Canonization of Sts. John Paul II and John XXIII Second Sunday of Easter-A April 27, 2014 Saints In the double canonization of John Paul II and John XXIII am beginning to realize that our saints are our contemporaries in one sense that they live within our time, our immediate historical context—that we have seen them, heard them and own them as belonging to our particular milieu. Also their contemporaneity with us, and us with them tells me that within this age, live among us saints, holy men and women, who live heroic lives, faithful to the Gospel and extraordinary examples of Christian life and witness. They are countless: ordained ministers, consecrated nuns, religious, married couples, youth, people in charitable institutions, founders of movements responding to the challenge of the spirit, and yes, men and women of today who are imbued with the spirit of the Gospel believing that “we must be holy as our heavenly Father is holy” (Cfr. Matt. 5:48). This generation, in spite of the negative factors we have been exposed to these days, is a holy generation; We are priestly people, holy people, God’s chosen people! Who is the source of holiness? I believe that holiness is God’s gift to His Church, to His people. God raised men and women throughout the ages who are outstanding in holiness, not for their own praise but to show forth the holiness of the Church, which is the bride of Jesus Christ. Even while in this valley of tears, she is ever preserved by God as the bride worthy of her master and savior Jesus Christ. It is the love of her master and lord that kept her clean and spotless so that in the wedding feast in heaven, all her members can sit among the company of the blessed who share in the banquet of perfect love and communion. That together with all the elect, we shall see Him as He is, and sit among the God’s holy people forever singing God’s praises. People down the centuries whose lives were marked by the holiness of Christ await us there. God, who is the source of the holiness of and in the Church, makes all these possible in His love and mercy for us. Let us not be confused! Saints are citizens of heaven, not because the Church says and assigns them that place, but because the saints really are. They are already there in heaven even before their canonization! It is a declaration of fact, not the creation of it. This heavenly citizenship is a priori to canonization. It means that canonization is not a reward for holiness, but a statement we make about our belief to the already blessed life of saints in heaven. Canonization process is a declaration by the Church, in faith, that these blessed men, after having gone through very stringent process, invoking the aid of the Holy Spirit and upon consultation of the college of bishops who are gifted with the charism of truth with the sure aid of divine inspiration, are indeed citizens of heaven, sitting next to God, as evidenced by the favor from God received through their intercession. The miracle required for canonization is a proof that it is humanly possible to declare a divine reality. The Church is telling us that it can be positively proven that the blessed ones live with God. In fact, it is not really a decision, which the Pope makes alone, but in his name the entire Church, the entire people of God makes the acclamation. In its long history, we have seen in the past that canonization was done simply by acclamation: the people openly declaring the person as saint. In these modern days, we have adopted a process that it is impossible for an impostor to be declared a saint. Just to demonstrate how serious this matter is, I heard this principle from a priest that it was better not to declare a holy person a saint, that to canonize a false one. In the case of these Popes (John Paul II and John XXIII), people already recognized the sanctity of both persons, and in their own lifetime they had been attributed with miraculous healings, with they easily dismissed as not theirs but God’s. John Paul II’s prayer was to the point of heroism. He was absorbed in prayer many important moments of the day, before many decisions he had to make as Pope and even when it was physically impossible for him to pray. His personal secretary and very close confidant, Cardinal Stanislaus Dziwisz, said that he knew that he lived with a saint simply by seeing John Paul II’s extraordinary prayer life. A lot of people understood it that way too, so that even while he was still alive people preserved something of the Pope because they knew it would be relic of a saint later on. John XXIII was a man of very humble origins, rose to the Papacy in spite of his advance years (77 years old when he was elected Pope). When we say humble, we are just euphemistic about his family’s poverty. He was extraordinarily disposed to joy, and his vitality and vigor were never lost to old age. In stead, he surprised the world with his extraordinary reading of the Holy Spirit’s movement in history by calling for an ecumenical council, Vatican Council II. Those who appreciate Church and even world history will attest to the fact that this is a tipping point in Church life, and empowered her with the astonishing force to push the agenda of the Gospel for the present and future. He was a man of prayer, and this was translated in his good nature towards everyone who called him “il buono papa!” (The good Pope). Wonderful anecdotes surround the great yet simple person, which to me reveal not just a person of impressive wit but also a man of great human spirit and holiness. When John XIII was elected Pope, he heard a lady remarked, “Oh, the Pope is too fat and too old!” He merely responded, “Lady, I hope you realize that the conclave is not a beauty contest!” He said this with the very great sense of meekness of one who can make fun of one’s own limitations. Did we not hear Jesus say, “Blessed are the meek….for theirs is the kingdom of heaven?” (cfr. Matt. 5: 3ff). Here is another one: He asked a boy what he would become when we grew up. The boy, unsure of what to become, said, “I want to be a police or a Pope.” John XXIII replied, “Become a police, instead. Anyone can be a pope. Look at me.” The Papacy did not get into his head and bloated it. He remained the young energetic Angelo Giuseppe (Roncalli) who was a voracious spiritual diarist whose thoughts on everything in life centered on God. God was the life of his soul. I have watched or seen canonizations before. But I had to admit that this was the first time I understand, how meekly the Church implored the Holy Spirit for aid this matter. It is the Holy Spirit who played that most “difficult” part, who did the whole work and who brought the process to completion. I think all canonizations are to be seen as the Holy Spirit working, and the Church listening to Him. In everything in Church life, it is the same Spirit who gives us the confidence that what we declare is guaranteed, because He promised to send us the Spirit to be our advocate and guide (cfr. John 14: 15-18). The Spirit hovered over the great sea of believers. The solemnity of this is seen in the great act of faith of the whole Church, believing that there are those ahead of us in heaven, not saying this in figurative speech, but almost scientifically. They are in heaven that is why they are called Saints! I for one experienced their miracle or the-proof-of-their-citizenship-in-heaven-by-their-powerful-intercession-on-our-behalf-before-God (whew!) on their canonization day itself. It was forecasted on the Italian “Meteo” that on April 27, 2014, there will be rain from about 4am to 6am. Then it would resume at noontime. But around 7am to 10am there would be sun, but with chances of rain remained. First, it did not rain before the canonization even during the whole vigil. There was overcast cloud that morning. The sun was not totally visible, although it was not dark. It was surely cold for spring. People prepared umbrellas but promised to brave through the rain anyway. The Mass started without the predicted rain, although sometime in the middle of the Rites, it started to drizzle. It was expected. People brought out their umbrellas; I did too. But after the Pope declared that their names would be written in the book of the Saints (thus Canonized or listed), the skies opened and the sun finally appeared. I had to wear my sunglasses then because it was painful for my eyes. While the wind was cold, it was gently and comfortably warm when John Paul II and John XXIII were canonized. People easily realized the extraordinary intercession these two saints had. I figure that 1.1 million people at St. Peter’s square prayed to God that day through these new saints. God obliged, in approval, on their behalf. God was pleased with the Church’s prayer. I have lived through that day, aware that something historical unfolded, and I was in the middle of it. I am contemporary not just with saints, but also with an unprecedented event in human history. It was dubbed as the day of the four Popes: St. John XXIII, St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis (Now one imagines the Popes walking in a single line like the Beatles’ Abbey Road photo shoot!). It was something extraordinary in our ordinary lives. We are living in the company of saints, in the era of great spiritual and church leaders in the persons of these Popes, we are side by side with great men and women of our generation, with the many believers who seemed ordinary from the surfaces but are in fact future citizens of heaven and members of the great assembly of Saints!
Posted on: Mon, 05 May 2014 12:40:48 +0000
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