Bl. John Paul II' Relic Stolen- Arrest Made/Relic Recovered

About five days ago, a relic of Blessed John Paul II containing a blood stained cloth was stolen from the sanctuary of San Pietro della lenca on the mountain peak of Gran Sasso in Abruzzo, Italy.

At first it was believed to be the work of 'Satanists" who supposedly have a 'feast day' or 'new year' of sorts today.  However, arrests were made and the relic was recovered. Three men were arrested who are known by local police for small crimes.  They are described as drug addicts and are in their early 20's.

The thieves claim they did not know what the relic was or the value of it and apparently were only interested in the metal of the reliquary which is often heavily decorated and gives the impression that it is pure gold or rich in real gems. The parts of the relic were found in a garage in tempera, L'Aquila.

Relics have been used since Old Testament times (2 Kings 13:21). Relics remind us of the humanity of a saint while at the same time recalling their virtues. The Church classifies them into three categories: First, Second and Third.

• First Class relics are direct bodily remains from a saint or blessed which can be bone, flesh, hair, or blood.  
• Second Class relics are items a saint or blessed used, such as: vestments, a habit, other clothing, or other typical things like pens, furniture, book etc.  
• Third Class relics are relics that are touched to a first or second class relic.    

The relic comes from 1981 when Blessed John Paul II was shot at St. Peter's Square.  It was given to the chapel by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz because Pope John Paul II used to vacation there and used the land to ski.

It is safe to say that our Holy Father, Bl. John Paul II has forgiven the perpetrators and we all should do the same.

We should pray for these young men and hopefully church officials will reach out to them so they can break their addictions and be introduced to just work in order to live life the right way.

Pope John Paul II is scheduled to be officially canonized April 27, 2014.




Here are more Scripture Passages on Relics:

Matt. 9:21; Mark 5:28 - woman with bleeding ailment touched the cloak of Christ and was healed.

Acts 19:11-12 - St. Paul's handkerchiefs were used to heal the sick and exorcise demons.

Acts 5:15 - Even the shadow of St. Peter healed people








Source:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/01/27/vial-blood-from-pope-john-paul-ii-stolen-from-italian-church/

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/31/pope-john-paul-ii-blood

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2548926/Men-arrested-theft-relic-containing-blood-Pope-John-Paul-II-thrown-away-police-fear.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/27/us-italy-blood-johnpaul-idUSBREA0Q0IZ20140127

http://news.yahoo.com/thieves-steal-pope-john-paul-39-blood-italy-111858044.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/01/27/newser-pope-john-paul-ii-blood-stolen/4937149/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25985579

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/31/pope-john-paul-bloodstained-cloth-recovered

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25985579

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-john-paul-iis-blood-recovered-after-being-stolen-from-italy-church/

JPII to be Canonized April 27

According to some news outlets, a Vatican official has informed that Blessed John Paul II's canonization will take place on April 27, 2014.  The Vatican has not made any official announcements, so I will update this post if anything changes.

 




Source:

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/John-Paul-Canonization-saint/2013/09/03/id/523587

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/report-pope-francis-says-john-paul-ii-to-be-canonized-april-27/

Our Lady of Fatima

Today May 13 is the Feast day of Our Lady of Fatima.  Some people think that there are different Virgin Mary's and this is not the case.  "Fatima, "Lourdes," "Knock," "Guadalupe," and so on are just titles for the same Virgin Mary who is the Mother of the Son of God.

She is referred to Our Lady of Fatima because of a series of apparitions she made to three Portuguese children from May 13, 1917 to October 13, 1917.  The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Lucia Santos and her younger cousins, Jacinta Marto and Francisco Marto.  Lucia would eventually join the Carmelite order and live for 97 years.  She passed away in 2005.  Her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta would die in 1919 and 1920.

The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the children dressed in white with a Rosary around her wrists.  She would tell the children to pray for the conversion of the world, in particular the Soviet union which was spreading errors in regards to social doctrine.  At the time, the Soviet Union was communist and was promoting this idea around the world.  The Blessed Virgin Mary would be addressed as "Our Lady of the Rosary" by the children who were still too young to truly comprehend the events of the apparition.  Mary gave the children three secrets.  The first secret was revealed in 1927 and had to do with devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  The second secret was concerning the reality of hell and how many souls were being lost because of sin.

The third secret was revealed in 2000 after Blessed John Paul II ordered its revelation.  The secret dealt with the vision of a bishop in white being shot at by soldiers.  Some believe that this secret had to do with Pope John Paul II who was shot on May 13, 1981 which is the exact day of the first apparition in 1917.

He survived the assassination attempt and a year later made the trip to Fatima, Portugal to thank Our Lady.  The bullet removed from him was placed in the crown of the statue at Fatima.  Blessed John Paul II believed that Our Lady saved him.  However, Pope Benedict XVI has stated that the third secret did not end with his predecessor's assassination attempt and that it is a reminder of the suffering and persecution the Church would have to go through until the end of time.

The children would not have an easy time in Fatima.  Artur Santos, an administrator in the government would jail the children believing them to be part of some sort of anarchist movement.  While in jail, the children managed to get the other inmates to pray with them the Rosary.  Shortly afterwards, Artur Santos would try to intimidate the children into divulging the secrets.  He threatened to boil them in oil if they did not comply.  The children while terrified, did not succumb, so they were released.

Moreover, as expected, many skeptics denied the apparitions at the time.  They considered the children to be either making the apparition up or completely delusional.  Our Lady would promise a miracle in October that would give substance to the claims of the children.  When the day arrived on October 13, 1917, the people gathered in the rain at Cova da Iria.  They were expecting a miracle in the skies and instead saw rain.
Crowds over 70,000 gathered including reporters of different media outlets, atheists and scientists.  They grew impatient and began to heckle the children believing them to be charlatans.  However, the rain stopped suddenly.  The sun became visible behind thin clouds and its rays did not hurt the eyes of those looking at it.  Lucia cried out, "the sun! Look at the sun!"  All looked and saw the sun begin to spin and change into different colors.  Others saw the sun actually moving or "dancing" in the skies and seemed to come close to the Earth; so close that those present could feel an increase of heat.  As a result, the drenched clothing of the people were completely dried.  This event was witnessed by others miles away from the site.  Till this day, no one has been able to explain this event.

Some have tried to explain this as a mere hallucination; however, it is not possible for 70,000 people to hallucinate in the exact same manner.  Moreover, people miles away who had no idea what was going on in regards to the gathering at Cova da Iria, witnessed the solar phenomenon.  As a student of physics, there is no explanation in physics that takes into account this event.

Yes, the sun is "spinning" or rotating in space, but on its axis like the Earth.  It is not making erratic movements.  Others have claimed that the sun blinded the people and their eyes compensated for this; however, if the photoreceptor cells or "cone" cells of the eyes absorb too much light, they simply will just shut down and one will perceive darkness.

While it recovers, the eyes will begin to perceive other neon toned colors as the cones regulate themselves.  This is not what the people saw.  They saw the sun spinning, moving and changing colors in the sky.  They felt the heat increase as well as the sun moved closer.  There was no blindness or any attempt by the eyes to regulate the amount of light entering the cones.

As stated before, people could look at the sun and did not feel any discomfort.  Reporters were present, as well as atheists and men of science.  They all have given account of this event and did not brush them off as hallucination or ocular regulation when too much light is absorbed.  It was truly a miracle.





     

Bill Nye says Creationism is not Good

"Bill Nye the Science guy"- I remember watching his program as a kid.  Well, Bill Nye is making news after claiming that Creationism is not good for kids.

He says:

"I say to the grownups, 'If you want to deny evolution and live in your world that's completely inconsistent with everything we've observed in the universe that's fine. But don't make your kids do it,'"

Nye adds that teaching kids Creationism will make the the United States of America fall behind in science.  To a certain degree he is right.  We cannot read the accounts of Creation in Genesis literally.  This will bring about many problems.  

The Catholic Church does not have an official position on creation only that God created us.  However, Evolution seems to be the side the Church takes.  The recent pontificates of Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have publicly voiced approval of the theory of Evolution.

The first mention of evolution was in the encyclical Humanis Generis. Pope Pius XII states:

"The Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions, on the part of men experiences in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter—for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God."

Pope Pius XII basically says that evolution can be accepted as long as the teaching that souls are immediately created by God is held alongside it.  


Blessed John Paul II had this to say to the Pontifical Academy for the Sciencesin 1996:

"In his encyclical Humani Generis (1950), my predecessor Pius XII has already affirmed that there is no conflict between evolution and the doctrine of the faith regarding man and his vocation, provided that we do not lose sight of certain fixed points.... Today, more than a half-century after the appearance of that encyclical, some new findings lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than a hypothesis. In fact it is remarkable that this theory has had progressively greater influence on the spirit of researchers, following a series of discoveries in different scholarly disciplines. The convergence in the results of these independent studies—which was neither planned nor sought—constitutes in itself a significant argument in favor of the theory."

Here the late Pontiff states that evolution and faith are not in disagreement.  He even goes as far as giving merit to the theory of evolution as being supported by evidence.


Pope Benedict XVI as Cardinal Ratizinger wrote:

"We cannot say: creation or evolution, inasmuch as these two things respond to two different realities. The story of the dust of the earth and the breath of God, which we just heard, does not in fact explain how human persons come to be but rather what they are. It explains their inmost origin and casts light on the project that they are. And, vice versa, the theory of evolution seeks to understand and describe biological developments. But in so doing it cannot explain where the 'project' of human persons comes from, nor their inner origin, nor their particular nature. To that extent we are faced here with two complementary—rather than mutually exclusive—realities." -In the Beginning: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall

Evolution is an important theory to teach our children.  The story of Creation is also important to teach.  However, this story must be taught in a way that children can understand it in relation to what we know today via evolution.  Who cares if we came from slime, fish, apes or a rock.  The important thing is that God created us and we are here now.  

In 1987, the United States Supreme Court ruled the teaching of Creationism unconstitutional.  In light of this, I think Bill Nye is a bit paranoid and going down a slippery slope.  Our children will learn evolution regardless of their faith.

Evolution does not disqualify God as Creator.  If anything, it shows the genius of God and how He uses natural processes in order to bring about life.




Source:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/28/bill-nye-science-guy-creationism-evolution_n_1835208.html

http://news.yahoo.com/bill-nye-science-guy-says-creationism-not-good-101837975.html

Blessed John Paul II - 1st Year Anniversary

Today is the 1st year anniversary of the Beatification of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II - The Great!  Time moves on so fast.  Bl. John Paul II was a great man and great priest.  He is truly missed but will never be forgotten.  He is still part of the Church despite not being physically with us.

He was a juggernaut for the faith who inspired so many, young and old.  May Bl. John Paul II continue to pray for us all still in the Church Militant on Earth.  John Paul II we Luv You!

Blessed John Paul II

Today is the first celebration of the feast day of Blessed John Paul II since his beatification on Divine Mercy Sunday which fell on May 1st this year 2011.  October 22nd was chosen as the day for Pope Benedict XVI's predecessor because it was the day he was inaugurated to the Papacy in 1978. What a great day to pray and reflect on the holiness and life of this great man: Pope John Paul II the Great!   He was an inspiration to all.  Even in his suffering he preached Christ crucified.

During his last appearance he struggled to speak but could not.  It was heart breaking to see this great man who was so articulate and so charismatic not be able to speak one word.   However, he spoke in that moment louder than in any other.  He showed us Christ suffering.  Without the suffering of Christ we would not have redemption nor salvation.  There would be no such thing as Christianity.  Blessed John Paul II reminded us of this.  He also showed that the elderly, disabled, suffering and all those who are seen as weak and useless can contribute to society.  As 1 Corinthians 1:27 says, "God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong."  

October 7, 1995  Mass at Central Park, NYC

Thank you Holy Father for traveling the world to spread the Gospel of Hope.  Thank you for starting World Youth Day which keeps the fire of the Holy Spirit going among the newer generations.  Thank you for reminding us never to fear.  Pray for us Holy Father Blessed John Paul II the Great.  

O Holy Trinity,
we thank you for having given to the Church
Pope John Paul II,
and for having made him shine with your fatherly tenderness,
the glory of the Cross of Christ and the splendor of the Spirit of love

He, trusting completely in your infinite mercy
and in the maternal intercession of Mary, has shown himself
in the likeness of Jesus the Good Shepherd
and has pointed out to us holiness
as the path to reach eternal communion with You.

Grant us, through his intercession,
according to your will, the grace that we implore,
in the hope that he will soon be numbered among your saints.
Amen.

Bl. John Paul II