THE CONCHO PADRE POST

An enormous crowd, estimated at 150,000, flocked to St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, February 17, for the midday Angelus and blessing by Pope Benedict XVI. The Holy Father voiced his thanks for the show of support and affection, and asked for prayers for himself and for the next Pope.

Pope Benedict will hold only one more Angelus audience, next Sunday, February 24, before his resignation takes effect on February 28. Because the Holy Father is on retreat this week and all papal audiences are cancelled, there will be only one more Wednesday audience, February 27, in this pontificate as well.

In his remarks on the day’s Gospel, which recounted the temptation of Jesus, the Pope spoke about the nature of temptation, telling the people that they should be more aware of the need to battle temptations. During this penitential season, he explained, the faithful work toward sanctification, and “the spirit of evil, naturally, opposes our sanctification and tries to turn us from God’s path.”

The devil, the Pope continued, uses subtlety in his appeals. He pointed toward the temptation of Christ, noting that “Jesus had to unmask and reject the false images of the Messiah proposed to him by the tempter.” Temptations, he said, invariably disguise themselves as forms of good. The devil “doesn’t push us directly toward evil, but toward a false good.”

The Concho Padre

Jesus said to his disciples:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him,
he will sit upon his glorious throne,
and all the nations will be assembled before him.
And he will separate them one from another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right,
‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.’
Then the righteous will answer him and say,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you,
or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
And the king will say to them in reply,
‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left,
‘Depart from me, you accursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
naked and you gave me no clothing,
ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
Then they will answer and say,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,
and not minister to your needs?’
He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you,
what you did not do for one of these least ones,
you did not do for me.’
And these will go off to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life.”

The Roman Missal

Bishop Pfeifer has announced that he will offer a Mass for Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday, February 26 at 12 noon in the Cathedral. Everyone is invited!

The Concho Padre

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has received the dossier on a case of miraculous healing attributed to the Pope. The documentation is now in the hands of the medical commission

ANDREA TORNIELLI
vatican city

There is a presumed miracle that has been attributed to the intercession of John Paul II. The Postulator of the Cause, Mgr. Slawomir Oder presented this inexplicable case of healing to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints headed by Cardinal Angelo Amato, a month ago. The dossier is now in the hands of the medical commission. It all took place in the utmost secrecy and confidentiality. But Amato himself and the Archbishop of Cracow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz – who had been Pope Wojtyla’s personal secretary and a big promoter of his canonization – had already discussed this three weeks ago. The Polish pope’s “inner circle” therefore hoped Wojtyla would receive the title of Saint by 2013.

A reliable source has confirmed to Vatican Insider that a step forward has been made, even if the alleged healing has not yet been examined by the Congregation’s medical commission, headed by Dr. Patrizio Polisca, Benedict XVI’s personal doctor. As is known, in order for a beatification to take place, the Catholic Church needs to guarantee and recognise a miracle attributed to the intercession of the candidate for sainthood and this miracle needs to have occurred after the death of the person who performed it. A second miracle needs to be confirmed in order to move up a step from beatification to canonization, an act proclaimed by the Pope, which implies infallibility and makes the worship of a saint universal. The second miracle must have been performed after the individual’s beatification. In the case of Wojtyla, it took place after the ceremony on 1 May 2011 in the presence of a huge crowd.

It is now up to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to assess the case and decide whether the case presented has the necessary attributes for the medical commission – composed of various specialists called to give their thoughts on the scientific inexplicability of the healing – to approve it. Wojtyla was beatified for having healed a French nun, Sister Simon Pierre, who worked in a hospital’s maternity ward, from Parkinson’s disease. She had the same syndrome as John Paul II. The sisters prayed for the Pope when he passed away. And Sister Marie Simon Pierre was suddenly cured. The procedure for the recognition of this case of healing was not at all easy because it is difficult to give a precise diagnosis of certain neurological illnesses. Not all the doctors consulted gave their approval even though the Congregation’s final assessment was positive.

Could Benedict XVI’s shock resignation slow down Pope Wojtyla’s canonization process? In theory not, because the Congregation for the Causes of Saints will continue its work as normal until 28 February. But the Conclave and the first steps taken by the new Pope could justify any delay there may be to the dates expected by the Polish Pope’s entourage. What is certain is that the late Pope is a step closer to sainthood. But it is not possible to predict the exact time frame for the process yet and we still have to wait for the doctors in the “saint factory” to make their assessment and pass the dossier on to the theologians and cardinals.

Vatican Information Service

Irondale, Ala., Feb 15, 2013 (EWTN News).- Deacon R. William Steltemeier, Jr., founding president of the Eternal Word Television Network, died in Hanceville, Ala. on Feb. 15 at the age of 83 after a lengthy illness.

Michael P. Warsaw, current network president and CEO, called Deacon Steltemeier “a man of incredible faithfulness,” noting that only EWTN founder Mother Angelica was more closely associated with the network.

“As a husband, a father, an attorney and in his vocation as a permanent deacon, Bill always remained focused on serving God and serving others,” Warsaw said.

“He devoted himself totally to Mother Angelica’s mission and sacrificed all he had to help her build EWTN into the tremendous vehicle for evangelization that it has become.”

Warsaw added: “While we mourn his passing, we take comfort from his own example of faith and are confident he has heard those words from the Gospel of Matthew, ‘Well done good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your master.’”

Deacon Steltemeier was born in Nashville, Tenn. on June 6, 1929. He married Ramona Schnupp on Aug. 22, 1953. He graduated from Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Law School before entering the U.S. Army and serving for two years in France.

He co-founded the law firm of Steltemeier & Westbrooke in Nashville in 1960. The firm specializes in bankruptcy and commercial law and continues to operate today.

Bishop Joseph A. Durick of Nashville ordained Steltemeier to the diaconate on April 26, 1975. He was among the first American men ordained to the permanent diaconate.

Deacon Steltemeier first met Mother Angelica at a legal convention in Chicago in March 1978.

When he heard Mother Angelica speak, he heard an inner voice say “Until the day you die.” He believed this to mean his life would be dedicated to serving Mother Angelica.

When EWTN was founded in 1980, Deacon Steltemeier became its first president and board member. He resigned from his law firm in 1985 to serve EWTN full-time. He commuted from his Nashville home to EWTN headquarters in Irondale, Ala. for 22 years.

In 2000, the deacon succeeded Mother Angelica as EWTN’s chairman and CEO. He and his wife moved to Hanceville, Ala. in 2002. He retired as CEO in 2009, but was re-elected chairman of EWTN’s Board of Governors the same year.

Deacon Steltemeier worked in various aspects of prison ministry and prisoner rehabilitation. In 1975, the Governor of Tennessee appointed him to the state’s review board for prison reform. He also served as Catholic chaplain to the Tennessee State Prison for Men.

In October 2009, Pope Benedict XVI awarded Deacon Steltemeier the pontifical medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.

The deacon is survived by his wife of 59 years, his brother Fred Steltemeier of Nashville, and several nieces. His son Rudy Steltemeier III and daughter-in-law Debra Steltemeier preceded him in death.

EWTN News Release