WE, TOO, ARE CALLED TO BE HOLY
 

This coming Saturday, November 18 ^th, 2017, a rare and historic event for the whole Church is happening in Detroit. Fr. Solanus Casey will be declared “Blessed” by the Catholic Church at Ford Field. Declaring Fr. Solanus “Blessed” puts him one step closer to being recognized as a saint, and holds him up to us as a worthy example to emulate on our own paths to becoming saints.
 
The Church does not make saints. “Beatification” is public recognition of what the Holy Spirit accomplished, and continues to accomplish, in and through Solanus. This holy man ministered for decades to everybody who came to his door at St. Bonventure Monastary on Mt. Elliott in Detroit. He was a cherished spiritual counselor whose prayers were effective for the benefit of many, even to bringing about at least one miraculous healing.
 
Fr. Solanus, by God’s Grace, accomplished so much more than was ever expected of him by others. In Unleash the Gospel, Archbishop Vigneron, writes that, for us, too, “ the Lord always has more for us than what we have yet received. Every one of us is called to, and capable of, sainthood” (p.18). This “universal call to holiness” is a great and hopeful message of Vatican II. With our open hearts and cooperation, the power of the same Spirit that descended upon the disciples at Pentecost can make us holy, too.
 
With the Gospel unleashed and the Holy Spirit poured out anew, here and now, there is no telling how many more people in southeastern Michigan will be recognized as Venerable, Blessed, or Saint in the generations to come.
 
Give thanks to God that this humble man in Detroit embraced his gifts to lead an exemplary life of service and prayer. “ Thank God ahead of time,” as Fr. Solanus often said, for the gifts of the Spirit we will receive.