The late Pope John Paul II is on the fast-track to sainthood. His successor, Pope Benedict XVI has authenticated a miracle, one of two required in order to complete the canonization process. JP will be beatified on May 1st. That ceremony will confer upon him the title, “Blessed.”
The testimony of a miracle came from a nun, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, an ailment that JP also suffered from. Two months after his death, she and her friends began praying to the dead pope for a miracle and then he appeared to her in a dream and a voice in her head told her to grab a pen and write. She woke up without having the usual shaking.
ABC News reported the story. “Sister Marie prayed that Pope John Paul intercede in her life,” said ABC reporter Miguel Marquez . “The Church now believes he did, proving both God’s existence and that John Paul is in heaven.”
This brings up the question: if it is valid to pray to a saint one knows made it to heaven, how can the Catholic Church instruct Catholics to pray to someone whose final destination is uncertain? What if no miracles ensued, does that mean they were praying to someone in hell? You see it is Roman Catholic teaching that no one can be assured of making it into heaven; for that is the sin of presumption. Catholics cannot sing the old Fanny Crosby hymn, Blessed Assurance.
Now Catholics everywhere are encouraged to direct their petitions to JP so that the other needed miracle can be achieved. The ABC News report said that the pope’s body will be exhumed when he is beatified in May and moved into the chapel of St. Sebastian in the Vatican. What they failed to mention is that exhumation of the targets for canonization is standard procedure to determine if the body or any body parts have remained intact. If so, that in and of itself would be the second miracle they’re seeking -- what they call “incorrupt bodies” that miraculously failed to decay.
Cathedrals in Europe are filled with these so-called incorrupt body parts of the saints for the veneration of “the faithful.” They are considered relics and are placed into bejeweled reliquaries behind glass where they are venerated and become the focal point of prayers to the saints - a ghoulish idea to the modern un-Catholic mind.
And if that isn’t morbid enough, the late pope’s blood specimen taken in a hospital before he died is about to be placed in a Catholic church in Poland, JP’s homeland, after the beatification. Published reports say “the vial would be encased in crystal and built into the altar of a church in the southern city of Krakow that is opening in May.”
The spokesman for the John Paul II Centre, Piotr Sionko, said this was the idea of Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the Archbishop of Krakow, an old friend of JP’s.
“'It was the cardinal's proposal,'' Mr Sionko said. ''He is of the opinion that this is the most precious relic of John Paul II and should be the focal point of the church.''
If the blood specimen is to be the focal point of the church, it will have a lot of competition with the statues in the alcoves, the crucifix over the altar, and the host within the tabernacle. All these church-approved items of veneration and worship must make it a difficult choice for the miracle-seeker to focus upon.
The Catholic Church has totally twisted the biblical teaching on prayer. Every time we pray, do we ask for a miracle? Where is that in the model prayer known as the Lord’s Prayer? Prayer is a devotion to God that includes petition, but also praise and confession and seeking of His will. To try and take that spiritual practice and direct it to a dead person, even one who made it into heaven, is nothing short of blasphemy and idolatry.
The testimony of a miracle came from a nun, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, an ailment that JP also suffered from. Two months after his death, she and her friends began praying to the dead pope for a miracle and then he appeared to her in a dream and a voice in her head told her to grab a pen and write. She woke up without having the usual shaking.
ABC News reported the story. “Sister Marie prayed that Pope John Paul intercede in her life,” said ABC reporter Miguel Marquez . “The Church now believes he did, proving both God’s existence and that John Paul is in heaven.”
This brings up the question: if it is valid to pray to a saint one knows made it to heaven, how can the Catholic Church instruct Catholics to pray to someone whose final destination is uncertain? What if no miracles ensued, does that mean they were praying to someone in hell? You see it is Roman Catholic teaching that no one can be assured of making it into heaven; for that is the sin of presumption. Catholics cannot sing the old Fanny Crosby hymn, Blessed Assurance.
Now Catholics everywhere are encouraged to direct their petitions to JP so that the other needed miracle can be achieved. The ABC News report said that the pope’s body will be exhumed when he is beatified in May and moved into the chapel of St. Sebastian in the Vatican. What they failed to mention is that exhumation of the targets for canonization is standard procedure to determine if the body or any body parts have remained intact. If so, that in and of itself would be the second miracle they’re seeking -- what they call “incorrupt bodies” that miraculously failed to decay.
Cathedrals in Europe are filled with these so-called incorrupt body parts of the saints for the veneration of “the faithful.” They are considered relics and are placed into bejeweled reliquaries behind glass where they are venerated and become the focal point of prayers to the saints - a ghoulish idea to the modern un-Catholic mind.
And if that isn’t morbid enough, the late pope’s blood specimen taken in a hospital before he died is about to be placed in a Catholic church in Poland, JP’s homeland, after the beatification. Published reports say “the vial would be encased in crystal and built into the altar of a church in the southern city of Krakow that is opening in May.”
The spokesman for the John Paul II Centre, Piotr Sionko, said this was the idea of Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the Archbishop of Krakow, an old friend of JP’s.
“'It was the cardinal's proposal,'' Mr Sionko said. ''He is of the opinion that this is the most precious relic of John Paul II and should be the focal point of the church.''
If the blood specimen is to be the focal point of the church, it will have a lot of competition with the statues in the alcoves, the crucifix over the altar, and the host within the tabernacle. All these church-approved items of veneration and worship must make it a difficult choice for the miracle-seeker to focus upon.
The Catholic Church has totally twisted the biblical teaching on prayer. Every time we pray, do we ask for a miracle? Where is that in the model prayer known as the Lord’s Prayer? Prayer is a devotion to God that includes petition, but also praise and confession and seeking of His will. To try and take that spiritual practice and direct it to a dead person, even one who made it into heaven, is nothing short of blasphemy and idolatry.
I like the way a friend of mine referred to John Paul II: J2P2
ReplyDeleteIf one had to choose between Roman Catholicism or Islam, I suppose the lesser of the two evils would be Roman Catholicism, since it doesn't at least deny the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Yet both draw people's attention away from Jesus and are therefore idolatrous.
ReplyDeleteScripture teaches the truth that Roman Catholicism denies, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" I Timothy 2:5. "MANY MEDIATORS" is the label over the apostate Roman Catholic church. Mary is no Mediatrix. That is a lie. No one is a mediator except for Jesus. Prayers to anyone else are liable to invoke DEMONS or controlling human spirits like Jezebel. Perhaps Jezebel is the spirit that governs the apostate R.C. church.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteNo, prayers to our beloved departed, whether "holy souls" in purgatory or saints in heaven, are simply like asking a friend to pray for you. The prayer is always to Jesus, to God the Father, to the Holy Spirit. The prayer "to" the saint/holy soul is simply asking them to pray for you. Holy people inspire us all, and the veneration is of their virtues, so that we might grow more like them in their exemplary virtue. God gives us many ways to pray as we know: praise, intercession, thanksgiving...we are not limited. My Catholic faith has been the greatest blessing to me because it has brought me Jesus. Perhaps one day you might understand this. Thank you for letting me share.
God bless, with love and prayers - Beth