Geography plays a large part of how you will spend this day. In the East, many Catholics will celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. Throughout most of the country, we will mark Thursday in the Sixth Week of Easter. Franciscans will keep the Memorial of St. Paschal Baylon. Because I live in the Midwest and am a Franciscan Friar, I would like to write about St. Paschal today. Tune in on Sunday for my reflections on the Solemnity of the Ascension.

St. Paschal was a Spanish friar who was born in the 16^th century, a time noted for many Spanish saints. The Jesuits St. Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier, the Carmelites St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, and the Franciscans St. Francis Solano, St. Peter of Alcantara, and St. Salvator of Horta were all contemporaries of St. Paschal. St. Paschal spent the first part of his life as a simple shepherd who earned a reputation for scrupulous honesty. When he was twenty-four years old, he petitioned for admission to the Franciscan Order where he spent the next twenty-eight years as a porter answering the door, as a cook for the friars, as a gardener, and as the community's alms seeker or beggar. When he greeted the starving at the door of the friary, he was known for his generosity.

St. Paschal is remembered as a Saint of the Eucharist, a title he earned for his habit of spending his free moments praying before the Eucharist. His devotion to his Savior in the tabernacle became his hallmark and earned him the respect and veneration of the local population. After his death, many sought his intercession and were granted miracles as they prayed by this tomb.

Lord God, you adorned St. Paschal with wondrous love for the sacred mysteries of the Body and Blood of your Son. Grant that we may derive the same spiritual benefits from this sacred banquet which he received. . . Through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Franciscan Supplement to the Liturgy of the Hours)

Spring is in full bloom in my part of the world. Right now the peonies are opening and perfuming our yard. I can't look at these gorgeous flowers without remembering the peony bushes that grew around the seminary where I went to high school. Every year the sacristan would harvest huge bouquets of these lovely flowers and adorn the altar with them.

The peony is the kind of flower which changes as it opens from a tight hard blossom to a lovely feathery bloom. Every day it presents us with a different view, a different perspective. Today's Gospel speaks of the fact that the full message and impact of the Good News cannot be absorbed all at once. This is precisely why Jesus sent the Spirit, to continue to reveal the Gospel message as we grow and mature in the faith. The abiding presence of the Spirit makes it possible for us to digest the Gospel as the mystery of faith continues to unfold in our lives. Jesus came to reveal his Father to those who came to believe in him. For those of us who have heard the word of revelation, the Spirit becomes our connection to that time when Jesus walked among us.

A few days ago, Pope Benedict XVI met with Cardinal Angelo Arnato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes. In the course of that meeting, he signed seventeen decrees that furthered the causes of several individuals and groups who have been postulated for inclusion in the Church's roster of saints. Among them were several Americans including Bishop Baraga, a Jesuit missionary who worked among the Native Americans of Northern Michigan and Wisconsin.

One of the decrees actually recognized a woman of the 12^th century as a saint even though she has never been formally canonized. Her name is St. Hildegard of Bingen. The decree recognized that this woman has long been considered a saint by the faithful who have found in her writings a source of great spiritual wisdom. While we are all used to the usual process of beatification and canonization, this decree reminds us that this traditional route to sainthood is rather new in the 2,000 year history of the Church. The first saint to go through the "process" of canonization was St. Clare of Assisi who lived in the 13^th century. Before her, saints were recognized by the faithful who studied their writings and asked their intercession before the throne of God. Pope Benedict's acknowledgement of her sanctity acknowledges what the faithful have already known, that this 12^th century mystic has taught us much about the love of God and God's created world.

St. Hildegard was a Benedictine German nun. Perhaps this is one reason that the current Holy Father has promulgated the decree regarding her contribution to the Church. She was a writer who composed theological, botanical and medicinal texts, as well as letters, liturgical songs, and poems, while supervising brilliant miniature Illuminations. Her wisdom is still easily accessible in religious book stores and libraries.