There are those who will believe and those who will continuously doubt. The story of Padre Pio, now Saint Padre Pio is filled with more questions than answers. There were those in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church who condemned him as an “ignorant, self-mutilating psychopath” and there were those who prayed for forgiveness on his deathbed.
Today is the nameday in Italy of Saint Padre Pio, a humble man who suffered from a number of ailments during his lifetime, came from very poor surroundings, received the “stigmata” which some have proclaimed miraculous, while others claim fakery.
Over the years, there have been reportings of miraculous healings, unexplained, that catapulted Friar Francesco Forgione into Saint Padre Pio in June of 2002 by Pope John Paul II.
At the turn of the new millenium, I happened to attend a talk given by Anthony Fuina, who claims that Padre Pio healed him twice from cancer. His story is nothing short of awesome, and he recounts the story with such passion, conviction and personal emotion, it is difficult to assume it’s contrived.
http://www.messengerofpadrepio.com/
In life, there is a world that surrounds us and an unknown universe beyond that. While we are a people bent on extracting proof from our reality, we are always uncovering, discovering “new” breakthroughs that explain phenomenon, but the phenomenon has always been in our midst, waiting for us to explore, reason and arrive at its verification in any form.
At any given time, in any given place, there are more elements, items, things in existence that we don’t see than things we do. And if we take the dimension of time into consideration, there is an infinity of worlds happening at any given moment – worlds of microbiology, worlds of astronomy, layered through time, that are in existence, happening in any given moment. We, however, are relegated merely to our own world, our own limitations, our own finite reality.
No one knows for sure what, if anything exists beyond our limitations, but, I will err on the side of goodness, the side of caution. Living life with a premise of goodness and wisdom passed through ancient texts, holy books and experiences have been given to us as a directional arrow indicating the way to live a life of peace, despite turbulence bound to arise in our lives.
And so, on this day of unexplained phenomenon, I think of St. Padre Pio, the wounds he endured for whatever reason, the doubts cast by his superiors and defamation he withstood in his life. But I also recall the many lives of common people he touched whose testimony stands unabashed and I realize there is infinity to reality. And it truly doesn’t matter that which is proven – if it makes a difference in your world, that is all that matters.
beyond me 