You guys…I’m so overwhelmed with gratitude and I’m so humbled by all the prayer requests and intentions you’ve shared – keep ’em coming! We’re going to get a little notebook and write them all down so that we can physically carry them with us and pray with them when things get rough 8 hours into the second leg of our flight. You know, like really holy people who offer up specific contractions for people during labor? Yeah, like that, because with travel, there’s no narcotic option. (But I think we all know I’d take it if there were.)
This way, you can be there, in a way, standing with us in the Square when he is declared “Santo” … or standing with us .75 miles away near the Tiber, as it were. We’ll see how close we can get without fear of “crushing the bambino!” which I’m guessing is more of a real threat when the projected attendance is near 5 million souls and there are triple the number of babies in one’s care.
If the past 24 hours have shown me anything, it’s how very powerful the intercession of Bl. John Paul II is, and how many people love him. And I know there are stories behind that love, and I want to hear them! I went so far as to design a graphic and will now begin the painful process of learning how to create a link up (what kind of blogger am I? I know.) so that we can remember him together, and celebrate our friendship with him as we lead up to the big day next week. So let me have it, I want your stories of how he changed your life, how he led you to your vocation, how he saved your sorry ass from yourself (that would be my story)…and always keeping in mind (for any of my non-Catholic readers) that when we celebrate the life of a saint it’s in the same fashion you might celebrate the life of a loved one at a wake or funeral service. Only happier, because yay, Eternal Life! And to further clarify, we pray with the saints, asking their intercession the same way you might call your mom and ask her to remember to pray for your big meeting/test/heartbreak. It’s that familial relationship within the body of Christ that gives us the confidence to say, hey, St. Joseph, brother in Christ, will you ask the Lord on my behalf for such-and-such?
I hope that makes sense. Moving on.
I’ll link up my own story here later this week, and I invite you to do the same. Because if there’s anything I’m sure of, it’s that a whole lotta people love JPII, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate!
No Comments