VATICAN INSIDER GOES TO POLAND: ST JOHN PAUL, NATURAL LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS

VATICAN INSIDER GOES TO POLAND: ST JOHN PAUL, NATURAL LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS

The interview segment of Vatican Insider this final weekend of May brings you to Poland! As you may know from earlier posts in this column, I was recently in Warsaw, and spent several amazing days attending and speaking at a conference co-sponsored by Ave Maria Law School and Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University of Warsaw.

The conference focus was Pope St. John Paul’s Natural Law Legacy and International Human Rights. My guests this weekend and next are John Czarnetzky, CEO and dean of the Ave Maria Law School, and Ron Rychlak, vice chair of the Board of Governors of this pre-eminent Catholic law school.

We spoke in a meeting area of our hotel the evening after the conference ended.  Photo taken in lobby: Ron Rychlak (L), John Czarnetzky (R)

 

This week and next we talk about many of the topics raised in the Warsaw conference, such as the need for a positive change in the human rights climate towards freedom of speech, of practice, of religion. Other talks centered on how national constitutions have changed over the years, going in some cases from protecting rights to watering them down. Many talks focused on human dignity.

I envisioned a huge, colorful vibrant tapestry as I listened to the talks – the depth of each one, the brilliance, the thoroughness with which each topic was treated and the challenging nature of each presentation! The common thread, of course, was always St. John Paul and his teaching on natural law, human rights, the right to life, human dignity, etc.

I think you will be riveted by the conversation so tune in after the news segment and Q&A.

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APRIL 2, 2022: A DAY, A MAN, A LIFE TO REMEMBER

Today’s column is about memories.

I have posted this before, on another anniversary of St. John Paul’s death, but felt compelled to do so again today as I sat in silence for a while to ponder the events of 15 years ago today – the day the man people call John Paul the Great died – and all the years before that of his magnificent papacy and the honor I had to work at the Vatican during those years.

How vividly I remember the vigil of John Paul’s death, a story I’ve also told on these pages. Today I remember the day of his death – 9:37 pm on Saturday, April 2, 2005, the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday – through some of the emails I received from people in Rome and in the U.S. I am also look forward, looking to the future by publishing some of the memories I have from the years I worked for the Vatican during his papacy.

I am writing a book about John Paul II called “I Made Cookies For a Saint” in which I focus on his humor and humanity. It will have my memories, my stories, but also those of friends I’ve contacted – cardinals, bishops, priests and lay people – who had such up-close-and-personal-moments. For many reasons, the book has gotten a bit side-lined but I hope I am now back on track.

Over the years, from the first time we met until the last (Dec 20, 2004):

As I did once before, today I again ask each of you: Did you – or a family member or best friend or someone very close to you – ever have the chance, at some point in John Paul’s 26-year plus papacy, to have an encounter with him, to share a few minutes, to be in his presence for one shining moment?

Did you have or witness a special encounter, perhaps at a general audience? During a papal trip to your country? Did you have your own up close and personal encounter? One priest friend, for example, wrote of the loving and funny encounter between his Mom and the Pope! I’d like to hear your stories, your memories, especially if they highlight Pope St. John Paul’s humor and humanity.

We know his writings, his travels, his legacy. I want personal, touching stories, stories that will make readers smile, laugh out loud or simply sigh at a beautiful story of the Holy Father’s humanity.

If you believe you have such a story, write me at: joanknows@gmail.com

APRIL 2, 2022: A DAY, A MAN, A LIFE TO REMEMBER

Today – specifically this evening at 9:37 – marks the 17th anniversary of the death of Saint John Paul II. Those years at times seem very short and, at other times, very long. After all, we are in the second papacy since John Paul’s death, following eight years of Benedict XVI, and now Pope Francis, elected in 2013.

When I woke this morning, I reflected back on that cool April day in 2005, remembering with a vividness beyond telling how I spent the last days, the last hours of the Pope’s life. In fact, it’s as if it had happened just hours ago. After all, there are days, moments, perhaps even seconds, in one’s life that are so unique, so strongly seared into our hearts, minds and souls, that they truly are unforgettable.

I mentioned some of this in a previous column, recalling the vigil of the death of John Paul and featuring some of the many emails I wrote at the time that expressed my emotions and what I was witnessing. I’ve gone back to the files I have from April 2005, most notably email exchanges with family and friends after his death, and today offer a very, very small number of the tsunami of emails I received. Perhaps some of you will remember similar feelings!

From my niece Susan:

Hi again, I was just thinking…how lucky Grandpa is!  He gets to meet the Pope now!  And now when it is our time to go home, we will be greeted by both great men… Love and hugs…Susan

From my friend Laurie in Rome:

Dear, dear Joan,

I know how close he is to your heart!  I can only imagine the loss. But, it seems to me that it is a time to rejoice!  Few have lived lives better than this man.  He has poured himself out for the good of others, for the good of the Church, and he is about to win the crown of victory!  What a wonderful gift the Lord has given us in JPII! I spent the day in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at St. Peter’s, which was packed full from noon on.  It was very prayerful and calm and not at all sad.  Santo Spirito (church) was also packed (went for Divine Mercy.)

I stayed in the Square until after the Rosary, but had to come home because I wasn’t dressed for the cold.  I noticed that as many people were entering the Square as were leaving it!  Most of those arriving at that hour were young people.  I saw groups of young people with flags, boxes of votive candles and other supplies to spend the night with their Holy Father. You can be assured that you are in my prayers!  I’ve actually been carrying my cell phone. … I would be happy to help in any way … I could pick up lunch!  But most of all, I will pray. Hang in there!  The Holy Father needs you!

From a friend in the U.S.:

A bright light went out in the world tonight but that bright light’s glow will shine in our hearts forever.

From Msgr D.:

Dear Joan,

Please accept my sympathy on the loss of your Bishop, the Bishop of Rome, and our Holy Father, a great and holy man.  While we mourn his loss to us, we rejoice that he now with the Saints in the abode of the Holy Trinity.  Let us pray for him and our Church.  We pray that, like the Apostles, he guides us still.

From Fred and Debbie:

Joan,

 We love you and wish we were there to give you a big hug. We too are shedding tears for this Holy man who now is an intercessor for us in heaven.

I am assured God sits on your shoulder today for all your efforts for His Church. God bless you and our Church and the successor of Giovanni Paolo II!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam,

From Ann:

Dear Joanie:

 ….and so he went to his God, uttering Amen.  It is truly the end of an era and how I will miss him.  His utter kindness and gentle manner, coupled with his strength both physical, in his early Papacy, and later in his illnesses and suffering…what an example of dying with dignity.  I particularly loved his love of children, the sick, his quick humor, his loyalty to the country of his birth and, of course, his deep and abiding Faith.

I think of you, who knew him well and I offer my deepest sympathy.  I know you feel as I do that he is now where we are all striving to end but on a day-to-day basis, you will, I am sure, miss him deeply.

I’ve been crying on and off all day, but the rational “me” knows he is now at peace.  There is no doubt in my mind that that soul is in heaven, no doubt at all.  the angels took him, the Blessed Mother met him and her Son received him……Amen.

 

24 COUNTRIES CONSECRATED TO SACRED HEART OF JESUS, IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY – ST. JOHN PAUL’S PRAYER TO IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

May the entwined hearts of Mary and Jesus open to receive our supplications!

24 COUNTRIES CONSECRATED TO SACRED HEART OF JESUS, IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

CNA Staff, Mar 25, 2020 / 05:25 pm (CNA).- Twenty-four countries on Wednesday were consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Fatima, Portugal.

In a March 25 ceremony that included the recitation of the rosary and a litany asking the Blessed Virgin Mary to pray for the afflicted, Fatima’s bishop, Cardinal Antonio Marto, renewed the consecration of Portugal and Spain to Jesus and Mary, and added the names of twenty-four other countries.

In response to the global coronavirus pandemic, the Portuguese bishops’ conference announced last week they would re-consecrate Portugal to Christ and Mary on the evening of March 25. Shortly after the announcement, the Spanish bishops’ conference requested that their country also be consecrated in the same liturgy.

The Portuguese bishops subsequently invited the heads of other national bishops’ conferences to request that their nations be added as well.

In addition to Spain and Portugal, the other 22 countries consecrated at the request of their respective episcopal conferences are: Albania, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Slovakia, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Mexico, Moldova, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Kenya, the Dominican Republic, Romania, Tanzania, East Timor and Zimbabwe.

The cardinal also prayed for “children, the elderly and the most vulnerable,” asking the Blessed Virgin Mary to “comfort doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals, and volunteer caregivers. Strengthen families and reinforce us in citizenship and solidarity.”

During his remarks, the cardinal recalled that Saints Francisco and Jacinto Marto, shepherd children to whom the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in 1917, both died amid the victims of the Spanish flu pandemic.

Cardinal Marto prayed that the saints would intercede for “so many sick people who, these days and in a profound way, experience the solitude of isolation to which they are subject.”

In a statement, the bishops’ conference of Portugal noted that 36 years ago, on March 25, 1984, Pope St. John Paul II consecrated the entire world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In Spain, more than 3,600 people have died of the coronavirus, while in Portugal, nearly 3000 are infected and almost 50 have died. More than 21,000 people have died around the world as a result of the novel coronavirus.

ST. JOHN PAUL’S PRAYER TO IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

On March 25, 1984, Pope John Paul II consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in an extraordinary ceremony in St. Peter’s Square before one of, if not the largest crowds ever to fill the square at the time, including cardinals and bishops from throughout the world.

What made the event extraordinary was that it was held in the presence of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima – the celebrated statue in the “capelinha” (little chapel) of the famous Portuguese shrine that was flown to Rome at the Pope’s request by the bishop of Fatima. The statue had been carried through the square and placed on the sagrato as the world watched with bated breath.

In union with the bishops of the entire world, this is the prayer that Pope St. John Paul said on that day:

Immaculate Heart! Help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths towards the future!

From famine and war, deliver us.

From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, deliver us.

From sins against the life of man from its very beginning, deliver us.

From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God,
deliver us.

From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us.

From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us.

From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us.

From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us.

From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us, deliver us.

Accept, O Mother of Christ, this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings, laden with the sufferings of whole societies.

Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit to conquer all sin: individual sin and the “sin of the world,” sin in all its manifestations.

Let there be revealed, once more, in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the Redemption: the power of merciful Love! May it put a stop to evil! May it transform consciences! May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of Hope!

ST. BLAISE AND A DOUBLE BLESSING

ST. BLAISE AND A DOUBLE BLESSING

I spent such a lovely and most unexpected morning in St. Peter’s Basilica and want to share some of the photos I took. I did not bring a camera so thank the Lord for phones!

My main intention was to attend the 10 am daily Mass at the St. Joseph Altar and to have my throat blessed afterwards as this is, as you know, the tradition on the February 3 feast of St. Blaise. There was no indication that the priest was going to bless throats following Mass and so I started to follow him on his way to the sacristy, asking in a soft voice where I could get the blessing. He smiled broadly and sent the young man accompanying him to the altar to get the double candles,

We chatted briefly in the meantime, and Father told me he did not start the blessing as he had the impression no one at Mass spoke Italian and thus would not understand his announcement about the blessing.

The young man returned and Father blessed me, reciting the prayer that is always said in this circumstance. I was quite happy and told him I did not even remember the last time I missed having my throat blessed on St. Blaise’s feast day.

Given that I was in the basilica, a place in which I always experience great peace, I decided to stroll around and eventually pray a bit at the chapel where St. John Paul is buried, and this was my second blessing!

I was delighted to see that the papal altar and confessio were still bedecked with the flowers from last night’s Mass for the World Day of Consecrated Life:

I then noticed some of the floor plaques on which I have reported a number of times…

The next time you walk down the main aisle of St. Peter’s Basilica – unless you are being escorted to your seat during a liturgy! – look down at the stunning marble floor and try to find some of the several dozen bronze inserts. With all the beauty and the gigantic size of the basilica, it is amazing that people even notice these plaques but they are important. To give the visitor some idea of the size of St. Peter’s Basilica relative to other major churches in the world – Catholic and non-Catholic alike – there are inscriptions in bronze that indicate the size of the world’s largest churches relative to St. Peter’s, the largest of all.

These bronze inscriptions are about a yard wide and 6 or more inches high. The name of each church and where it is located are in Latin – most are easy to understand – and the length of that church is inscribed beneath the name. The measurements are given in meters. A meter is 39 inches. St. Peter’s Basilica is 186 meters in length – or 611 feet!

St. Paul’s in London holds SECOND place at 158 meters or 518 feet long. THIRD place goes to Florence’s Duomo at 149 or 489 feet. FOURTH place: Sacred Heart of Jesus, Brussels, Belgium: 140.94 – FIFTH place: Washington’s Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at 456 feet.

Three of the final four out of the over 30 descriptions belong to U.S. churches;
Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston at 103 meters, Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles at 101.2 and St Patrick’s in New York at 101.1 meters.

As you can see, Santa Sophia in Istanbul is just a bit longer that Holy Cross in Boston.

This is for the Basilica of the Virgin Mary, Gdansk, Poland

St. Patrick’s,  New York City

This is not one of those plaques but simply one of the many marble floor designs in the basilica

As I entered the chapel where St. John Paul is buried, I noticed a sizeable group of people, all of whom were wearing mustard color scarves. I asked a man standing next to me who they were and he said they came from all parts of Italy and were members of a national antiusury group and they were touring the basilica before their noon audience with Pope Francis!

I stayed in the chapel for quite some time to pray before the tomb of my hero and, in so many ways, spiritual mentor. I often get requests from people to pray for their special intentions before St. John Paul and I did so today.

As I made my way out of the basilica, I noted the nativity scene was still up so I took some pictures and also posted a Facebook live video, whispering just a few words about where I was. For me, St. Peter’s is and always will be, first and foremost, a church.

In this scene, when day turns to night, those who are ‘working’ via animation stop working when the sky and stars appear. When it is morning, they resume their work.

I exited the basilica and walked along the south wall where there is a bookstore, post office, etc, before you actually reach the colonnade.

I don’t know how many of you know there are Stations of the Cross in St. Peter’s Square! The first seven are on this south wall and the final seven are on the opposite side of the square – the side you will be on after having gone through security to enter the basilica.

It was an unexpectedly wonderful morning for me – as I hope it is now for you as you read this column!

IN MEMORIAM – SAINT JOHN PAUL

IN MEMORIAM – SAINT JOHN PAUL

Where were you at 9:37 pm on April 2, 2005?

If you were in Rome, you might have been in St. Peter’s Square, as I was, when you heard the announcement that, precisely at that hour, Pope John Paul II, after a reign of 26 and a half years, had gone home to the Father.

After finishing my work quite late at the Vatican Information Service, I joined the tens of thousands who had flooded into the square to pray for a miracle, but instead heard that the Holy Father had died, precisely on the vigil of a feast day he had instituted, Divine Mercy Sunday. Thousands had been in the square the night before when word had spread that the end seemed near.

Both nights, young people dominated the presence in the square. They sang softly, they prayed rosary after rosary. They lit huge numbers of candles. Were they trying to replace the light of their lives, a light whose name was John Paul II?

Banners appeared out of nowhere: “Pope Karol, your children embrace you”

“You are the most beautiful of Adam’s children.”

Yellow post-it notes were everywhere, glued to the pillars of the colonnades and the base of the obelisk, lamenting the Holy Father, weeping over having met him and weeping over having never met him.

“Your memory will forever be in our hearts.You were always one of a kind and you will be forever! I love you! Melissa S

This is the letter I wrote to a niece the night of April 1:

I am at work – it is 9:10 p.m. and I have been here for 12 and half hours – and did not sleep at all last night. Am scheduled to be here until midnight. Got to bed about 2:30 but was wide-awake until the alarm went off at 7.

These hours have been surreal – the worsening health situation, translating the press office bulletins and knowing information before everyone else, going to the square every hour or so – seeing the mass of journalists, the huge numbers of faithful pouring in non-stop, day becoming night – and a life probably ending.

What is so unreal is to see the countless numbers of people – and be almost able to hear a pin drop – the religious, awed silence, the respect for a truly great and wonderful man who is leaving us. I wrote a friend today that I have felt closer to God all day because I think that God is personally coming down to earth to get Pope John Paul, not the Pope going up to meet him. To think that soon he will be united with his beloved Virgin Mary, his own parents and brother and a sister he never knew.

I am writing you now in my office but will soon go out into the square to say my own goodbye – I am writing these words through tears, sorry.

What an extraordinary human being, what a giant spiritually and theologically and humanly and even politically! How many people the Holy Father touched, how very much he touched my life and made me a better person and Catholic.

Fox wants me to do another “At Large” with Geraldo – said they really liked me. However I’d have to be at the Fox spot 4:30 a.m. Monday morning! I have to let them know by tomorrow evening.

There are tens of thousands of people just yards away from me – yet I feel so alone. I just may have to go outside – I need that company.

My cell phone keeps ringing every 10 or 15 minutes, however. I’ve done a few phoners today for EWTN and have kept them updated on every aspect of the day, the press office bulletins, etc.

Much love, Aunt Joan

St. Peter’s Square became the focal point for all of us in ensuing hours and days, right up to the extraordinary funeral Mass on April 8 when the wind – but we know it was the Holy Spirit! – slowly turned the pages of the Book of Gospels lying the Holy Father’s casket until it finally closed the book. The End.

And the beginning.

Cries of Santo Subito filled St. Peter’s Square, Via della Conciliazione and adjacent side streets at the funeral mass and reverberated around the world! Make John Paul the Great a saint immediately. Vox popoli! The voice of the people – the same voice that created saints, such as Saint Francis of Assisi – in centuries past!

The dome was lit up by the media on Janiculum Hill by what they call “blue lights” the night before Pope John Paul’s funeral (from my living room window).

St. Peter’s Square was the stage again in 2011 for Blessed John Paul. And for Saint John Paul in 2014.

Our hearts were broken 12 years ago today. But today they rejoice! Those of us privileged to have known or met him have a friend in heaven, a saint to whom we can pray every day.

Deo gratias!

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ST. JOHN PAUL: KRAKOW

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ST. JOHN PAUL: KRAKOW

I did not write a column yesterday because, following my arrival in Krakow in early afternoon, the rest of the day was nonstop. I checked into the Grand Hotel (more about this historic building, great rooms and terrific staff at a later date) about 2:30, unpacked and checked email to see about pending appointments and, as I always do in a new city or one I already know, I went out to explore the neighborhood.  I actually knew this one from my time here last June – I’m just a block off one of my favorites squares in the world, the famous and very beautiful Market Square, Rynek Glowny.

At about 5:20 I went into the basilica of St. Mary and, after a brief visit to this church that stuns the senses, almost putting them into overdrive, I spent an hour in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and then attended Mass. I later discovered that the 6:30 pm daily Mass is a student Mass: the young people provided the music and Mass was very well attended by adults as well.

Signs are all over asking people not to take photos but I did take two – which I posted last night on FB – of the overwhelmingly beautiful main altar chapel as soon as I saw some of the students taking photos. I’ll try to get permission to take more pictures as this church was very important in Pope John Paul’s life.

Here is the official website of St. Mary’s: http://mariacki.com/en/

Known by all here as St. Mary’s Church, the full name is Our Lady Assumed into Heaven. It is a brick Gothic church, originally built in the early 13^th century by Bishop Iwo Odrowaz of Krakow and re-built in the 14th century. It is most celebrated for the wooden altarpiece carved by one Veit Stoss. The choir stalls in the altar area are stunning as well.

One of the favorite stories about the basilica is that of the trumpeter: Every hour a trumpet signal comes from the top of the taller of St. Mary’s two towers. However, the sound is cut off half way through, a break commemorating the famous 13th century trumpeter who was shot in the throat while sounding the alarm before an attack on the city by the Mongols. It is said that the noon-time trumpet sound is heard across Poland and abroad broadcast live by the Polish national Radio 1 Station. This was made famous in Eric Kelly’s book, “The Trumpeter of Krakow.”

By the way, I learned that St. Mary’s Basilica has served as an architectural model for many of the churches built by Polish migrants to America and other countries. One of these, by the way, is St. John Cantius in my hometown of Chicago.

Today was my first full day and Krakow and it has been nonstop activity to this moment.

In preparation for this trip, I’ve been in touch with friends in Poland and friends who have friends in Poland, asking to meet people who knew John Paul. One of those contacts was Fr. Wojciech Zyzak, rector of the John Paul II University. As he planned to leave for Warsaw tomorrow, he invited me to the university for a brief meeting and conversation and then a conference on Father Walerian Kalinka (1826–1886), who was a founder of the Polish Province of the Resurrectionist Fathers in 19th century.

The conference began at 9:30 and lasted until 1:30 with a morning coffee break. I did not understand a word but I was able to write a bit for my book as I listened to the speakers and, during the break and later at lunch, I met some fascinating priests and professors and heard some great stories about the man who brings a smile to everyone’s face in Poland as soon as it is mentioned, Pope John Paul.

I want to go to St. Mary’s again for a visit to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and Mass so shall close for now. I’ll try to post photos in FB whenever I can. I tried doing a FB Live yesterday but the connection in Market Square was not strong enough. I’ll try again at some point.

INGREDIENTS FOR A SPECIAL DAY: A CARDINAL, A CONVERSATION AND COOKIES

INGREDIENTS FOR A SPECIAL DAY: A CARDINAL, A CONVERSATION AND COOKIES

I barely know where to begin because my first full day in Kraków has been extraordinary, but I’ve decided to focus on one special moment, one special visit.

I had an appointment this morning with Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, archbishop of Krakow, whom I have known for many years, as I wrote yesterday. We first met in the early years of Pope John Paul’s pontificate, stayed in touch and saw each other throughout those long years and remained stayed in touch even after John Paul the Great died in 2005.

My first trip to Kraków to see the archbishop who succeeded his “boss” as archbishop of Krakow was to report on Pope Benedict’s visit in 2006 to honor his predecessor. Now, as I walk the streets of this beautiful and historic city, I find it hard to believe that 10 years have passed.

The cardinal and I met at 10:30. He has had a busy week so far because Msgr. Guido Marini, master of papal liturgical ceremonies is also in Karkow to plan for Pope Francis’ liturgies when he comes in late July for World Youth Day.

Fr. Tomasz, the cardinal’s secretary, ushered me into an office I had visited only once before, 10 years ago, but felt it was so familiar, that I knew it well.

I had seen the cardinal in Rome on June 5 and we mentioned that visit for the canonization of a new Polish Saint Stanislaus, this time the founder of the Marian Fathers. We naturally also talked about World Youth Day and the cardinal reported how hard everyone has been working, how excited everyone is and how “absolutely wonderful” Krakow’s World Youth Day will be.

He told me that 40,000 Americans are coming and said he is thrilled! He added that 250,000 Italian youth are coming! This all makes me wonder: wow, how many Polish Youth will there be?!

I gave Cardinal Dziwisz a copy of my book, “A Holy Year in Rome,” and he also knows about my book on John Paul. We’ve agreed to meet again in September when he will have more time to sit down and tell me the stories I want to hear, the stories I want to tell about John Paul’s humor and humanity. The cardinal is immensely pleased I have chosen to focus on these aspects of the man for whom he was almost like a son for 40 years!

He was also immensely pleased that I brought my homemade chocolate chip cookies (as was Fr. Tomasz)! We both remember how the Pope enjoyed them, as did the papal household, the Polish nuns and others, because the cardinal, at the time Msgr. Stanislaw, either called me or wrote me a note each time I brought cookies to the Holy Father. So many special, really special, memories!

Cardinal Dziwisz really warmed the cockles of my heart when he thanked me for the work I did all the years at the Vatican and for the work I now do, my “ministry” for EWTN, for the Church.

Since he knew I intend to go to the Shrine of Divine Mercy the John Paul II shrine tomorrow, he asked me to report back to him with my impressions on the Saint John Paul Shrine!

After this memorable visit and renewal of a long and wonderful friendship, Fr. Tomasz took some photos (many more than you see here!) and the cardinal and I said our goodbyes, promising to meet in September.

I bid him farewell with my Mother’s words – God sit on your shoulder!

Fr. Tomasz asked if I had ever seen the room whose window the Pope always appeared at when he came to Poland and stayed at the archbishop’s residence. The crowd of faithful would never let him get to bed without first greeting them at this window. And the same happened for Benedict XVI ten years ago – a huge, adoring crowd and the same window.

I had seen the window from outside but never the famous room:

Fr. Tomasz then brought me to a place that gave me goose bumps – the chapel where John Paul, Karol Wojtyla, was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Sapieha on November 1, 1946.

I was able to stay some time here in prayer, and the memories of this great and long pontificate all came flooding back. As you can see in the photos, there is the picture of John Paul used for his beatification and canonization and there are also some relics here.

A special beginning to a special day.

THE PRODIGAL SON, A FATHER’S LOVE AND MERCY – ST. JOHN PAUL AND FATIMA

My reunion last evening with my former students of the Academy of the Holy Names was one of the most beautiful, moving, memorable evenings of my life! I intended to bring you that story today, along with some photos, but a technical issue (having to unwrap the enigma of an unknown password to access Internet) interfered with that and all I have been able to do was download the photos, so stay tuned tomorrow for a remarkable story!

In the meantime I have a golden nugget for you: I saw this in a novel I just finished reading and emailed it myself as I thought it was expressed a basic truth to extraordinarily well. The original author is Miles Kington – a British journalist, musician and broadcaster.

“Knowledge is knowing tomatoes are fruit but wisdom means not putting them in fruit salad”

THE PRODIGAL SON, A FATHER’S LOVE AND MERCY

(Vatican Radio) At his Wednesday general audience Pope Francis focused on the parable of the prodigal son to show how God welcomes us all with an unconditional love. Even in the most difficult situations, he told pilgrims and visitors gathered in St Peter’s Square, God waits for us and longs to embrace us.

 
Pope Francis began his reflections at the moment the prodigal son returns home, asking forgiveness for what he has done and telling his father: “I no longer deserve to be called your son”. But on the contrary, he continued, the only thing that matters to the father is that his son has returned home safe and sound. Thus he runs out to embrace him, restores his dignity by giving him clothes, sandals and a ring on his finger, and calls for a feast to celebrate his return.

 
The Pope said the father’s tenderness and mercy overflows and, in the same way, we know that even in the most difficult moments of our lives, God waits for us and longs to embrace us as his children. Jesus’ words, he went on, can encourage parents who worry about their children becoming alienated and tempted by all kinds of dangers. They can help priests and catechists who wonder if their work is all in vain. They can even help those in prison, or those who’ve made mistakes and are unable to see any future for themselves.

 
The Pope went on to explain how this parable talks about both the prodigal son and his older brother, who also needs to learn to accept the father’s mercy. Though he has remained at home with his father, his words display no tenderness or thought for anyone but himself. How sad for the father, the Pope exclaimed, with one son who went away and the other who was never really close to him!

 
Both the younger son, who is expecting to be punished, and the older son, who expects a reward for his good behavior, are not acting according to God’s love, which transcends both reward and punishment, the Pope said.
The two brothers do not speak to each other, they live different lives, but neither of them lives according to the logic of Our Lord. Their logic is overturned by the words of the father, “let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found”.

 

The greatest joy for the father, the Pope stressed, is to see his two sons reunited and recognizing each other as brothers.

 

Pope Francis noted that this parable ends without our knowing how the older brother responds to the father’s invitation to celebrate his brother’s return. Jesus is challenging each one of us, he said, to think about how we respond to God’s invitation, to open our hearts to his reconciling love and to become “merciful like the Father”.

ST. JOHN PAUL AND FATIMA

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday said Our Lady of Fatima “invites us once again to turn to prayer, penance, and conversion.”
The Holy Father noted the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima is commemorated this year on this Friday (13 May) during his remarks to Polish-speaking pilgrims at his General Audience.

 
“She asks us to never offend God again. She forewarns all humanity about the necessity of abandoning oneself to God, the source of love and mercy,” Pope Francis said.

 
“Following the example of St. John Paul II, a great devotee of Our Lady of Fatima, let us listen attentively to the Mother of God and ask for peace for the world,” – he continued – “Praised be Jesus Christ!”

 
Thirty-five years ago, Pope St. John Paul II was shot by Mehmet Ali Ağca during the General Audience, which took place on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima in 1981.

 

The saint attributed his survival to Our Lady, and gave one of the bullets used in the attack to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal. The bullet was placed in the crown of the statue of the Virgin Mary which is housed at the shrine.

A VIDEO WELCOME FOR POPE FRANCIS’ VISIT TO NEW YORK – VATICAN HOSTS EXHIBIT ON ST. JOHN PAUL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE

A VIDEO WELCOME FOR POPE FRANCIS’ VISIT TO NEW YORK

Do you want to welcome Pope Francis to New York when he travels to the U.S. in September? You have almost two months of time to prepare – alone or with friends – a personalized video greeting for the Holy Father. And here’s how…

Catholic Charities of New York has created a special website for the papal visit –http://www.popefrancisnyc.org/charity-has-no-boundaries – that provides “a platform for everyone, regardless of place of origin or religion, to welcome him and share a message of charity.” Catholic Charities invites people to “send us your short video, photo or text welcome message. We’ll post it here. A collection of the videos will be shared with Pope Francis during his visit to New York City.”

In the video, in addition to their personal greetings, people are asked to recite these universal words of charity taken from the Gospel of Matthew (25:31): “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me…”

VATICAN HOSTS EXHIBIT ON ST. JOHN PAUL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE

(VIS)  “A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People” is the title of an exhibit opening today in the Vatican (Charlemagne Wing, July 29-September 17), previously displayed in a number of state capitals in the U.S.A., where it received more than a million visitors. (Photo news.va)

The exhibit, prepared as a gift to John Paul II for his 85th birthday, was inaugurated at Xavier University of Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 18, 2005, just a month after the Pope’s death. It then arrived in Rome and, while in Europe, its organizers wanted to bring it to Krakow, the Polish city where Karol Wojtyla was archbishop.

“A Blessing to One Another” describes the steps the pontiff took to improve the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people, and reflects the continuing relevance of the conciliar declaration “Nostra Aetate,” issued fifty years ago, in which the Catholic Church expresses her appreciation for other religions and reaffirms the principals of universal fraternity, love and non-discrimination.

Funded by various universities and private individuals and organizations who see inter-religious dialogue as a source of progress for humanity, the exhibition narrates John Paul II’s relations with those whom he defined during his historic visit to the synagogue of Rome on April 13, 1986 as “our elder brothers.” It is divided into four sections and consists of photographs, videos, recordings and other interactive sources.

The first section illustrates Karol Wojtyla’s early years in his birthplace Wadowice, what would become a lifelong friendship with the young Jew Jerzy Kluger, and the relations between Catholics and Jews in Poland during the decade 1920 to 1930. The second section is dedicated to the Pope’s university years in Krakow, and his work not far from his friends in the Ghetto who knew the horrors of the Shoah. The third describes his priestly and episcopal life, Vatican Council II and the change of direction it represented in relations between Jews and Christians, and the close link between the cardinal archbishop of Krakow and the Jewish community in his archdiocese.

The final section considers the figure of Wojtyla as the Successor of Peter, his visit to the Synagogue of Rome, and his trip to Israel in the year 2000 when he left a prayer in the Western Wall asking for divine forgiveness for the treatment that Jews had received in the past and reaffirming the Church’s commitment to a path of fraternal continuity with the People of the Covenant.

Visitors to “A Blessing to One Another” are invited to write a prayer to be placed in a reproduction of the Wall. They will be gathered and deposited in the Western Wall without being read.