Melo: thanksgiving for the beatification of John Paul II  |
| Along with Bishop Heriberto concelebrated Fr Freddy and Fr Paco SDB |
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| Fr Jairo expressed their thanks. |
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| Children Damaso Antonio Larrañaga College encouraged with his singing. |
Homily of Bishop Heriberto
Dear sisters, dear brothers:
many events come together on this day! The Uruguay and many countries around the world remember today the Labour Day. In this regard, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, and this morning, here in Melo, the parish church dedicated to him had its fiesta.
The coincidence of this May with the second Sunday of Easter confronts us with another feast: the Sunday of Divine Mercy, established by Pope John Paul II. The prayer that opens the Mass we do this by invoking the Father as "God's eternal mercy."
This day, as charged, then, of meaning, is the day that the Church has chosen to celebrate the beatification of Karol Wojtyla, the beloved Pope John Paul II.
What does a beatification?
First, when the Church celebrates a beatification and then canonization, what it does is recognize the sanctity of a person's life. The Church declared Blessed John Paul II because it is convinced of his holiness of life and is sure that is next to God. Blessed
means
happy, blessed
: is the word that is uttered in the Beatitudes Jesus. In Matthew's Gospel Jesus proclaims blessed
,
happy, or blessed
, the poor in spirit, the meek, those who mourn; those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, those working for peace, those persecuted for righteousness' sake ... All of it because they have faithfully followed Jesus as disciples, have persevered with him in their tests, so "theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (cf. Matthew 5.3 to 10).
Thus, when the Church says
Blessed John Paul II is saying with certainty that he has definitely entered the Kingdom of God, he is now, forever, in the presence of God.
Secondly, something that may be surprising ...
Thinking about the life of John Paul II, one can not but be admired of his works: the generous gift of 26 years, 5 months and 17 days as Pope lived until the end, until the last breath. The missionary zeal displayed in 250 pastoral visits in which he visited 129 countries. Lush sparkle teachers in which 14 encyclicals and 15 apostolic exhortations. A deep belief in the vocation to holiness of the entire People of God that led him to promote the beatification, in 1340 and held the canonization, which were 483 in his pontificate. And what else might say!
also remember their relationship with Uruguay. His two visits in 1987, in his 33 th trip to the Virgin "brought the Thirty-Three? and in 1988, when it came to our diocese, and was right here in this cathedral, kneeling in prayer with Bishop Cáceres.
But there is more to this relationship with Uruguay: October 10, 1993, by beatifying a nun born in Italy, surprised many by saying: "I greet you, first beat of Uruguay." The new Blessed Mother Francisca was Rubatto, founder of the Capuchin Sisters, who lived his last years in Montevideo, where he died on August 6, 1904 and where is your sanctuary.
But this was not his last gift: the March 11, 2001, two lay Uruguayan Aguiar Consuelo Dolores and Nick Diaz, martyrs in the English Civil War were beatified by Pope John Paul II also. His remains are venerated in the cathedral of Montevideo. Displaying
many works, of which I have just a few numbers and a few examples, we may be surprised, as I said, the following: to declare someone blessed or saint, the Church recognizes, rather than what the person has done, is what God has done in that person.
It was clear what our grandparents, we were given the blessing by putting his hand on his head and saying: "May God make him a saint, son." They were right. Only God is holy, only God sanctifies. Only God makes us holy, and calls us all to holiness. Our sanctification is his work. Our work, our effort is to let God act. You let your grace, your love through our lives. A saint is like a stained glass that lets in light. If we look at a stained glass window without light to pass through, not funny. The colors are dull and lifeless. When light passes through, shine. All the human qualities of a person, they are also God's gift, glow when light passes through the grace and reach to touch the lives of others. We are all called to holiness, and holiness is available to everyone because it is God who makes it possible, if we act ... but we have to overcome many resistors!
Now How does the Church that certainty, how can the Church be sure that someone is now with God?
That certainty comes through a rigorous process that involves several steps:
First, the presentation of the candidate, who must be a person who has died in "reputation of sanctity." We write his biography, witnesses are located, collected his writings, including those of a personal nature such as his letters, his journal. When the cause has been submitted and accepted, the person receives the title of Servant of God
. For John Paul II, this happened on May 18, 2005, by decree of Cardinal Ruini, Vicar General Diocese of Rome.
Second, since there is researching the life of the person to see
if you lived the Christian virtues in a heroic way . All his writings are examined to see if there is nothing contrary to faith or morals, and above all, collected statements from witnesses who can speak not only of his public conduct, visible, but how was your daily life . What does heroic virtue? Means to live faith, hope, and above all charity, love, in a way that stands out sharply.
To verify that, in the process of beatification of John Paul II listened to 122 witnesses, among the best people knew him and treated him more. 35 cardinals, 20 bishops, 36 lay people, 19 priests, religious 6, 3 non-Catholic Christians and a Jew.
To sample, two witnesses.
His secretary, Father Stanislaw Dziwisz, explains how the faith of John Paul II had a great optimism and abandonment to God:
saw everything in a positive way, was not pessimistic, he believed that God governs all things, trusted the Holy Spirit's action in the world and left everything in the hands of the Blessed Mother. This was his strength. Never beat down or left to condition for the setbacks. Given the adverse news which came reacted with prayer, putting everything in the hands Christ ( Summarium , II, p. 808)
A friend of hers in Poland and continued friendship in Rome, Luzmila Gryegel says:
practice the virtue of hope to a heroic degree all his life. You could see it especially in difficult times and during the tragic events, both in his personal history is the history of Poland and then in the world. Never lost his serenity and tranquility. He had great confidence in the intervention of Divine Mercy in the history of the world and the Church and pass both knew each person as the crowd of the faithful ( Summarium , II, p. 847).
With these, and many other testimony, the December 19, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI Pope John Paul II declared Venerable
.
What was missing then for his beatification? The
verification of a miracle happened through her intercession . Those
intercede with God for us. All grace comes from God: the conversion, comfort, healing, miracle, everything is God's work. Everything we can ask Him directly, but the Church from the earliest times, time of the martyrs, also confided her prayer intercessors, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the martyrs and saints. What do we say to the Virgin? "Pray for us sinners ..." We ask you to intercede for us. The same thing we ask the saints.
Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, a French nun, was 40 years old in 2001 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. She was a nurse and his service to the sick is made increasingly difficult. His Parkinson's was painful, affecting the left side of his body ... and she was left-handed. She says it cost him to look at John Paul II on television, seeing sick with the same disease that she suffered and imagine that someday she would be in that state.
After the Pope's death, his community and his congregation started asking for it healing through the intercession of John Paul II. On the night of June 2, 2005 it was particularly bad. His illness had worsened. When you go to sleep, his superior encouraged her to continue relying on the intercession of John Paul. That night he slept well. The next morning he got up healed. His neurologist found that all symptoms had disappeared. The incident was investigated by other doctors and verified that there was no natural explanation. Thus, in January this year, Pope Benedict XVI approved the beatification of John Paul II and set the date.
And from today, continues the process for his canonization. A new miracle that can be checked from here on out is all that is needed for one day, God willing, we can say "John Paul II."
Today's Gospel also has given us a blessing, and one directed specifically to us all: "Blessed are those who believe without seeing me" (Jn 20, 29).
is that, as I said before we are all called to holiness, and holiness is possible. It's available to everyone. Recently Pope Benedict remembered:
how can we walk the path of holiness, answer this call? "I can do with my strength? The answer is clear: a holy life is not mainly the result of our efforts, our actions, because it is God, thrice holy (cf. Is 6, 3), who makes us holy, is the action of the Holy Spirit that animates us from within us, is life itself the risen Christ communicated to us and transforms us. (General Audience, April 13, 2011).
prayer, meditation on the Word of God, participation in Sunday Mass, the Sacrament of Reconciliation are all means by which we receive the life of the Risen Christ, the power that transforms our lives.
Along with that, the "secret" of John Paul II: your trust in Mary. His motto was
Totus Tuus , All You, taken from the prayer of St. Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort. Next to the Blessed John Paul II, that we our prayer, joining with him and Mary, for more united to Christ (Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, n. 266): All yours
am
All I have is yours
You are my everything, oh Mary
Lend me your heart. Amen
