A Saint among us?

Tis the season when we ought to contemplate that the Word became flesh and dwelled among us. But that happened a long time ago.

The awesome event of the Savior’s birth – a correction in the course of human history – is often lost in what we actually celebrate this time of year.

This Christmas season, however, we have a reminder close to home, close to us, that God is still active in human affairs.

A process that could lead to naming Maria Middleton a “Servant of God” is just underway in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It may ultimately lead to her becoming a recognized Saint in the Catholic Church.

This could take a while. Or not. Few saints are declared soon after death, as in the case of Pope St. John Paul II. Some saints wait centuries for recognition, although in eternity a thousand years are like a day.

The first step is the appointment of a postulator to review the facts of Maria’s virtuous life and her lasting impact on those who knew her or her story. If, after study, a recommendation is made to the Archbishop of Philadelphia to open her cause for sainthood – and he agrees – she would be named Servant of God. The Vatican would then begin a more detailed examination of Maria’s life and miracles attributed to her intercession that could lead to sainthood.

Tis the season we can learn from Maria and her unyielding trust in God’s plan for her and for us in this moment of history.

Come, Emmanuel.

Maria blows bubbles for children she met in Uganda.

All human knowledge explained in one chart

Some of us may have sat nervously on the edge of a bed or chair while a physician made a rough sketch about a complicated medical condition. I’ve seen this happen many times as a patient, caregiver and healthcare worker. I have only seen a lay person do the same for a physician once.

The physician was confused, like most patients are, when confronted with life-changing news. The lay person, father of a dying girl in need of a miracle, was trying to explain to the physician his cause for hope despite a desperate prognosis. His sketch looked like this:

There are limits to human knowledge, the father argued. Medicine is always discovering something new, just as the social sciences (and all sciences) grapple with new findings. All things, however, are known in eternity. Why, the father wanted to know, rely solely on the limitations of medicine when there is something greater?

This encounter explains in part Maria Middleton’s unyielding trust in God following her terminal brain cancer diagnosis. The miracle we all thought she needed didn’t happen. Instead, her 20-month journey in search of a cure discovered Divine Providence in every moment. Even now, five years after Maria passed into eternal life, her story awakens faith in some and deepens it for others, evidenced by more than 800-1,000 who attended her memorial Mass on October 16. 

A Special Anniversary

There are personal anniversaries we want to keep and others we want to forget. Those we share with a community, however, often share a tension that cannot be ignored. A great good may be remembered and celebrated, as in a military victory, but there is a terrible cost on and beyond the battlefield.

This year marks one of those remembrances, the fifth anniversary of Maria Middleton entering eternal life. There was great comfort in assurances she had found heaven that day after a long illness. There was also quaking grief in the death of a child.

After Maria’s passing, her parents found journals she had kept for years. She began one at age 11 with the words: “God is merciful.” The last words she could legibly write nearly seven years later were: “think hope.” In her words and the example of her life, Maria is leading many from sorrow to wonder – and ultimately to hope.

As in past years, an anniversary Mass will be celebrated at the National Shrine of Lady of Czestochowa, a place close to Maria’s heart. This year, however, we’ll remember Maria in a special way. Archbishop Nelson Pérez of Philadelphia will be the main celebrant for Mass:

Thursday, October 16 – 6 p.m.

National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa

654 Ferry Road, Doylestown, PA 18901

Refreshments and sale of a new book, “Think Hope: Maria Middleton’s Life of Unyielding Trust in God” will take place from 5 to 5:40 p.m and following Mass in the Visitor’s Center.