by Jeni Stepanek | May 15, 2019 | Blog, Home, News, Uncategorized
Sharing your “Mattie Reflections”
and Statements of Support
A cause for sainthood
in the Catholic Church
rests on the idea
that the individual has
lived a life of heroic virtue,
namely pursuing or
choosing the good
in difficult circumstances.
All are Welcome to Share
The Mattie J.T. Stepanek Guild welcomes
“Mattie Reflections” and Statements of Support from
people of all ages, abilities, nationalities, and faiths.
- Those who directly knew Mattie J.T. Stepanek
are asked to share their specific remembrances of how he lived a holy life. - Those who knew or know of Mattie through
his media appearances, writings, or public ministry
are invited to share their experience of his holiness. - ALL are nvited to share reflections and statements on
how knowing Mattie or knowing about him has inspired them to live as a better person and led them to a closer relationship with God.
Simply follow the three steps below and share how
knowing Mattie, or knowing about him,
has inspired you to live as a better person,
and/or led you to a closer relationship with God.
Reflect
- How did/do you know Mattie?
Is there a quote or a conversation, an experience or appearance that is memorable and meaningful? - Prayerfully and carefully reflecton your remembrance and share the most important facts.
Respond
- A statement does not need to be long, but it does need to specific.
Statements may be hand-written or typed, but they must be signed by person sharing information. - A reflection or statementis most effective when
specific dates, locations, conversations, and other details are shared. - Offering specific information about something Mattie said or did
– and how that has inspired or impacted or changed you – is most helpful to the Guild. - It is suggested that you number each paragraph or line so that it is more easily cited by the Guild.
Reach Out
- Please end/close your statement with this phrase:
‘I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true.’ - IMPORTANT: Sign your name AND write your name AND date the document, AND please give us a way to contact you (address / phone / email).
- Please mail paper/print copies of reflections and statements to
Mattie J.T. Stepanek Guild
PO Box 674, Kensington, MD 20895
DOWNLOAD a PDF VERSION of these
“Sharing Mattie Reflections / Statements” Guidelines
by CLICKING HERE…
Thank you for lifting up Mattie’s Cause for Sainthood
with your reflection and testimony statement.
by Jeni Stepanek | May 13, 2019 | Blog, Home, News, Uncategorized
Memorial Mass & Reception
The Mattie J.T. Stepanek Guild invites people of all faiths to join in a celebration of Mattie’s life and spiritual legacy as we commemorate the late poet and peacemaker’s 15 year anniversary.
A memorial Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, June 22 (11 am) at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church (6701 Muncaster Mill Road, Derwood, MD 20855). Msgr. Charles Pope will be the homilist.
Immediately following the Mass, the Guild will host a reception. All are invited to attend, and meet the Guild directors and also share reflections of Mattie’s life and legacy, and how he continues to touch lives and our world.
During September 2019, Mattie’s Guild will also host a Mattie Symposium, with the 1st Annual Mattie Lecture, keynote speaker, VIP guests, and sessions for sharing and recording “Mattie Reflections” to support his Cause of Canonization (view information on sharing Statements of Support here…)
Matthew “Mattie” Joseph Thaddeus Stepanek was born on July 17, 1990, and died just weeks before his 14th birthday on June 22, 2004.
Mattie lived with a rare and fatal neuromuscular disease, and relied on a ventilator, oxygen, wheelchair, and numerous medicines and procedures for medical support. He spent much of his early and later life in intensive care units.
The condition also impacted his three siblings (Katie, Stevie, and Jamie — who died during early childhood) and later impacted his mother, Jeni (who did not know she carried the genetic condition until after giving birth to all four children). Jeni, who now also relies on a ventilator and wheelchair, carries on Mattie’s peace mission as a director for the Mattie J.T. Stepanek Guild (#Mattie4Sainthood organization) and as the CEO of the Mattie J.T. Stepanek Foundation (#MakePeaceTheNews organization).
During his brief life, he penned seven New York Times bestselling books of Heartsongs poetry and Just Peace essays, and he share messages of hope for our world as a frequent guest on shows like Oprah, Good Morning America, and Larry King Live. He also served as an ambassador for peace and disability organizations, and as a lecture and CCD (Sunday School) teacher in his church parish.
He wanted to be remembered as “a poet, a peacemaker, and a philosopher who played.”
Mattie has been gone from this world longer than he was here, but the depth of his living and essence continues to be a powerful source of inspiration and hope for children and adults around the world. During May 2019, Chris Cuomo selected Mattie as his “Champion of Change” for CNN’s special feature by that name.
Mattie’s Guild exists to gather and organize information that may further Mattie’s Cause of Canonization (sainthood) in the Catholic Church. The directors believe that Mattie lived a lived a live exemplifying virtues — including faith, hope, love, and peace.
The Guild directors invite and encourage people of all faiths to share their “Mattie reflections” to support this effort and to celebrate the truth that “Mattie still matters” — because faith adn hope and love and peace will always matter.
Reflections can be personal stories and memories from Mattie’s time on earth. Or, they can be about how children and adults are just now learning about Mattie, and the difference his is making today.
The 15 year anniversary Mass and reception events are free.
All are welcome to attend.
View or download the Press Release PDF HERE…
View or download the Press Release JPG HERE…
#Mattie4Sainthood #PackTheChurch
Donations are encouraged
to support the Guild in their mission
of gathering and organizing information
for Mattie’s possible Cause of Canonization.
Click here to visit our Support page…
Click here to contact the Guild,
or to share your Mattie reflections…
by Jeni Stepanek | Apr 13, 2019 | Blog, Home, News, Uncategorized
April 2019 Reflection
Holy Week & Easter
“We must do more than pray. We must meditate on being faithful.
And we must share our faithfulness with others.
Mattie J.T. Stepanek
Celebrating Holy Week with
“Ponder, Praise, and Prayer”
Meditations from Mattie
All through history, Catholics have approached Holy Week pondering the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In 1998, in preparation for receiving his First Communion, 7-year-old Mattie Stepanek created a Lenten meditation booklet with daily Bible readings and personal responses. Titled “Ponder, Praise and Prayer,” the collection is a prayerful journey that begins on Ash Wednesday, continues through the Lenten season and Holy Week, and culminates on Easter Monday.
The Bible verses he selected were not the ones found in that year’s daily readings, but rather, Mattie’s own selections, including some that were his favorites, and others that he said spoke to his heart that season. The following year, Mattie, age 8, was preparing for Confirmation. Because of his disability, he was not expected to live long enough to be able to receive it as a teen. He approached Confirmation by editing his personal daily meditations in the Lenten booklet, and adding a “foreword and forthword” statement, and sharing the booklet with many members of his parish.
Each page of this Lenten collection includes a Bible verse on which to reflect and ponder, a meditative response of and for praise, and a poetic offering as Mattie reached out with purpose – or his “Heartsong.” Mattie, born in July of 1990, wrote some the poems included in this booklet when he was 3 years old, and others when he was 6,7 or 8 years of age.
In the days leading up to Holy Week, Mattie’s meditations are on prayer with responses including:
“We must do more than pray. We must meditate on being faithful. And we must share our faithfulness with others. Not in a way that is meant to show off, but in a way that is meant to inspire others to see the way of the Lord.” – Mattie
The next day, he continues…
“Prayer comes in all forms, just as God, too, comes in all ways and forms and times. Be there waiting for God to enter your heart, and follow the message in life.” – Mattie
Just before Palm Sunday, Mattie pondered the meaning of death of Jesus, and also the deaths of his siblings. He prefaces his meditation with this passage from the Old Testament:
“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” – Psalm 56:3.
He then writes:
It is always sad when someone dies. And it is especially sad when a little child or a baby dies. But we can’t be angry. We can be hurt, and confused, but not so angry that we turn away from God. There is a reason for everything. We don’t know the reasons, but we can find meaning, if we pray, and trust in God.” – Mattie
As a preschooler, Mattie experienced the loss of his brother, Jamie, and deeply felt and grieved that loss. His two other siblings, Katie and Stevie, died before he was born, and those losses, too, pained him – a yearning for the family he had never met. And, around the time he was creating this booklet, a dear family friend had just lost her baby. So, death, especially of children, was very painful and real to him.
On Palm Sunday, Mattie places his sadness about all these losses in God’s hands:
“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power
and of love and of a sound mind.”– 2 Timothy 1:7
Then on Monday of Holy Week he ponders the Eucharist, again remembering his brother Jamie, with this meditation and a poem about Communion:
“Our bodies get hungry for food. Our memories get lonely for those who have gone away from our sight and homes. But it is our spirit that needs to be fed with Jesus. It is not a trick. It is not just words. It is not a symbol. It is real life. And through Jesus and the church, we will always be with what we need and we will always see those we love again.” – Mattie
==============
Excerpt from The Reality of Magic-Bread
…
When I was little,
I used to be a teeny-bit angry about communion.
I thought that it was “magic bread”
And that we should have given a piece of it
To Jamie so that he wouldn’t die, or so that
He would come back to life, like Jesus did.
But now, I am five-and-a-half, and so much older.
Now I know that communion is not magic.
Miracles are not tricks.
They are real.
Heaven is real.
Jamie’s spirit is real and alive in Heaven.
But sometimes, what is real can feel very sad,
Even though later,
Like when we die and go to Heaven,
We will feel happy forever.
I believe all of that, God, but sometimes,
Waiting for what’s Real is really hard.
Amen.
Mattie J.T. Stepanek
February 18, 1996
Unpublished – Private Manuscripts
On Good Friday he reflects on Heaven, with this passage, meditation, and poem:
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes God’s messenger because he or she is God’s messenger, will share in his or her reward. And whoever welcomes a good person because the person is good, will share in his or her reward.”Matthew 10:40-41
==============
“Only God knows exactly what ‘Heaven’ means, but we know that it is the best-of-the-best, and it is forever. So always live with your heart set on Heaven.” – Matti
The next day, Easter Saturday, he offers “Climbing to Heaven”– a poem that moves us from the wood of the cross to the glories of eternity.
The next day, Easter Saturday, he offers “Climbing to Heaven”– a poem that moves us from the wood of the cross to the glories of eternity.
The next day, Easter Saturday, he offers “Climbing to Heaven”– a poem that moves us from the wood of the cross to the glories of eternity.
On the final page of his Lenten booklet, Mattie invites each of us to reflect and ponder on the messages shared, and to respond at a personal level with praise and prayer, and he encourages us to:
“…choose to reach out with the Message, by sharing your Heartsong with others. Share God through your words and way of living, every day.”
As we move through this Holy Week, and through each week of our lives, let the purity of Mattie’s belief and faith open our hearts to God, and to His son, Jesus Christ, and to the beautiful glories that are the truth of Heaven.
The Mattie J.T. Stepanek Guild
www.Mattie4Sainthood.org
View and download our
Spring Guild Message & Activity
(poetry & RRR pages — coming soon…
