John Paul II Closer to Sainthood

Cause for Beatification and Canonization of The Servant of God John

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!!!

I feel like playing the piano...

Here's me for a very special season, enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Nm4-NVsUg

Free

I'm free

Free Spirit

I can be

What I want to be

This is me -

Free!

"The Heart is a Lonely Hunter"

On my way home, I was listening to Dave Grusin's "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" on my iPod. This got to be the saddest song he's ever written. It's so intense, so passionate, so powerful you'd really think that the heart is simply that, a lonely hunter!! It just makes you cry out for someone you love, someone you're in love with or someone you're searching for to love and on and on and on...WOW!!

Dave Grusin is the musician of all musicians! He's my hero, he's my icon!!

I love you, Dave Grusin. It's my wish to play the piano and perform with you on stage, (world stage, I dream big!), record with you, do a project or 2 together and everything else a musician can dream of! I look forward to meeting you one day. Soon!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! It's midnight, December 25, 2009!

Icons, Legends, Phenomena...

The other night, I was watching the Biography channel and saw the BEATLES and STEVIE WONDER back to back. What a treat! I enjoyed tremendously.

I remember months back when Norman was watching "A Hard Day's Night" movie on TV in the other room while we were here, and of course, being a musician, I wanted to say something about the Beatles when the breaking news about Michael Jackson' funeral was announced and at that moment I just had to talk about Michael.

But what can one say about an icon, a phenomenon, a legend? The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson - they're all that!! What can you say, what do you say, how do you say it? Those words say it all. I remember we were speechless when we heard the news about Michael. All we could do was share a moment of silence.

Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand. At the level they're at, they're everything they ever wanted to be and more... There's nothing more to say.

Pope Seeks to Beatify John Paul

I saw this article on BBC NEWS on December 19, 2009 and it's such great news for us, Catholics, so I thought I'd share it with you all -

Pope seeks to beatify John Paul

Pilgrims at the Pope's funeral called for his immediate sainthood Pope Benedict XVI has begun the process of beatifying his predecessor John Paul II, the first step to sainthood. "The cause for the beatification of John Paul II is open," the new Roman Catholic leader told priests meeting at Rome's Basilica of St John in Lateran. The Pope waived the usual rules which require a five-year wait before the Church begins to make someone a saint. John Paul II died on 2 April, leading to widespread calls from Catholics worldwide for him to be made a saint. Standing ovation BEATIFICATION PROCESS Beatification requires that a miracle has occurred Group approaches local bishop After Rome's approval an investigation is launched Findings are sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints Case is presented to the Pope Blessed may be accorded a feast day Relics of the candidate may be venerated Canonisation (actual sainthood) requires proof of a second miracle Reasons for the fast track "And now I have a very joyous piece of news for you," Pope Benedict XVI said in Italian before making the announcement in Latin. The Pope read out a letter from Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, the official in charge of sainthood, in which it said that Benedict XVI himself had authorised the start of the beatification process. The news was met with a standing ovation from the priests attending the meeting. It comes on the anniversary of an assassination attempt on John Paul II in 1981, when he was shot in St Peter's Square by a Turkish gunman. Life examined Information will now be gathered on the former pope's life and teachings, including all private writings from the period before he became pope, and checked for orthodoxy to ensure that he expressed no heretical views. Pope John Paul II abandoned the five-year rule when he beatified Mother Teresa A commission of historians will be appointed to gather all of the documents together, which will then be examined by panels of theologians, and cardinals and bishops. If a two-thirds majority agree with John Paul II's beatification Pope Benedict XVI will then be called upon to give his own approval. But Vatican expert Michael Walsh told the BBC that for the process to be complete the Vatican authorities will then have to establish that a miracle has been ascribed to Pope John Paul II. "They have to prove someone has been miraculously healed... by his intercession, by praying to John Paul II, he or she has recovered from cancer or something of that sort," he said. Miracle needed In the days following his death Italian media carried a number of reports of alleged miracles attributed to Pope John Paul II, including one claim that an American man suffering from a brain tumour was cured after receiving communion from the late pontiff. But the alleged miracles occurred during the Pope's lifetime, and the beatification process studies those occurring after the candidate's death. Beatification allows public veneration of the person and for the person to be known as "Blessed". For actual sainthood, proof of at least two miracles is required. Beatification allows public veneration of the blessed person In normal circumstances five years must pass between the death of the person proposed for beatification and the start of the procedure, to avoid emotion playing a part. However, John Paul II dispensed with this rule himself when in 2003 he beatified Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The entire process was completed just six years after her death. On Friday Pope Benedict XVI also announced who would succeed him as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Sixty-eight-year-old William Levada, Archbishop of San Francisco, is the first American to hold the post as the Vatican's chief watchdog of orthodoxy.

Mmmm...

Hot chocolate, anyone??