Our Lord of the Miracles and Blessed John Paul II

A new statue of Blessed John Paul II will soon be unveiled in Lima, Peru! Once images are released, we’ll see that the 21-foot tall statue of the late Holy Father is displayed blessing a child, who is dressed with an image of Our Lord of the Miracles (a special Peruvian devotion).

The statue is meant to signify the close relationship between the Peruvian people and John Paul II, as well as his deep love for young people.

Blessed John Paul II, Pray for Us! Our Lord of the Miracles, Have Mercy on Us!

2012: A Year For The New Evangelization

2012 was quite a year for the Church. There were some low points, involving scandal, violence, and religious liberty violations. On the other hand, there were many high points, involving growth, better communication, and a renewed vigor for the Faith. While there was sorrow, our good Father gave us much to be grateful for.

How can we ever forget this year for the New Evangelization? Blessed John Paul II’s call to a re-evangelization of cultures was given a more concrete vision in 2012, as the Church came together for the Synod on the New Evangelization. Leaders from throughout the world gathered in October, in order to discuss how to inspire greater Faith in their countries. At the close of the Synod, the Church looked forward with hope in the Holy Spirit, and Pope Benedict XVI shared his conviction that there would be a “new springtime for Christianity.”

In anticipation of this springtime, the Holy Father launched the Year of Faith, “a summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the one Savior of the world.” Pope Benedict XVI announced the Year of Faith in response to a modern crisis of faith—the very crisis that sparked the Synod for the New Evangelization. This celebration began in October, and it will end on November 24, 2013, the Solemnity of Christ the King. Leaders have already begun to “re-catechize” the faithful, and we can look forward to more in the year to come.

In 2012, the Church promoted a renewed vigor for evangelization and initiated a Year of Faith to ground us in the Truth to be transmitted. There were strong efforts to bring the New Evangelization to the Americas and to spark new unity between American nations, where over half of the world’s Catholics live. This is why the “Ecclesia in America” Conference was held in December. There were over 200 American leaders at the summit, from cities like Toronto, Boston, Tegucigalpa, and Guadalajara. The summit was held in response to Blessed John Paul II’s 1999 apostolic exhortation, delivered in Mexico City, and it sparked a new solidarity between American nations.

Following Yonder Star

They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

            -Matthew 2: 11

The Memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Yes, Venerable Brothers and beloved sons and daughters! Elizabeth Ann Seton is a Saint! We rejoice and we are deeply moved that our apostolic ministry authorizes us to make this solemn declaration before all of you here present, before the holy Catholic Church, before our other Christian brethren in the world, before the entire American people, and before all humanity. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton is a Saint! She is the first daughter of the United States of America to be glorified with this incomparable attribute!

…the late Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York, attributed to her as primary and characteristic: “Elizabeth Ann Seton was wholly American!” Rejoice, we say to the great nation of the United States of America. Rejoice for your glorious daughter. Be proud of her. And know how to preserve her fruitful heritage. This most beautiful figure of a holy woman presents to the world and to history the affirmation of new and authentic riches that are yours: that religious spirituality which your temporal prosperity seemed to obscure and almost make impossible. Your land too, America, is indeed worthy of receiving into its fertile ground the seed of evangelical holiness. And here is a splendid proof-among many others-of this fact.

…we must recall that the most notable characteristic of our Saint is the fact that she was…the foundress of the first Religious Congregation of women in the United States. It was an offspring of the religious family of Saint Vincent de Paul, which later divided into various autonomous branches-five principal ones-now spread throughout the world. And yet all of them recognize their origin in the first group, that of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph's, personally established by Saint Elizabeth Seton at Emmitsburg in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The apostolate of helping the poor and the running of parochial schools in America had this humble, poor, courageous and glorious beginning.

-Homily of Paul VI for 1975 Canonization of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton—wife, mother, widow, and religious—pray for America today, particularly for her schools. May they be safe places for children to learn and grow closer to the Father.  

The Wellsprings of Trust on Earth

Last Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI spoke with about 40 thousand young people from Europe’s Taizé Community, who traveled on pilgrimage to Rome in order to receive the Holy Father’s blessing on their resolution for the New Year: “to uncover the wellsprings of trust in God in today’s world.”

The Taizé Community is an ecumenical monastic order, which was founded in France in 1940.  It has since become of a place of pilgrimage for young people, who gather there from throughout the world seeking a renewed trust in God. The community is best known for its Taizé form of music and worship, which includes songs and chants from various traditions and is presented in a number of languages.

In his message to the young pilgrims, Pope Benedict XVI said:

Singing to Christ, you open yourselves to the mystery of His hope. Do not be afraid to precede the dawn in praise of God, you will not be disappointed. Dear young friends, Christ does not remove you from the world. He sends you there where His light is missing, so that you may bring it to others. Yes, you are all called to be small lights to those around you. With your attention to a more equitable distribution of the goods of the earth, with your commitment to justice and a new human solidarity, you will help those around you to better understand how the Gospel leads us to God and at the same time to others. So, with your faith, you will contribute to uncovering the wellsprings of trust on earth.

Papal Intentions for January

Pope Benedict’s general prayer intention for this month is, “That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.” His missionary intention is, “That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.”

Let us join the Holy Father in prayer this month, and let us do what God wills in helping our families and communities to grow in faith and peace during this New Year. 

Mary Mother of God, Mother of Peace

This jeweled icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa was donated to the
Blessed John Paul II Shrine by the Jane and Edward Bleka Family Foundation. 

On this Octave Day of Christmas, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. We also celebrate the World Day of Peace (see Pope Benedict XVI’s 2013 message here).

Let us meditate on Blessed John Paul II’s first homily for this most sacred of days:

Today the church particularly venerates the Motherhood of Mary.  This is, as it were, a last message of the octave of Christmas. Birth always speaks of the Begetter, of her who gives life, of her who gives man to the world. The first day of the New Year is Mother's day.

We see her then—as in so many pictures and sculptures—with the Child in her arms, with the Child at her breast. The Mother, she who begot and fed the Son of God. The Mother of Christ. There is no image that is better known and that speaks in a more simple way of the mystery of the Lord's birth than that of the Mother with Jesus in her arms. Is not this image, perhaps, the source of our extraordinary confidence? Is it not just this image that allows us to live in the circle of all the mysteries of our faith, and, while contemplating them as "divine," to consider them at the same time so "human"?

But there is yet another image of the Mother with her Son in her arms. It is in this basilica: it is "la Pietà:" Mary with Jesus taken from the Cross; with Jesus who died before her eyes, on Mount Golgotha, and who after death returns to those arms on which he was offered as Saviour of the world at Bethlehem.