JP II, We Miss You
Yesterday was, or would have been had it not been the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, the feast of Pope Saint John Paul II, crowned as the 264th Pope on October 22nd, 1978, and passing into his eternity on April 2, 2005. We have therefore gone twelve years without his charismatic, joyful, exuberant, highly intelligent, holy, peaceful presence, at least this side of heaven. I for one miss him mightily, and look forward to a hike or two with him in heaven, Deo volente, and by the same God’s good grace.
Yet the great Pontiff left behind for us an immemorial imprint of his unique mind and personality in his voluminous, but clear and precise, writings, on just about every important topic imaginable. He has solidified doctrine, currently being brought into ambiguity and confusion.
Yet, as JP II would say, ‘be not afraid’, for these teachings, along with those of his predecessors, are all there, unassailable. Sure, they can be ignored, but they cannot really be ‘changed’ in any fundamental sense. See part of my interview here for an understanding of what it means for doctrine to ‘develop’. The Church may deepen her understanding of human sexuality, for example, as the Theology of the Body has done, but she may not change her moral principles, as permitting contraception or adultery would do. I still wonder why the long papal letter Amoris Laetitia does not quote John Paul II’s profound moral encyclical Veritatis Splendor in its myriads of paragraphs musing on the morality of complex marital problems, but the infallible and irreformable principles remain nonetheless, for those with eyes to see and ears to hear.
John Paul II, along with his friend and successor Benedict XVI, has left us a treasure trove of teaching. To apply another of JP II’s aphorisms, duc in altum, again, dive into its depths, and, again, repeat it to yourself, be not afraid. These storms too will pass by.
Pope Saint John Paul II, ora pro nobis!
Carney’s Amoral Majority
After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→
Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk
(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]Continue reading→
A Tale of Two Benedicts
A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→
The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus
As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→
Canonizing Sister Faustina and Divine Mercy
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER MASS IN ST PETER’S SQUARE FOR THE CANONIZATION OF SR MARY FAUSTINA KOWALSKA Sunday, 30 April 2000 1. “Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius”; “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever” (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of[…]Continue reading→
Divine Mercy Sunday – An Echo of Every Mass
Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe’… ‘My Lord and my God!’ (Jn. 20:18)). Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, and as we celebrate the end of the Easter Octave, we contemplate the wounded side of our Saviour, the Church’s source of life. On Good Friday in the[…]Continue reading→
Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów
We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→