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Cardinal Dziwisz: John Paul II Lived Like a Saint

Prelate and George Weigel Receive Honorary Degrees

BARCELONA, Spain, NOV. 15, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz said working with Pope John Paul II was a tremendous grace, because the Pontiff lived like a saint.

The cardinal, who is now archbishop of Krakow, and author George Weigel both received an honorary doctorate from the University Abat Oliba CEU in Barcelona on Wednesday.

At a press conference before the ceremony, both spoke of their relationship with John Paul II. Cardinal Dziwisz was John Paul II's personal secretary for 39 years. And Weigel wrote a well-known biography of the Polish Pope, called "Witness to Hope."
Cardinal Dziwisz said, "For me, it was a tremendous grace to work at his side. He lived like a saint, because the man became holy during all of his life."

The cardinal explained that John Paul II said he received his assassination attempt as a grace, because the Church needed it that way.

The cardinal also affirmed that even as a youth, Karol Wojtyla prayed prostrate on the floor with his arms in the form of the cross.

Regarding the Pope's social teaching, Cardinal Dziwisz recalled that John Paul II received a lot of criticism, but always tried to stay firm, independent of political conditions.
Weigel mentioned his appreciation for Cardinal Dziwisz's work as the Pope's secretary, noting the cardinal's "great spiritual life" and affirming that he "tried not to shut doors, but rather to open them."

Too many cooks...

One might be forgiven for mistaking the chef in the center as a bishop with his mitre rotated, but these photos actually show Pope Benedict XVI with a group from the Italian cooks association as he arrives to lead his weekly general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican November 14, 2007.

B**ches

No, not female dogs, but of the sunny sand and surf variety. But some people can't seem to tell the difference. This post is a tribute to stupid censors.

I was watching a movie yesterday on General Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day. Throughout the movie, plans of the invasion were discussed and beaches and beachheads were mentioned. But each time the words came up, the censors went into action and cut off the sound. I was stunned at their stupidity and even more stunned at their lack of comprehension.

Such stupidity is an indictment of the degree of proficiency in the English language possessed by our censors. One would expect a censor to have at least minimally functioning English to be considered for the job, but apparently, in Malaysia, that’s too much to ask for. Malaysia, like Singapore, as a former British colony has always boasted a high degree of proficiency in the English language. Much of that originates from the sound system of education bequeathed to us by the British, the backbone of which are the various missionary schools.

I myself am a product of that education, having studied in the Penang Free School (above), founded in 1816 as the first English school in South East Asia in the tradition of the great British public schools and for many years one of the most prominent.The Penang Free School numbers amongst its alumni many royals, including 2 Kings of Malaysia (since 1957), the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, the famous plague fighter Dr. Wu Lien-Teh and numerous other personalities and personages of note including many many winners of the prestigious Queen’s Scholarships during the long reign of Queen Victoria. In my time, the proud traditions of excellence were still maintained and cultivated.

The first Penang Free School building, now housing the State Museum

But that inheritance has been chipped away with the nationalists promoting Malay (from the ruling party, right) at the expense of English. Attempts to restore that proficiency, after realizing the implications, has so far been a failure as the teachers themselves have lost the ability to teach and communicate effectively in the language due to years to neglect. That’s sad and worrying because one of the factors of the nation’s rapid progress and development and its ability to attract foreign investors had been the general proficiency in English. With Thailand, China and India now offering cheaper skilled labour, our hard earned advantage should not be so lightly surrendered to pander to racist politics such as those promoted by the ruling party.

Stupid, inept censors is just another symptom of that deeply entrenched malaise.

Hishamuddin Tun Hussein, the Hon' Minister of Education and the keris (Malay dagger) he wants to bathe in our (non-Malay) blood.

Clustrmaps

Astute and observant readers may have noticed that the Clustrmap on my sidebar which shows the locations of the visitors to this blog has changed from the big red splotch below:

To this rather sanitized version.

Apparently, the map was updated and archived and this happens yearly. I really need to read the fine print =)

The old map showed me where my visitors came from and I was very pleased to note the diverse origins of my blog readers who came from almost every continent (except the Arctic and Antarctic regions.... do they even have the internet there?). Aside from readers fromthe United Kingdom and America, over the past year, I've had many European readers as well as a smattering of visitors from South America and Africa.

Yup, each and every one of those dots is a reader... I'm humbled and amazed.


To all those who had visited and have made your mark as it were, pardon the pun, thank you so much! But as you can see, the new map is rather sparsely dotted so let's light up this baby again this year =)


PS
And while you're at it, do remember to vote =)
Thanks.

If you'd like to vote for me, please click on the Blogger's Choice Awards button above.

Some local news

From The Star

Holy day: Bishop Antony cutting a cake to commemorate the celebration. With him are Holy Communion and Confirmation candidates.

THE parishioners of St Michael’s Church in Alor Star had three reasons to celebrate recently.

They celebrated the feast of St Michael the Archangel, Holy Communion as well as Confirmation. Preparation for the parish feast day began with novenas and masses for nine days.

Parish priest Father Jude Miranda said the novenas had a theme for each day – family, vocations, area groups, married couples, youth, peace, the sick, priesthood, country and community.

They were preached by eight invited priests.

A total of 24 candidates from churches in the northern region received Holy Communion and Confirmation.

Bishop Antony Selvanayagam, together with Father Francis Xavier from Nibong Tebal, Father Fredrick Joseph (Chapel of Kristus Cahaya), Father Mitchel Anthony (Jesus Caritas) and Father Jude, celebrated the Feast Day Mass.

The Duck & the Devil . . .

Ok, let me tell you a little story I heard some time ago. There was once a little boy named Johnny who was visiting his grandparents on their farm.

Little Johhny was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods; but he could never hit the target. He tried and tried, but never got close, so getting a little discouraged, he headed back home for dinner.

As he was walking back, he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it.

He was shocked and grieved!


In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see his sister watching!



Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch the next day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes."

But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen."

Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?"

So Johnny did the dishes.

Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing, and Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper."

Sally just smiled and said, "Well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help."

She whispered again, "Remember the duck?" So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's, he finally c ouldn't stand it any longer.

He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."


Thought for the day and every day hereafter . . .

Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done
. . . And the devil keeps throwing it up in your face . . . (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.) . . .

Whatever it is, you need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing.

He has seen your whole life.

He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven.

He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.

The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness, He not only forgives you, but He forgets.

Remember, the image that we have of the God is the Father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, not the elder brother.

So, go to Confession today!

First indigenous South American is beatified, in Argentina

Personally, I don't really get the numerous canonizations and beatifications that occurred during the JP2 years. When I think of saints as the term is normally used, I think of the greats such as St. Athanasius, St. Leo the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas etc. Those universally recognized as saints. But the Scriptures and the Church calls each and every one of us to be saints. That is the Universal Call to Holiness that is one of the better ideas to be emphasized by Vatican II.

When we put the canonized saints, our elder brothers and sisters in Christ who now sleep and are alive in Him on too high a pedestal, we sometimes lose sight of their humanity in the radiant luminosity of their halos. That that perceived distance makes us lose heart that we can ever be like them, ever achieve their level of holiness and sanctity, ever become saints ourselves.

And that's sad, for they, like us, are human. The difference being that they have cooperated with the grace of God working through them and have let the light of Christ shine through them (like stained glass!). They too have their faults and their temptations are no less numerous than ours nor easier to resist. Their triumph through the grace of God should inspire us who are still running the race and not serve to discourage us.

That's where the 'little' saints come in. Those who are unknown to us, maybe, but serve as a reminder within their own particular communities what God's grace can achieve when we but cooperate. It makes sainthood less daunting and less remote and less unreachable for them. It's their local boy done good.

I guess that's where this beatification, like the many many others during the long reign of JPII makes sense. It makes the saints accessible and the promise of sainthood, achievable and gives the local Christian community something within their grasp to strive to achieve and shows that good can come from anywhere, be it Nazareth or even Chimpay.

May this be a reminder to us that sainthood can be achieved anywhere, by anyone, even us, with the grace of God. Hey, even St. Anthony and St. Theresa had to start somewhere.

From AFP

CHIMPAY, Argentina (AFP) - Tens of thousands of faithful turned out Sunday to witness a ceremony honoring Ceferino Namuncura, the first indigenous South American to be beatified by the Roman Catholic Church.

"Ceferino is blessed," proclaimed Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, deputy of Pope Benedict XVI, drawing a thundering ovation from the crowd of onlookers that swelled to 120,000 people for the event, police said.

More than a century after his death in Rome, Namuncura -- the son of a Mapuche Indian chief who fought the European settlers in the late 19th century -- became the first person to be beatified outside the Vatican, organizers said.

The ceremony took place in this southern Patagonia town 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) south of Buenos Aires.

"The Gospel never destroys the values in a culture, but assimilates them and perfects them," said Bertone, adding that Namuncura "never forgot he what it was to be native and tried to be useful to his people."

Often the first step toward sainthood, beatification is a long process, which in Namuncura's case began in 1944 and culminated in a "miracle" in 2000, when a young Argentine girl was allegedly cured of uterine cancer after praying to him.

Pope Benedict XVI officially certified Namuncura's miracle in July, opening the path to beatification.

The miracle girl, Valeria, her husband and three children were among those who gathered for the beatification ceremony Sunday.

Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, celebrated the beatification mass, which was also attended by Buenos Aires archbishop Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, some 50 bishops from Argentina and Latin America, and by Namuncura's descendants.

Born August 26, 1886, Ceferino Namuncura was the son of legendary Mapuche chief Manuel Namuncura who, after years of fighting the military and white encroachment surrendered on the advice of a Salesian monk who baptized his son when he was eight.

Ceferino studied at a religious school in Buenos Aires, "so he could be of service to his race" according to historians, and as a priest became renown for his unswerving faith.

He was presented to then Pope Pius X in Rome in 1904, but succumbed to tuberculosis a year later. His remains were taken back to Argentina in 1924 and laid to rest in Buenos Aires.