”The aim of all human beings is to perfect ourselves. We must constantly endeavor to awaken and express the virtues of the soul that animate each of us. In so doing, we contribute to our evolution and serve the cause of humanity.” – Rosicrucian Code of Life
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The late Pope John Paul II was moved a major step closer to sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church on Friday when his successor approved a decree attributing a miracle to him.The move by Pope Benedict means that John Paul, who died in 2005 after a papacy of nearly 27 years, will be beatified. Beatification is the last step before sainthood. The ceremony will take place on May 1 in Rome. Church officials have said the miracle attributed to the intercession of Pope John Paul with God concerned Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, a 48-year-old French nun diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, from which Pope John Paul himself suffered.
She said her illness inexplicably disappeared two months after his death after she and her fellow nuns prayed to him. Church appointed doctors agreed that there was no medical explanation for the curing of the nun although last year there were some doubts about the validity of the miracle.
Another miracle occurring after the date of the beatification ceremony — which will confer the title “Blessed” on John Paul — will have to be approved before he can be canonized, or made a saint. Crowds at John Paul’s funeral on April 8, 2005 chanted “santo subito” (”make him a saint right now”). In May 2005, a month after his death, Benedict put John Paul on the fast track by dispensing with Church rules that normally impose a five-year waiting period after a candidate’s death before the procedure that leads to sainthood can start.
(Editing by James Mackenzie)
This upsets me on more than one level. I am clearly not a Catholic… The only intercessor between human beings and God is Jesus Christ. Praying to a priest equates to FALSE IDOL.
This past Thursday, I delivered a speech entitled “Eat, Pray, Love… Gratitude“. Inspired by the book Eat, Pray, Love, I was made aware of the parallels between the book and my own growth/development and chosen path in life.
Eat: Raw and living foods. Even though I am detoxing and relatively miserable at times, I know it’s a temporary state and I’m willing to push through it. The fact is: I am more concerned these days with what comes out of my mouth, rather than satisfying addictions going into it. I miss eating certain things, but I am enjoying and relishing the process and learning experiences that come with having to deal with one’s feelings head on… I can no longer eat them!
Pray: My growing involvement with church/activities. I am finding my new community to be loving, inspiring, and supportive. I’m happy to be a part of it. I am attending weekly service, as well as a Bible Study and Encounter Group. This is becoming an important part of my spiritual journey.
Love: My relationship. Am I really considering committing myself to someone with 2 young children? Am I willing to put aside most of the “me” to become a “we”. The answer is yes. I love him deeply and want to spend my life with him. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to say this – calmly, rationally, and without a drink or 5 2. Everything I am and will be, I want to share with him.
I eat. I pray. I love… 1 Cor 13:13b “But the greatest of these is love.”
As of late, I have been making a concerted effort to practice constant gratitude. I find it very nourishing for the soul! My Gratitude List
“Joy can be real only if people look on their life as a service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.” – Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
It’s not just a romantic love… I am filled with such a love for life these days. My heart and soul are full and everything is magical.
I am currently reading The Mystery of Love by Marc Gafni.
I don’t believe in New Years resolutions; I believe in goals and dreams. This is what I wrote at the beginning of 2009. My life has certainly changed since then. While 2008 was fantastic, 2009 was challenging. It was brilliant, painful, inspiring, and heartbreaking – a cornucopia of deep feeling. Love lost, self found. I shed enough tears to fill an ocean, but discovered the hope and strength to find my way through the darkness.
I was laid off from my project management job and spent several months finding myself and redefining my goals. Similar to 2008, I traveled and studied. I spent a good deal of time touring Ontario wine country, and visited my favourite haunts in Ottawa, Quebec, and Michigan. I drank tequila in Ensenada, explored the mysterious beauty of Iceland, and stood at the top of Mount Baker, Washington. I learned some additional modalities in energy work, applied to the American Institute of Holistic Theology, achieved my ACB (Advanced Communicator Bronze) in Toastmasters, and joined the Guelph Guild of Storytellers. I took several advanced CSS 2.1 courses and became a whiz at designing table-free web sites. My client base has grown exponentially and I am enjoying the prosperity that comes with repeat business from work well done.
2010 has seen me make some serious decisions about my future – in terms of career, finances, health and human connection and I am excited and passionate about everything that this year will bring.
Goals for 2010
2009/earlier goals that didn’t make it
Happy 2010… and may the new year bless you with health, wealth, and wisdom… and hope.
“Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good.” – Vaclav Havel
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that frightens us. Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.” – Nelson Mandela, inaugural address, written by Marianne Williamson
