Venerable Pope John Paul II: Pope John Paul Advances on Path to Canonization

Two months after his death several medical teams classified the cure of a French nun with Parkinson's, as 'scientifically inexplicable'.

ROME (Catholic Online) - I remember it all like it was yesterday. Like millions throughout the entire world, my eyes and my heart were turned to Rome in April 2005. The servant of the Servants of God, Pope John Paul II was placed in the earth after a long period of suffering.

The "transitus", the passing to eternal life, of this holy and wonderful gift from God was completed. The whole earth stood still, profoundly and significantly changed by the witness of one man so singularly conformed to the One whom he served, Jesus Christ.

He died as he had lived, giving himself in surrendered love to the Lord, for the Lord and, in the Lord, for others; carrying forward the redemptive mission of Jesus, through his words and his witness of life and death. He was, in both life and death, a "living letter", as St Paul wrote. He became like the Master whom he loved so eloquently, a "grain of wheat", fallen to the ground.

Like many others my life was changed by this giant and prophet who occupied Peters' chair for such a brief time. As a young man, I was captured by his life, his message and his vision for our age. Once I started reading his writings, I could not stop.

I had to consume them, become them and offer them to others. In fact, it was the writings of this great Pope which prompted a later call in life for this lawyer to the Diaconate and then to the pursuit of a Masters Degree at his Institute and studies for the PhD in Moral Theology. I want to be a part of his call for the "New Evangelization".

Over many years I have tried to proclaim and practice his message of love, and live his new example of evangelization and his call to communion. I have tried to practice his version of authentic ecumenism and invite others into experiencing the fruit of his engaging message of authentic freedom. I have failed to even begin the task.

His extraordinary teaching, contained in his letters, his apostolic exhortations, his allocutions and his encyclical letters, re-present the timeless relevance of the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to an age that has lost its heart and soul. They give us materials out of which we can rebuild the Church and, through her, birth the new missionary age of the Third Christian Millenium.

Our call is the same call that has faced the Christian Church of every age, to restore all things in Christ, to bring a dying world and its inhabitants back to life through an encounter with Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Pope John Paul II was the great evangelist of the Third Christian Millennium and shows us the way.

His name and his service for twenty six years carried forward the trajectory of the Second Vatican Council, the great missionary and ecumenical Council of the last part of the Second Millennium, and helped us to cross what he called the "threshold of hope" into the Third Millennium.

Like millions, I am convinced that history will record him as "John Paul the Great." However, I am even more convinced that his message offers us a living legacy of renewal yet to be unpacked. He gave us a body of work through which we can usher in the "New Evangelization" and "Springtime" of world missions that he proclaimed.

There is no doubt that we had a saint in our midst. One who was so filled with the life of Jesus Christ that, like the Apostle Paul, he no longer lived but "Christ lived in him." That is the only explanation for the absolutely miraculous way in which the world stood still, watching, weeping, praying and reflecting during those weeks in April of 2005. Consciously or unconsciously, millions were led to the Lord through the life and death of one of his servants.

The sentiment of the faithful expressed on the day on which his body was processed through the streets of Rome, and through the vehicle of the global media into every home and heart, "Santo Subito" has echoed as the Church has considered the cause of his canonization. Now, on December 17, 2009 a reliable source and outstanding resource for all Catholics, "Rome Reports", indicates the following good news:

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"The late Pope John Paul II is one step closer at getting a spot on the altars, now that Benedict XVI will name him venerable. Benedict XVI is expected to sign the decree Saturday December 19th.

When the Pope gives a candidate to the altars, the title "venerable" that means he recognizes that they lived the Christian virtues as heroes.

To beatify a candidate, the commission of cardinals and Vatican theologians must certify that God has performed a miracle through his intercession.

In the case of John Paul II, just two months after his death, several medical teams have classified the cure of a French nun with Parkinson's, as "scientifically inexplicable". The nun says, with much difficulty, she wrote John Paul II name on a piece of paper and a couple of hours later she was 100% cured.

To name venerable John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI analyzed the documentation collected during the last 5 years by the postulator of the Cause of beatification, Father Slawomir Oder. Thousands of pages with specific facts and that show what many proclaimed the day of his funeral: that John Paul was a saint.

John Paul II road to sainthood, is perhaps one of the shortest on record. It started just one month after he died.

And lasted only 5 years. The traditional road to sainthood usually takes 10 times as long."

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We promised we would continue to cover the progress of the cause of the late Servant of God John Paul II. "Stay tuned", there is much more to come.

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