Gosh Brian, you're reminding me more and more of Mother Angelica. 1993 – 30 years ago when Mother Angelica declared war Posted on 31 March 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf https://wdtprs.com/2023/03/125065/
She was awesome, a true hero saint to be emulated. We visited there twice in the late 1990s, and all my kids got a hug and a kiss from her. I’ve subsequently told them they’re all relics.
Happy Birthday, HH! I can't believe that was 18 years ago... I was in Rome when it happened. A college kid studying abroad, I was there for the Palm Sunday and Holy Week Masses when JPII was unable to celebrate Mass or speak his blessings aloud...but I looked up to his window as he gave his final silent blessings. I remember the precise moment when I was goofing off with a friend and another of my friends walked by and said, "How can you be playing around when the Pope just died?" I hadn't known yet, and her words sank down upon my heart like crushing weights. Later, I stood in the massive line that wove through the streets of Rome waiting to pass by the Pope for a final goodbye before his funeral...We prayed, sang, joined hands together, waved our flags from all different countries and chanted "Santo Subito! Santo Subito!" The love we all had for him, the love we felt he'd had for us, was unforgettable and still moves me. He holds a special place in my heart and has been my spiritual companion through the years since. It's so bittersweet, reflecting on the difference in the world and Church between then and now. I long to have a pope like him again. But things will never be the same. A new time is here.
I was thinking about Pope St John Paul yesterday. There is no doubt he was a man of very deep prayer. The little Tailor who trained him first in prayer in Krakow (and who is up for canonisation himself) was very much in the Carmelite Tradition. and they had a little prayer group where they used to say the rosary together. This Pope did his Doctorate on St John of the Cross. From what people observed he seemed to go into very deep states of prayer. There is a lovely story about him from his driver in Krakow. He had an appointment with a Communist Government Minister and to mess John Paul about he kept the poor guy sitting for two hours. The driver said John Paul was totally unfazed and calm and simply sat there praying. Saint Archbishop Oscar Romero one time wanted urgently to see Pope St John Paul and burst into a Church to talk to him, he found the Pope Lying face down before the Blessed Sacrament totally out of it in deep, deep prayer. The thing , the great thing about having a Saint for Pope is that you fully trust the guy. He may make mistakes but you can trust him. Something I think we had long taken for granted, that our Popes , we thought would always be saints. Pope St John Paul used to say this prayer every day, which had been taught him by his father: Holy Spirit, I ask of You the gift of wisdom for a better understanding of You and of Your divine perfection; the gift of intellect for a better understanding of the essence of the mysteries of the holy faith; the gift of knowledge so that I may know how to orient my life in accordance with the principles of faith; the gift of counsel so that in all things I can seek counsel from You and can always find it in You; the gift of strength so that no fear or earthly motivations can take me away from You; the gift of piety, so that I can always serve Your Majesty with filial love; the gift of the fear of God so that no fear or earthly motivations can take me away from you. Amen. https://fjp2.com/john-paul-ii-praye...death-he-learned-this-prayer-from-his-father/
Yes, it was such a memorable blessing to be living in Rome the spring that he died. St. JPII had a special love and vision for young people. I reflect on this often, since I was young when he was pope. He seemed to want to prepare us for a new time in the Church--a time full of hope, a springtime--yet he was also always telling us to "be not afraid." This, coupled with the prophecy to St. Faustina that out of Poland would come the "spark" to prepare the world for Christ's 2nd coming, makes me think that St. JPII knew that the youth during his pontificate would be alive during and at least partly the agents of ushering in a new era, albeit through some very difficult and scary times. As mentioned recently, the young priests most of all have this task. And St. JPII helped form our spirituality. As a teen, I was extremely shy, and in prayerful reflection I realized that I was not able to show God's love to others very well when I was so self-conscious I could barely look others in the eye. So I thought of the person that most showed the love of Christ, and that IMO was JPII. I began studying his life to see how it was that he seemed so naturally loving and selfless--a vessel that God's love just poured through freely--and I found so much suffering he had to bear, and so much depth of prayer, that I realized it was not just a personality trait. I began asking God to help me to love as JPII learned to love, and when JPII died, I was able to ask him personally and frequently. I credit him with helping me work through so many issues I had and finding God's love more fully through daily Mass and Adoration. Any transformation I had from being an overly-sensitive, self-absorbed and socially anxious person was probably merited by his prayers. And I think so many Catholics and younger priests probably have similar stories to tell. He did prepare us for something, and it will be largely due to him if we rise to the occasion.
Kamala Harris tried to threaten Ghana for clamping down on Homosexual propaganda. The Speaker of Ghana replies, bless him, quoting Pope Francis of all people:
