THE
P RTAL
April 2012
One day
we will look back from these early days of the
Ordinariate and recall the speed of events that followed the
Papal invitation “to groups of Anglicans”; the receptions into
the Catholic Church, the ordinations, the meetings, the talks, the
discussions, the Mass plans...
Putting it all
in perspective
Page 6
na
wri tes
Other momentous things have been happening the hours
in
in the Church: the Beatification of John Paul II, the spent
growth and development of World Youth Day, the 50th prayer.
anniversary of Vatican II, the 20th of the Catechism of
the Catholic Church and the announcement of a Year
He was a mystic, a man of action, a philosopher,
of Faith.
a poet and more. You will be
intrigued, too, by Miracles
We have also come to know
of John Paul (2011) by Pawel
more about the great saints of
Zuchniewicz - these are accounts
recent times. Read Come be my
of healings associated with him
Light: the private writing of the
during his lifetime.
‘Saint of Calcutta’. Remember
the headlines about Mother
In recent years we have seen
Teresa’s “loss of faith”? Google
the deaths of priests who have
her name and you will find a link
truly been martyrs, killed by
to an atheist website which gloats
people motivated by hatred of
over this. But did the headline
the Christian faith and of men
writers read the book?
serving Christ.
Almost certainly not. What
The international Catholic
is revealed is not a loss of faith
charity Aid to the Church in
but a strong sense of her own
Need has been tracking this, and
unworthiness. She never ceased
has a website giving an overview
to believe in God and the
of recent Christian martyrdom.
teachings of the Church. “Please
Remember Jerzy Popieluscko,
pray for me, that it may please God to lift this darkness the young Polish priest killed by the secret police in
from my soul for only a few days” she wrote.
the final years of Communism? He has been beatified
and his story is worth recalling. The Catholic Truth
This is the “dark night of the soul” of St John of the Society has a booklet.
Cross and Mother Teresa was aware of this. It was
never a questioning of God’s existence. It was simply
As a child, learning about great saints and martyrs, I
that the longing for Him was so great that it could had the feeling that they were “far away and long ago”.
not be fulfilled in this world. Even while experiencing I was quite comfortable with that, because it meant I
darkness she knew He was there, and wrote “In my could feel remote from them and not challenged. But
heart there seems to be no other thing but He - no I personally met - if only very briefly! - both Mother
other love but His.”
Teresa and John Paul. Both were people who were part
of all our lives, part of today’s world of trains and buses
Then there is Blessed John Paul. If you haven’t read and TV.
George Weigel’s biography Witness to Hope (1999)
you really should. It was written while he was still
The Church of our days, as ever, is a Church of great
alive, and the story is completed with The End and things, of drama, saints, heroes and great events. Our
the Beginning (2010) which covers his last years and small adventure with the Ordinariate of Our Lady of
explores his legacy. It speaks of his interior life and Walsingham is part of that Church.