The Capuchin Fathers have been the staff at St. John the Evangelist Church in downtown Philadelphia for more than ten years and so on Monday evening there was a local Mass of Thanksgiving for the newly canonized Padre Pio of Pietrelcina. St. John's not nearly large enough and so the Mass was scheduled for the Cathedral of Ss. Peter and Paul on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway a few blocks away. Thrilling to be part of the congregation of 2500, to share the thanksgiving and the joy. The epistle was Galatians 6:14-18: "May I never boast except in the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world .... "



More than almost anyone else of recent times, Padre Pio is identified with the Sacrament of Penance. How grueling must have been the hours he spent in the confessional, how tender his ministering to individual souls in their pain and grief, how blessed we are that we have available such a ceremony of accountability, forgiveness, reconciliation and healing.



Padre Pio's constant exhortation: "Pray, hope, do not worry." Or, as in Hebrews 10:21-22: “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.” Blessed Assurance.