Equipping Catholic Families to celebrate the Canonization of Pope John Paul II

Awesome day to be Catholic! We’re basking in Divine Mercy Sunday, waking up this morning to the canonization of 2 Popes by 2 Popes! We know a little bit about St John XXIII, but we’re a little biased and unapologetic for our love for St John Paul II!

If we met you at the NCEA last week…or if you have been following Equipping Catholic Families, you might recall our connection with St John Paul II.

We’ve shared… My Direct Order from the Pope,  How My Kids Became Part of Penance from the Pope,  The First Communion Dress and How We Stood Up the Pope, but I haven’t even mentioned how I have a matching white angora hat that matches a set of socks and a vest (of the same angora!) made for Pope John Paul II!

I will post a better explanation when I get the courage up to post a picture of me wearing the hat.

A few weeks ago Equipping Catholic Families was going through some major technical difficulties, way beyond my technical scope. After a few weeks of problems, a call to our host provider, a dreadful bulldozer-sales pitch followed by serious second thoughts about expensive webhosting, a couple more calls to our host provider technical team and the extraordinary patience and expertise of a guy named Mitch, I was tormented by 3 solid days of disappearing pictures on an intermittent, often unavailable blog: MY blog!

After numerous setting changes and technical attempts with short-lived hope for 10-15 minutes between major blog fails, I was at my end. I was seriously wondering if maybe my time in the blogging world was destined to come to an abrupt end.

In between harried instant messages to Mitch and distracted errands with the kids, I was reminded of the feedback we received from Pope John Paul II after he personally skimmed through my book with his own hands. Pope John Paul II had pointed to my picture on the back of the book and he told our friend Elizabeth,

“Tell her to keep doing what she is doing…for families.”

In a beaten-up, frustrated and twitchy blogger voice, I called out to Bl John Paul II and I heard somehow…

“Yes, it applies to blogging.”

With that, my courage grew and I called out once again.

“Well, Blessed John Paul II, please help me fix this blog then.”

Bold, huh?

I made another call to my host provider with another question and was connected with yet another tech guy. I explained my long saga and summarized the different settings I had been led to change and all the things that Mitch had helped me to do to the underside of my blog. As I explained the last setting change I had made, the tech guy said “I just hit a 2nd ‘apply’ button that you may not have seen.”

And my blog was fixed.

And now I have an official Patron Saint for Equipping Catholic Families.

SAINT John Paul II, pray for us!  

Oh, and if you like that Saint John Paul II mug in the picture…it will be available soon at  Catholic to the Max!

Hey, want to go to Rome this fall? Check out this Featured Pilgrimage at St Gemma’s Catholic Pilgrimages! I can’t wait to hear back from the group on the Canonization Tour!