Where the Rubber Hits the Road

Our country is wrapped up in Olympic fever these days as we celebrate each triumph and victory of our athletes. Yet today I celebrate another Canadian today, whose victory is not found on the slopes of Vancouver, but is marked by the cures and souls won for God by Brother Andre Bessette who will be formally declared a saint in October of this year. Eternal life with God... that's a prize worth attaining, no matter whether we are Olympians

Today the Vatican published a list of people who are either to be declared "saints" or on that "heavenly path" . Most of the subsequent comment that has followed this announcement has focused upon the declaration of Pope John Paul II and Pius XII as venerable (lived lives of virtue) but for Canadians there is great joy with the inclusion of Brother Andre Bessette of St. Joseph's Oratory (Montreal) among those to be declared as saints. Brother Andre is well known among Canadian Catholic as he is thought of as being the agent of many miracles of healing at the small oratory that he founded in Montreal. Given the humility that Andre demonstrated in life, it seems only appropriate that the declaration of his eligibility for canonization would be a hidden gem among the news declaring the giants of John Paul and Pius XII as venerable.