4 Catholic Witnesses Who Gave Us Hope in 2019
(Excerpted from the National Catholic Register, January 1, 2020)
National Catholic Register’s feature article highlights Notre Dame priest and firefighter: Father Jean-Marc Fournier, 18 year-old Colorado school shooting hero of self-sacrifice: Kendrick Castillo, Miraculous prayer witness: Melissa Villalobos, and pro-life champion: Abby Johnson. Discover their inspiring stories. (Image credit: National Catholic Register)
Rescuing Jesus From Notre Dame
As fire rained from the roof of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Father Jean-Marc Fournier quickly and decisively, under pressure, went through the endangered church rescuing precious artwork, relics — and, finally, Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
As a fireman, military veteran and chaplain to firefighters, Father Fournier knew the risks to his own life entering the burning Paris cathedral during the April 15 Holy Week fire. With the aid of the sacristan, he grabbed the tunic of St. Louis IX and the Crown of Thorns. Finally, he found Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, whisking him away and asking the hidden God to fight the flames.
Many people found in the Notre Dame Holy Week fire a metaphor for the suffering of the Catholic Church engulfed in sexual and financial scandals throughout 2019. But like Notre Dame Cathedral itself, the faithful witness of Catholic heroes like Father Fournier shone a bright light through the year’s darkness.
He explained that rescuing the relics of Jesus’ passion was “extraordinarily important.” “Sometimes, one needs tangible signs. We are a little bit like those Pharisees, who asked Jesus to give them a sign. And Jesus answered that he hadn’t stopped giving signs,” he said. “We do not need this to believe, but it is also true that every additional [element that points to the credibility of the faith] is precious.”
Laying Down His Life
More than two dozen school shootings took place in 2019, according to one count by ABC News, leaving six dead and 44 injured. The death toll could have been much higher had it not been for the heroic self-sacrifice of Kendrick Castillo, an 18-year-old Catholic whose final sacrifice prevented another Columbine-like massacre in Littleton, Colorado.
When a gunman entered STEM School Highlands Ranch on May 7, intending to execute his teacher and fellow classmates just three days before graduation, Castillo did the one thing that all his friends and family knew he would do: He lunged at the gunman using his body as a shield. The attacker took his life, but no one else’s, as two classmates used the opportunity Castillo created to subdue their would-be executioner. Kendrick died, but only eight others would be injured that day.
A Healing Prayer
“Please, Cardinal Newman, make the bleeding stop.” On May 15, 2013, Melissa Villalobos was on the floor of her bathroom, miscarrying her child and expecting to die in a pool of blood. She had prayed to then-Blessed John Henry Newman before, the last time her baby miscarried, but kept her faith and cried out to him once more in desperation. John Henry Newman’s miraculous “reply” that day would open the door to his canonization with Melissa, her husband, David, and their seven children in attendance.
Melissa told the Register that it was important for them to be in Rome for the Oct. 13 canonization despite the travails of traveling with a young family and the media attention. “I would gladly do it all for Cardinal Newman,” she said.
‘Unplanned’ Witness
Abby Johnson’s memoir Unplanned, the story of her journey from a Planned Parenthood facility director to pro-life advocate — catalyzed by Johnson’s experience assisting with an abortion — went from the book store to the big screen this year.
Many pro-life leaders credited the ability to see Johnson’s life dramatically portrayed on screen for galvanizing a new wave of pro-life volunteers to join the fight against abortion.
Johnson entered the Catholic Church after her pro-life conversion. In addition to her efforts to get pro-life clinic alternatives to Planned Parenthood off the ground, such as the Guiding Star health centers, Johnson is also the director of And Then There Were None, a ministry that helps people leave the abortion industry.
Johnson explained at the Unplanned premiere that she wanted the film to be “a really honest conversation about abortion in the first trimester.” She said the film definitely awakened people who had identified as pro-life but had not taken an active role in the movement.
(Read this article in its entirety at National Catholic Register.com)
