There is a very pleasing event that has taken place today in Rome that has been edifying to not only the Roman Catholics in Australia, but Roman Catholics right around the world.What I am referring to is the Canonisation of Mother Mary McKillop as Australia's first ever fully certified Saint.
Yes, Australia has welcomed the nation's first saint, Saint Mary of the Cross McKillop, with cheers, tears of joy and enthusiastic applause.
St Mary was declared at about 7.45 (AEDT) during a canonisation ceremony at the Vatican in Rome led by Pope Benedict XVI.
Up to 8000 Australians, wearing yellow or teal coloured scarves, watched from the square of St Peter's, the centre of Roman Catholicism. Across Australia, many thousands more watched the live broadcast.
The Pope named each candidate in turn, ending with the declaration that their names be inscribed "in the canon (list) of the saints and establish that throughout the church they be honoured devoutly among all the saints."
"It was lovely I'm so glad I was here," Dianna Georges told AAP at Mary MacKillop Place where 2000 people had roared their approval and erupted with cheers and applause following the formal canonisation.
The mother of three from Croydon, in Sydney's inner west, was cradling her three-week-old baby Elyssa Anne Mary, named after Mother Mary.
"Hopefully, Mary MacKillop will keep her safe and protect her throughout her life."
Following the canonisation, dozens poured into the chapel to pray at St Mary's tomb.
Father Graeme Malone, priest to Mary MacKillop Place, said he was deeply stirred by the moment.
"It was a great privilege to witness it," he told AAP.
The ceremony was broadcast live on television and the internet and at various sites around Australia where thousands had gathered, including her birthplace of Melbourne and the rural town of Penola in South Australia where her religious journey began.
In Penola, there were cheers and tears among town residents.
"I have come because it is history in the making; this will never happen again you know: Australia's first saint," Coral Butcher said.
More than 15,000 people travelled to Mary MacKillop Place on Sunday, the mother house of the Sisters.
In Sydney, Acting Secretary General of the Sisters of St Joseph, Sister Monica Cavanagh thanked St Mary's many admirers for the enthusiasm they have showed for the order's founder.
"We are overwhelmed with the response," she said.
St Mary, a founder of the order of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart who died in 1909, was canonised along with five others blesseds from Spain, Poland, Canada and Italy.
About 50,000 people were gathered at St Peter's to hear the Pope conduct the rite during a two hour mass.
The Pope began with a formal greeting to the church universal before calling on the congregation to reflect on their lives.
The crowd was silent as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Archbishop Angelo Amato, formally asked the Pope to proceed with the canonisations.
Archbishop Amaoto told of St Mary's early years during a short a biography, which he made for each candidate.
St Mary was born in Melbourne on January 15, 1842, the first child of Scottish immigrants Flora and Alexander.
Her childhood was humble and she grew up knowing what it was like to be poor.
She went on to found the order with Father Julian Woods to help educate and care for poor children in rural areas.
However, her journey was not easy.
St Mary's path to sainthood has taken 85 years, the church recognition of two healing miracles, the personal attentions of Popes, years of research, countless prayers and patience.
The title means she will be recognised around the world as a person close to God.
Australian clergy in Rome for the canonisation included Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell, Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson, Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart, Brisbane Archbishop John Bathersby, and Perth Archbishop Barry Hickey.
However, this has not only provided a splendid opportunity for the nations of Catholics right around the world to celebrate something that is gratifying and edifying to their religion, but it has also given the many Australian public figures that had attended the event the opportunity to travel and spend lavishly at the expense of the taxpayers.
What a grandiose type of holiday they must all have had while the average Aussie battles to pay the bills and pay off the mortgage?
Oh for the privileges and advantages of power even though there is nothing at all mentioned in the word of God relative to this particular type of circus, and that's what it is a circus.
This event has nothing whatsoever to do with being a Christian, or indeed salvation, but instead has everything to do with making sure that we as a nation are rife for the time that the Antichrist gains total and complete control of the Revised Roman Empire - the EU - just as he is doing at the moment.
The Bible makes very clear that a man cannot inherit the Kingdom of God unless they are thoroughly Born Again in the spirit and that good works alone will not achieve that objective, meaning that by whatever works or miracles Mary McKillop allegedly achieved Sainthood they really count for nothing or very little unless she had been Born Again.
Of those circumstances, I cannot be certain though as she yet may not really be a saint in the eyes of God unless she had been Born Again.
Also, there is no doubting that anyone can achieve Sainthood if they are prepared to repent of their sins and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their saviour and deliverer.
Therefore, as there are literally millions and millions of Born Again Christians alive here on the planet, even as l write this piece; in that respect there is nothing that is out of the ordinary about Mary McKillop except for the probability of her being a good women who lived a selfless life and went out of her way to help those that were less fortunate than herself.
In closing, the Canonization of a particular individual is simply nothing more than a recently invented add on to the Roman Catholic Church and was more than likely invented in quite recent times probably within the last few hundred years and has been put there purely for ecstatic purposes only.
