: “Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Accipio te in mea omnia. Praebe mihi cor tuum, Maria – I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart” (Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 266).


In his Testament, the new Blessed wrote: “When, on 16 October 1978, the Conclave of Cardinals chose John Paul II, the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, said to me: ‘The task of the new Pope will be to lead the Church into the Third Millennium’”. And the Pope added: “I would like once again to express my gratitude to the Holy Spirit for the great gift of the Second Vatican Council, to which, together with the whole Church – and especially with the whole episcopate – I feel indebted. I am convinced that it will long be granted to the new generations to draw from the treasures that this Council of the twentieth century has lavished upon us. As a Bishop who took part in the Council from the first to the last day, I desire to entrust this great patrimony to all who are and will be called in the future to put it into practice. For my part, I thank the Eternal Shepherd, who has enabled me to serve this very great cause in the course of all the years of my Pontificate”. And what is this “cause”? It is the same one that John Paul II presented during his first solemn Mass in Saint Peter’s Square in the unforgettable words: “Do not be afraid! Open, open wide the doors to Christ!” What the newly-elected Pope asked of everyone, he was himself the first to do: society, culture, political and economic systems he opened up to Christ, turning back with the strength of a titan – a strength which came to him from God – a tide which appeared irreversible. By his witness of faith, love and apostolic courage, accompanied by great human charisma, this exemplary son of Poland helped believers throughout the world not to be afraid to be called Christian, to belong to the Church, to speak of the Gospel. In a word: he helped us not to fear the truth, because truth is the guarantee of liberty. To put it even more succinctly: he gave us the strength to believe in Christ, because Christ is Redemptor hominis, the Redeemer of man. This was the theme of his first encyclical, and the thread which runs though all the others.


When Karol Wojtyła ascended to the throne of Peter, he brought with him a deep understanding of the difference between Marxism and Christianity, based on their respective visions of man. This was his message: man is the way of the Church, and Christ is the way of man. With this message, which is the great legacy of the Second Vatican Council and of its “helmsman”, the Servant of God Pope Paul VI, John Paul II led the People of God across the threshold of the Third Millennium, which thanks to Christ he was able to call “the threshold of hope”. Throughout the long journey of preparation for the great Jubilee he directed Christianity once again to the future, the future of God, which transcends history while nonetheless directly affecting it. He rightly reclaimed for Christianity that impulse of hope which had in some sense faltered before Marxism and the ideology of progress. He restored to Christianity its true face as a religion of hope, to be lived in history in an “Advent” spirit, in a personal and communitarian existence directed to Christ, the fullness of humanity and the fulfillment of all our longings for justice and peace.


Finally, on a more personal note, I would like to thank God for the gift of having worked for many years with Blessed Pope John Paul II. I had known him earlier and had esteemed him, but for twenty-three years, beginning in 1982 after he called me to Rome to be Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I was at his side and came to revere him all the more. My own service was sustained by his spiritual depth and by the richness of his insights. His example of prayer continually impressed and edified me: he remained deeply united to God even amid the many demands of his ministry. Then too, there was his witness in suffering: the Lord gradually stripped him of everything, yet he remained ever a “rock”, as Christ desired. His profound humility, grounded in close union with Christ, enabled him to continue to lead the Church and to give to the world a message which became all the more eloquent as his physical strength declined. In this way he lived out in an extraordinary way the vocation of every priest and bishop to become completely one with Jesus, whom he daily receives and offers in the Church.


Blessed are you, beloved Pope John Paul II, because you believed! Continue, we implore you, to sustain from heaven the faith of God’s people. You often blessed us in this Square from the Apostolic Palace: Bless us, Holy Father! Amen.

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