new saints
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Meet The Church’s Newly Proclaimed Saints

This past Sunday, Pope Francis proclaimed seven new saints, once again reminding the faithful that sainthood is for everyone, not merely for a select few.

In his homily, Pope Francis said:

The saints are men and women who enter fully into the mystery of prayer.  Men and women who struggle with prayer, letting the Holy Spirit pray and struggle in them.  They struggle to the very end, with all their strength, and they triumph, but not by their own efforts: the Lord triumphs in them and with them.  The seven witnesses who were canonized today also fought the good fight of faith and love by their prayers.

The newly-proclaimed saints are:

  • José Sánchez del Río, a 14-year-old boy who was killed in 1928 in Mexico during the “Cristero” struggle which opposed the government’s anti-Catholic and anticlerical policies.
  • Brother Salomone Leclercq, a martyr of the French revolution, who like many religious at the time, refused the government’s orders to either revoke their vows or to leave the country
  • José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, an Argentinean priest known as the “Gaucho priest,” who lived and worked among the poor; Pope Francis praised him for smelling “of sheep”
  • Spanish Bishop Palencia Manuel González García, founder of the Congregation of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth, the Disciples of Saint John, and the Children of Reparation; known as the “bishop of the tabernacle” for his devotion to the Eucharist
  • Father Lodovico Pavoni of the Italian city of Brescia, founder of the religious congregation ‘Sons of Mary Immaculate’ or ‘Pavonians’
  • Alfonso Maria Fusco, a priest from the southern Italian city of Salerno, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist, commonly known as Baptistine Sisters
  • French Discalced Carmelite mystic and writer Elizabeth of the Trinity who died aged just 26 in 1906 from Addison’s disease, but not before leaving behind writings of great faith and depth

The Holy Father exhorted the faithful to prayer, saying, “To pray is not to take refuge in an ideal world, nor to escape into a false, selfish sense of calm.  On the contrary, to pray is to struggle, but also to let the Holy Spirit pray within us.  For the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray.  He guides us in prayer and he enables us to pray as sons and daughters.”

prodigal
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‘Come Running Like A Prodigal’

The band Sidewalk Prophets currently has a song out called, “Prodigal.” It’s a reflection of the well-known parable of the Prodigal Son in the Gospel of Luke. The song encourages the listener to acknowledge one’s sins, and return to the arms of God the Father:

Wherever you are, whatever you did
it’s a page in your book, but it isn’t the end
your father will meet you with arms open wide
this is where your heart belongs…

Come running like a prodigal
Come running like a prodigal

There will be nights, when you hear whispers
of a life you once knew, don’t let it linger
’cause there’s a grace that falls upon you
don’t you forget….

Yesterday, Pope Francis was wrapping up his trip to Mexico. It’s no secret that Pope Francis loves to embrace the people, literally. His delight towards young people is especially evident.

In the following video, Pope Francis calls two young women with Down Syndrome from the crowd to himself. The Holy Father’s gestures – walking towards them, holding his arms out wide, his tremendous smile – all symbolize God the Father’s anxious heart when His prodigal child returns.

We are all prodigals. We all sin, running from God’s grace, straight into the arms of evil. However, we always have the choice, the ability, to turn and run right back into the arms of the Father. And He will always reach out to us, smiling, beckoning us to return to His unbelievable embrace.