October 30, 2011

Baby Grundig

Just picked up a nifty little digital AM-FM-shortwave receiver, a Grundig Traveller II G8.  All I can say is that they have come a long way since I last acquired a portable shortwave radio.  This little radio has outstanding audio and selectivity.  About the only things I really miss is the ability to tune sideband - but it's not intended as a ham band receiver.  Other drawbacks are lack of an external antenna input (only needed for shortwave or world band listening (and I can always clip a wire on to the built in telescoping antenna if needed) and a direct entry keypad.  Actually, the dual fast/slow tuning ability of the tuning wheel almost makes up for the lack of direct frequency entry.  

The retail price of these babies is in the 50 buck range, but the best part for me is that I got it for no cash as part of a rewards program for a credit card that I don't use anymore (in partial response to a national super bank wanting to charge me a monthly fee for using my own debit card...don't even get me started on THOSE bastards, as I've already indicated my opinion to them by using my feet....).  Anyway, I'm enjoying this little radio!

October 16, 2011

John Paul II will soon be a saint

The recognition of Karol Wojtyla’s second miracle is near.

Karol Wojtyla will soon become a saint. Salesian Cardinal Angelo Amato is working on an evaluation of the second miracle attributed to John Paul II.  Amato is in charge of following the process of canonization throughout the Catholic Church, and is trying to counter sceptics inside and outside the Curia who want to slow down a process begun as a result of overwhelming public pressure, by speeding things up.

 And he stated he was closer to recognizing the second miracle to be attributed to Karol Wojtyla, the Polish Pope who was so loved across the entire Catholic spectrum. The case of scientifically unexplainable healing, was placed “under investigation” by the Vatican minister for the Causes of Saints. In order to be canonised, Karol Wojtyla needs to be receive the Holy See recognition of a second miracle.

 A great number of miraculous healings attributed to John Paul II have already been closely examined by the Postulation of the former pope’s canonization cause. One, in particular, is considered to be ideal and especially important in order for Karol Wojtyla to be catapulted to sainthood, following the occurrence that allowed Benedict XVI to proclaim his immediate predecessor Blessed; that is, the healing of the French nun, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre form Parkinson’s disease, the same illness that the last phase of his Pontificate into a nightmare. The Vatican assured that the other miracle which took place after his beatification will be analyzed with no hurry and with usual scruple. The Vatican has also said the Pope's decision to elevate John Paul II to sainthood has been the cause of much joy among the Catholic community across the world. The second miracle attributed to the Blessed John Paul II, must be recognized by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on behalf of the deceased pope. The dossier of miracles attributed to Karol Wojtyla is constantly being updated with new testimonies.

Before the beatification, the Holy See took numerous other miracles into account, for example that of a man who was saved in Cleveland in the United States, from a serious head wound caused by a firearm and a Polish child who was paralysed at the legs bust all of a sudden started walking again, after having prayed at the tomb of John Paul II.

The healing of the Polish child, also received the approval of Cracow’s Archbishop, Stanislao Dziwisz, Karol Wojtyla’s right hand man in Poland and in the Vatican for four years. Cardinal Dziwisz witnessed the little boy who had sat immobile in his wheelchair because of a tumour in his kidneys, “walk after visiting the tomb of John Paul II in the Vatican grottoes.” The cardinal affirmed: “I have born witness to so many acts of grace bestowed by John Paul II. Especially on people who were suffering from tumours. The Polish boy is 9 years old, he is from Danzica, and he could not walk because he had kidney cancer. He was taken to the tomb of John Paul II in his wheelchair. There, he prayed and when he came out of St. Peter’s Basilica, to the astonishment of his parents, he said: “I want to walk.” He got up and started walking.” On the day of his funeral, thousands of people called out: “John Paul II for saint.”

In Cleveland, Ohio a 26 year old boy who had suffered a serious head injury during a mugging was saved and regained his health just when doctors had started to give up hope. The hospital chaplain endorsed the fact that this prodigious act of healing was due to a blessed rosary used by John Paul II. In January 2006, a website was launched to gather the testimonies of Catholics who had witnessed or received acts of grace or miracles after the death of John Paul II, in support of the process of beatification of Karol Wojtyla.

Tens of thousands of messages were sent to the website, available in five languages. In order to assess the candidacy for beatification, the Catholic Church requires proof of “signs” witnessed following the death of a figure in the odour of sanctity. Thus, as of 13 May, when Pope Benedict XVI agreed a dispensation of a five year wait from the death of an individual, after which, the process of beatification could begin, it was decided that testimonies were to be collected  via internet from across the world, in Italian, Polish, English, French and Spanish. Catholics were impatient and did not want to wait for ecclesiastical bureaucracy. Messages were posted on the website asking for Wojtyla to be made a saint immediately and the appeal was also made at his funeral on 8 April 2005. There are dozens of cases of people who were healed by the Polish pope: a 34 year old woman from Palermo was cured of breast cancer out of the blue; a little deaf boy from Baltimore, all of a sudden gained perfect hearing before his gobsmacked doctor; a Mexican bride who had wanted a child for a long time, finally gave birth, despite doctors saying that her state of health made this impossible.

--Giacomo Galeazzi, VaticanInsider.com