By Leon Bent –
“Holiness, the vocation to which mankind is called, means to be consistent in living the Gospel”, John Paul II said, in a message to bishop-friends of the Focolare Movement.
Calling to mind the life of St. John Paul II, an adolescent drew attention to the strong emphasis he placed on youth during his Pontificate, and explained that, as he the saint grew older, “I didn’t watch an old man die, I watched a child with a smile on his face … saints are those who never abandon or forget their childhood.”
“John Paul II taught that as the Lord invites us to be holy,” he continued, adding that, “it’s easy to love the poor, but it’s not easy to embrace poverty; it’s easy to speak about those who do penance, but it’s not easy to do penance; it’s easy to love saints, but it’s not easy to love sainthood.” Pope John Paul II Personal Secretary states, “I lived 39 years with a saint. How did I know? By the way he prayed!”
Recalling the day the Pontiff was shot in St. Peter’s Square, Cardinal Dziwisz (Secretary) explained that, he accompanied him in the ambulance on his way to the hospital. All the time John Paul II “prayed for the man who shot him, even though he didn’t know who he was, and said, he would offer his pain for the world.” After Mehmet Alì Ağca almost killed him in May 1981, St. John Paul II visited the would-be assassin in a prison in Rome to extend his forgiveness.
On the first Sunday of Advent, November 30, 1980, Pope John Paul II published his second encyclical letter “Dives in Misericordia” (Rich in Mercy), in which he describes the mercy of God as the presence of a love which is greater than any evil, greater than any sin and greater than death. In this encyclical he calls on the Church to devote itself to pleading for God’s mercy for the whole world. John Paul II himself indicated this Divine Mercy message as his spiritual testament. His legacy! For God is Mercy itself!
Pope John Paul II canonized Saint Faustina Kowalska, ‘the great Apostle of Divine Mercy’. In doing so, he also approved the Divine Mercy message and devotion, by declaring the Second Sunday of Easter as “Divine Mercy Sunday” for the Universal Church. In one of the most extraordinary homilies of his Pontificate, Pope John Paul II repeated three times that Saint Faustina is “God’s gift to our time.”
Another strong aspect of John Paul II’s holiness was that of suffering, the Cardinal (Secretary) noted, highlighting how the Pope’s whole life was marked by pain, beginning with the death of his family members as a young man, his attempted assassination, and, finally, his contraction of Parkinson’s disease.
John Paul II promoted ecumenical and interfaith initiatives, especially the 1986 Day of Prayer for World Peace in Assisi. He visited Rome’s main synagogue and the Western Wall in Jerusalem; he also established diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Israel. He improved Catholic-Muslim relations, and in 2001 visited a mosque in Damascus, Syria.
Speaking to reporters in Rome, Jim Caviezel, who plays Jesus in “The Passion of the Christ,” asserts, “John Paul II is very special man for a very special world,” Caviezel said, adding, “The Pope is a mystic. He loves Christ.”
What is contemplation? Contemplative prayer is “taking time to be alone with God who we know loves us” (Saint Teresa of Avila); “the intense gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], 2715). St. Pope Paul II exhorts: The Church sounds the call: dive deep into contemplation and ‘the holy mysteries’ (Rosary), and become the mystic God intended you to be!
Now, this gold nugget! Presiding at the funeral Mass, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said, “We can be sure that our beloved Pope is standing at the window of the Father’s house, (as he stood doddering and stumbling, at the Vatican’s famous “Angelus Window”, just before his death) that, sees us and blesses us. Yes, bless us, Holy Father. We entrust your dear soul to the Mother of God, your Mother, who guided you each day, and who will guide you now to the glory of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”
The punch line! The people’s Pope showed us that holiness is not only possible, but exciting.
And, this final flourish! St. John Paul II had, long before he died, been canonized in millions of hearts around the world. His life has been proof that holiness is possible, even in our modern world.
Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and have 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi. On April, 28, 2018, Leon received the Cardinal Ivan Dias Award for a research paper in Mariology.