HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ST JOHN PAUL!
If I could have been in two places today, one of them would have been Poland, spending time in Krakow and then in Wadowice where Karol Wojtyla – the future Pope John Paul II, was born on this very day 100 years ago.
The place I was actually in was, of course, Rome – you can read about that in my next column today! (So I guess that is actually 3 places)
Below are several of the vaticannews.va stories published today about St. John Paul. I wonder how many people around the world are reading these stories and others about John Paul in the various languages of this website. I wonder how many people are savoring their memories of this saintly pontiff, truly a man for all seasons.
I have no idea of the number of people who met or saw or were somehow in the presence of this Pope – in Rome or during his many unforgettable travels – in just the 26 and a half years he was Pope. I have no idea how many more lives he touched before 1978 as a pastor, bishop and the cardinal archbishop of Krakow before being elected to the papacy on October 16, 1978 when he took the names of his two predecessors, John and Paul. That number is absolutely in the millions and more likely in the tens of million if not more!
How many of them – of us – are both entranced and also prayerful at those memories, of how blessed we were to have this man, this Pope, in our lives. Of how sad we feel at knowing there are people who did not know, see, meet or be touched by St. John Paul.
POPE FRANCIS: ST JOHN PAUL II A MAN OF PRAYER, CLOSENESS, JUSTICE
Celebrating Mass on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Karol Wojtyla, the future St. John Paul II, Pope Francis described his predecessor as a man of prayer, closeness, and justice.
By Christopher Wells
Pope Francis celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of St John Paul II by offering Holy Mass at the altar where the Polish Pope is buried in St Peter’s Basilica.
Joined by a very limited number of the faithful, the liturgy on Monday morning was the first Mass open to the public after almost two months of restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Lord has visited His People
Pope Francis began his homily by reminding us that God loves His People, and in times of difficulty “visits” them by sending a holy man or a prophet.
In the life of Pope John Paul II, we can see a man sent by God, prepared by Him, and made Bishop and Pope to guide God’s Church. “Today, we can say that the Lord visited His people”.
A man of prayer
Pope Francis focused on three particular traits that marked the life of John Paul II: prayer, closeness, and mercy.
Despite his many duties as Pope, John Paul II always found time to pray. “He knew well that the first task of the bishop is to pray”, Pope Francis said, noting that this is the teaching of St Peter in the Acts of the Apostles. “The first task of the bishop is to pray”, the Pope repeated. John Paul “knew this, and did it”.
Close to the people
St John Paul II was also close to the people, not detached or separated from them, but travelling the whole world to seek them out. Already in the Old Testament, we can see how God was uniquely close to His People.
This closeness culminated in the Incarnation, when Jesus Himself dwelt among His people.
John Paul followed the example of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, drawing near to both the great and the small, to those close by and those physically far away.
Merciful justice
Finally, Pope Francis said, St John Paul II was remarkable for his love of justice. But his love for justice was a desire for justice completed by mercy. And so John Paul was also a man of mercy, “because justice and mercy go together”. John Paul, who did so much to promote the Divine Mercy devotion, believed that God’s justice “had this face of mercy, this attitude of mercy.”
Pope Francis concluded his homily with the prayer that the Lord might grant to all of us, and especially to pastors, the grace of prayer, of closeness, and the grace of justice in mercy, and merciful justice.
CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope-francis/mass-casa-santa-marta/2020-05/pope-celebrates-mass-for-anniversary-of-birth-of-john-paul-ii.html
POPE FRANCIS SENDS BLESSINGS TO NEW JPII INSTITUTE OF CULTURE
As the world marks 100 years since the birth of Karol Wojtyla, the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome inaugurates a Saint John Paul II Institute of Culture within the Faculty of Philosophy in John Paul II’s name.
By Devin Watkins
Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope, studied philosophy at the Angelicum from 1946 until 1948. The new institute is supported by two Polish foundations, Futura Iuventa and Saint Nicholas.
John Paul II: Inspiration and architect
To commemorate the new cultural institute, Pope Francis sent a letter on Monday to the Angelicum’s Rector, Fr. Michał Paluch, O.P., who hails from Poland.
The Pope said John Paul II is both “the inspiration behind this project and its first and most important architect.” He added that the Polish Pope left the Church a “rich and multifaceted heritage” due to “the example of his open and contemplative spirit, his passion for God and man, for creation, history and art.”
Deep esteem for humanity
Pope Francis wrote that John Paul II always sought to interpret historical events and personal sufferings in the light of the Holy Spirit. This attitude, said the Pope, led him to reflect deeply on man and his culture roots “as an essential reference point for every proclamation of the Gospel.”
He recalled that John Paul II, in his first encyclical, Redemptor Hominis, wrote that the “missionary attitude always begins with a feeling of deep esteem for ‘what is in man’, for what man has himself worked out in the depths of his spirit concerning the most profound and important problems.”
“We need to keep this approach alive,” said Pope Francis, “if we wish to be an outward-looking Church, not satisfied with preserving and administering what already exists but seeking to be faithful to our mission.”
Interpreting today’s cultural challenges
The Pope expressed his appreciation that the JPII Institute of Culture is part of the Angelicum University. “The Angelicum,” he wrote, “houses an academic community comprising professors and students from throughout the world and is a fitting place for interpreting the important challenges of today’s cultures.”
He said the Dominican tradition – which guides the university – will certainly favor the project, “so that it will be characterized by the courage of the truth, freedom of spirit and intellectual honesty.”
In conclusion, Pope Francis expressed his best wishes for the St. John Paul II Institute of Culture, and imparted his Apostolic Blessing upon all those involved.
POPE FRANCIS ADDS FEAST OF SAINT FAUSTINA TO ROMAN CALENDAR
Pope Francis makes the feast of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska an optional memorial for the universal Church, to be celebrated on October 5.
By Vatican News
The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued a decree on Monday, 18 May, inscribing the celebration of Saint Maria Faustina (Helena) Kowalska, virgin, in the General Roman Calendar.
The decree – issued on behalf of Pope Francis – came on the same day as the Church marks 100 years since the birth of Karol Wojtyla. The future Pope St. John Paul II canonized St. Faustina in the year 2000. Her optional memorial will be celebrated around the world on 5 October.
Below is the official English-language translation of the decree:
“His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation” (Lk 1: 50). What the Virgin Mary sang in the Magnificat, contemplating the salvific work of God in favour of every human generation, found an echo in the spiritual encounters of Saint Faustina Kowalska who, through a heavenly gift, saw in the Lord Jesus Christ the merciful face of the Father and became its herald.
Born in the village of Głogowiec, near Łódź, in Poland in 1905, and dying in Krakow in 1938, Saint Faustina spent her short life amongst the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, generously conforming herself to the vocation she received from God and developing an intense spiritual life, rich in spiritual gifts and in faithful harmony with them. In the Diary of her soul, the sanctuary of her encounter with the Lord Jesus, she herself recounts what the Lord worked in her for the benefit of all: listening to Him who is Love and Mercy she understood that no human wretchedness could measure itself against the mercy which ceaselessly pours from the heart of Christ. Thus she became the inspiration for a movement dedicated to proclaiming and imploring Divine Mercy throughout the whole world. Canonized in the year 2000 by Saint John Paul II, the name of Faustina quickly became known around the world, thereby promoting in all the parts of the People of God, Pastors and lay faithful alike, the invocation of Divine Mercy and its credible witness in the conduct of the lives of believers.
Therefore the Supreme Pontiff Francis, accepting the petitions and wishes of Pastors, religious women and men, as well as associations of the faithful and having considered the influence exercised by the spirituality of Saint Faustina in different parts of the world, has decreed that the name of Saint Maria Faustina (Helena) Kowalska, virgin, be inscribed in the General Roman Calendar and that her optional memorial be celebrated by all on 5 October.
This new memorial shall be inserted into all the Calendars and liturgical books for the celebration of the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours, adopting the liturgical texts attached to this decree which must be translated, approved and, after confirmation by this Dicastery, published by the Episcopal Conferences.
Anything to the contrary notwithstanding
From the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 18 May 2020.
Robert Card. Sarah, Prefect
Archbishop Arthur Roche, Secretary
POPE SAINT JOHN PAUL II: A MAN ATTACHED TO PRAYER
In an interview, Polish Cardinal and personal secretary to Pope Saint John Paul II, Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, speaks on the personality of the saint.
By Vatican News
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Karol Wojtyła, the future Pope Saint John Paul II. Pope Francis, on Monday morning, celebrated Mass at the altar where the saint is entombed in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Saint John Paul II was elected Pope by the second papal conclave of 1978 that was called after the death of Pope John Paul I who died after a brief pontificate. Saint John Paul II’s papacy lasted from 1978 to 2005.
In an interview with Vatican News, Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, personal secretary to Pope Saint John Paul II, and Archbishop Emeritus of Krakow, Poland, speaks about his experience of living and working with the saint.
A man of prayer
Cardinal Dziwisz recalled that he lived with the saint after he had been appointed a Cardinal by Paul VI in 1967 and continued after Wojtyla became Pope. “The secret of his person is the depth of his spiritual life,” Dziwisz said. “He always prayed, he learnt the value of prayer as a boy and this aspect deepened afterwards.”
A man of kindness and love
“We must not forget his extraordinary personality,” stressed Dziwisz. He notes that Saint John Paul II treated everyone with great respect and love even if they were poor, weak or sick.
The Cardinal gave the example of a child sick with AIDS that the saint met during his visit to San Francisco in the United States. He recalled that the saint “took the child’s hands, kissed them, blessed them and then gave the child back to his family.” This gesture, said Dziwisz, “was truly more important than a sermon, especially at that time.”
The Polish Cardinal also pointed out that Saint John Paul II created the atmosphere of a family with those he lived with in the pontifical apartments. He remarked that the great simplicity and goodness of the saint moved everyone to become more dedicated to their work.
“He left a great legacy that is important not only for yesterday and today, but for the future.”
Joan's Rome 