Deacon Jack Sullivan, who was inexplicably healed from a crippling spinal condition after praying through the intercession of Cardinal John Henry Newman, will read the Gospel and serve as a deacon at the beatification ceremony in September.
Deacon Sullivan told Catholic News Service he was asked to participate in the 19 September Mass by Fr Timothy Menezes, the master of ceremonies for the beatification.
"I am extremely excited that I have been asked to assist at the papal Mass as deacon, for it best reflects my simple prayer, 'Cardinal Newman, help me to walk so that I can return to classes and be ordained a deacon,'" he said on Thursday.
"For years I suffered as patiently as I could and was rewarded instantly by a simple prayer," he said.
"I am most grateful now that the church has seen fit to reward Cardinal Newman as he courageously followed the light of truth."
Pope Benedict will beatify Cardinal Newman, the 19th-century theologian who founded the Oxford Movement to bring the Anglican Church back to its Catholic roots, on 19 September in Cofton Park in Birmingham.
(Source: CNS)
