This coming May 1, 2011, the people of the Universal Church will be watching for the Beatification of Pope John Paul II who had made a lot of landmarks in history. Few knew about the history of this remarkable successor to the chair of St. Peter, and so here I will list down some of what I read about him.
- While still a child, his classmates used to tease him that he'll be a saint one day.
- While still a young priest, Karol Wojtyla went to confession, and the Franciscan priest Padre Pio told him that one day he will become the Pope.
- He was the Fatima Pope of which the Blessed Virgin Mary talks about in Fatima when she said that she asked a priest from her Son to sit in the chair of St. Peter to crush the communist party of in Europe (true enough, he had been friends with Mikhail Gurbachev of Russia and had been in tireless opposition of Russia's communist movement)
- He has Totus Tuus as his apostolic motto (latin for I'm all yours) which is a response to the Blessed Virgin's call to him.
- His coat of arms is the only coat of arms among all the popes which bears the letter M for Mary. A proof that he indeed embodied the personalty of the predicted pope of Fatima.
- His papacy reached out to the hearts of the leaders of the world. The most traveled pope, or the "gypsy" pope, and appealed to the youths.
There are so many things that proves that this man is truly a builder of Bridges.
Other people and even some Catholic bishops and priests may have hated him, which is sad, but there is no denying that Christ is truly faithful to His Church and had given the keys to St. Peter and his successors.
Pope John Paul II has called the Jews "Older brothers" since Jesus Christ is a Jew himself. Without the Jews, there will be no Christ for the Catholics to know, contrary to what others say about Catholics condemning the Jews. (Well, some traditional Catholics refuse to obey the pope and still insist on hating the Jews)
Pope John Paul II was the only man who united the world leaders at his burial. Iran and Iraqi leaders were sitting side by side, even though they were at war at that time. But they had to go there to pay their last respects to this holy man.
Pope John Paul II has truly become an inspiration through his courage and perseverance. The faith he showed when he led the Church was undoubtedly alive.
To be honest, I myself have a lot of doubts about my faith, but seeing him with steadfast belief and hope made me want to see the God he sees. He truly is an inspiration. An example to all, a saint through and through. I am happy to have lived at the time of his Papacy! I caught a glimpse of what a true Catholic should be!
True, priests, bishops and some of the Catholic officials have tarnished the reputation of the Universal Church with scandals and abuses that made the lay people leave the fold, but they are not the Church. There are people who are determined to make things right. Pope John Paul II, you're a hero! Reflecting Christ in this time of confusion.
May the Church produce more people like him!
Cool! A role model!
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