October 21, 2018 - "The New Saints"

On Sunday, October 14, 2018 Pope Francis canonized Blessed Paul VI, Blessed Oscar Romero, Blessed Vincent Romano, Blessed Francesco Spinelli, Blessed Nunzio Sulprizio, Blessed Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa, and Blessed Maria Katharina Kasper.  In this column I want to focus on Saint Paul VI.
 
John Allen, writing in Crux on October 12, 2018, states that there are three lessons from the life of Paul VI that are being taught in his canonization.  First, he had a great passion for humanity.  This came out very clearly near the end of his life when the Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro was executed by a left-wing Italian terrorist movement called the “Red Brigade.”  Moro was a very close friend of Paul VI, who made great efforts to save the life of his friend.  He was devastated when Moro was killed.  Three days after the murder, Paul VI addressed himself to God in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, “You did not grant the plea for the safety of Aldo Moro, of this good and gentle man, wise and innocent---who was my friend.”  The question he left hanging was “Why didn’t you help.”  Paul VI showed the world not only that Popes wrestle with doubt but also holiness and heartbreak go hand in hand.
 
Second, you can see in Paul VI a great deal of balance.  One way that this is illustrated is in the fact that the Second Vatican Council is the only ecumenical council in the history of the Church that wasn’t followed immediately by a schism.  In our polarized and angry times, balance and patience are characteristics of Paul VI of which we are in great need!  Third, in the life of Paul VI, you can see a great deal of courage.  This was evident in 1967 when he issued Populorum Progressio, his encyclical on development.  Paul realized that he was in for criticism for seeming to bless socialist, liberationist, and anti-colonial movements across the Third World.  If that encyclical brought him criticism from conservative commentators, the next year brought lots of criticism from liberal circles when he issued Humanae Vitae where he reaffirmed traditional Catholic opposition to artificial birth control.  In that encyclical Paul VI presented a compelling treatment of both the unitive and procreative ends of marriage.  It took a great deal of courage to hold to that position as the sexual revolution was getting under way in full force!
 
St. Paul VI also had a profound devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  In fact, he named Mary the Mother of Church during the Second Vatican Council.  During this month of the Holy Rosary, I want to mention that St. Paul wrote a beautiful Apostolic Exhortation on the Blessed Mother entitled Marialis Cultus (For the Right Ordering and Development of Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary), which was issued on February 2, 1974.  In that document St. Paul VI encouraged the recitation of the Family Rosary.  This has been a time-honored practice of Catholic families in times past.  Venerable Father Patrick Peyton, CSC, founder of the Family Rosary Crusade has famously said, “The family that prays together, stays together.” St. Paul VI would certainly agree with that sentiment.  This is how he put it, “If this element of common prayer were missing, the family would lack its very character as a domestic Church” (paragraph 52).

Paul VI recognized that the changed conditions of contemporary family life in the early 1970s did not make family gatherings easy, and even when such a gathering is possible many circumstances make it difficult to turn it into an occasion of prayer. Even in recognizing this obstacle, he gently challenged families that want to live in full measure the vocation and spirituality proper to the Christian family must devote their energies to overcoming the pressures that hinder family gatherings and prayer in common.  I think that this gentle challenge is still relevant today!
 
During this month of October Pope Francis is asking us to pray a Rosary daily that the Virgin Mary protect the Church in these times of crisis and to pray the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel that he may defend the Church from the attacks of the devil.  The Holy Father would also like us to add the following special prayer to Mary:  “We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O ever glorious and blessed Virgin.  Amen.”  I am following this recommendation and hope that you and your family will do likewise!
 
Until next week,
Fr. John