AD SENSE

29th Week, Saturday, Oct 22: St. John Paul II

Ephesians 4:7-16 / Luke 13:1-9

Paul talks about Christ: Through him, the body is built up in love.

 The first frame of a Peanuts cartoon shows Charlie Brown staring at a tool box, saying to himself, “I can’t do it! I can’t do it!” The second frame shows Lucy entering and saying to Charlie, “What’s wrong, Charlie? You seem sad.” The last frame shows Charlie answering Lucy: “I am sad! I want to build a workbench, but I don’t have a workbench to build it on.” The point of that cartoon, when applied to Jesus and his mission, is clear. Jesus is our “workbench.” Before he entered the world, we had no workbench to build the workbench we would need to rebuild the world. Jesus became that workbench.

Thanks to Jesus and his incarnation, we now have what we need to rebuild our world.

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What are we, personally, doing to help rebuild the world into the kingdom of God? “All of us have a message to deliver; all of us have a song to sing.” John Powell

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OCTOBER 22: POPE SAINT JOHN PAUL II


Saint John Paul II is perhaps one of the most well-known pontiffs in recent history, and is most remembered for his charismatic nature, his love of youth and his world travels, along with his role in the fall of communism in Europe during his 27-year papacy.

The Nazi occupation forces closed the university in 1939 and young Karol had to work in a quarry (1940-1944) and then in the Solvay chemical factory to earn his living and to avoid being deported to Germany.

In 1942, aware of his call to the priesthood, he began courses in the clandestine seminary of Krakow, run by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha, archbishop of Krakow. At the same time, Karol Wojtyla was one of the pioneers of the “Rhapsodic Theatre,” also clandestine.

The Cardinals elected him Pope at the Conclave of 16 October 1978, and he took the name of John Paul II. On 22 October, the Lord’s Day, he solemnly inaugurated his Petrine ministry as the 263rd successor to the Apostle. His pontificate, one of the longest in the history of the Church, lasted nearly 27 years.

Driven by his pastoral solicitude for all Churches and by a sense of openness and charity to the entire human race, John Paul II exercised the Petrine ministry with a tireless missionary spirit, dedicating it all his energy. He made 104 pastoral visits outside Italy and 146 within Italy. As bishop of Rome he visited 317 of the city’s 333 parishes.

He had more meetings than any of his predecessors with the People of God and the leaders of Nations. More than 17,600,000 pilgrims participated in the General Audiences held on Wednesdays (more than 1160), not counting other special audiences and religious ceremonies [more than 8 million pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone], and the millions of faithful he met during pastoral visits in Italy and throughout the world. We must also remember the numerous government personalities he encountered during 38 official visits, 738 audiences and meetings held with Heads of State, and 246 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers.

His love for young people brought him to establish the World Youth Days. The 19 WYDs celebrated during his pontificate brought together millions of young people from all over the world. At the same time his care for the family was expressed in the World Meetings of Families, which he initiated in 1994.

John Paul II successfully encouraged dialogue with the Jews and with the representatives of other religions, whom he several times invited to prayer meetings for peace, especially in Assisi.

Under his guidance the Church prepared herself for the third millennium and celebrated the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 in accordance with the instructions given in the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio adveniente. The Church then faced the new epoch, receiving his instructions in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, in which he indicated to the faithful their future path.

With the Year of the Redemption, the Marian Year and the Year of the Eucharist, he promoted the spiritual renewal of the Church.

He gave an extraordinary impetus to Canonizations and Beatifications, focusing on countless examples of holiness as an incentive for the people of our time. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies during which he proclaimed 1,338 Blesseds; and 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints. He made Thérèse of the Child Jesus a Doctor of the Church.

He considerably expanded the College of Cardinals, creating 231 Cardinals (plus one in pectore) in 9 consistories. He also called six full meetings of the College of Cardinals.

His most important Documents include 14 Encyclicals, 15 Apostolic Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions, 45 Apostolic Letters.

He promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the light of Tradition as authoritatively interpreted by the Second Vatican Council. He also reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law, created new Institutions and reorganized the Roman Curia.

On April 27, 2014 he was canonized by Pope Francis during a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square.

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As we look at our world, we may notice a certain disparity. There are the first world countries, i.e. the developed countries, and then there are the developing countries, and then there are the third world countries. Some people have come up with this weird idea that God had blessed the first world countries and left out the underdeveloped countries. Maybe that idea is implicitly connected to the age-old thinking that misfortune has a certain connection with sin. It is because of this sin that a person or a nation forfeits God's blessings.

In today's gospel passage, Jesus out-rightly rejects this sort of thinking. Yet Jesus went on to say that if His listeners do not repent, then they too will perish. In other words, a person or a nation that rebels against God is on the road to disaster. Even for our nation, we may have come this far because of a strong pragmatic direction and determination.

Yet we also cannot deny that God has blessed our nation with progress and stability. Hence we have to always look back at the spiritual values of faith and morality. For us Catholics, the urgency is even greater.

As the 1st reading puts it, each one of us has been given his own share of grace, given as Christ allotted it. We should not be tossed one way or another and carried along by every wind of false teaching or deceit. Rather we should live by the truth and in love so that we shall grow in all ways into Christ. May Christ be our only way and our only goal.

 

Let us pray: Lord our God, it is heartening for us to hear   that whether we are known   and influential in this world or not, whether our talents are many or few, we are all important to you   and you need us to build up   the body of your Son.   Thank you for this trust   and make us capable   of building unity and community   through the graces and gifts   with which you enrich us   through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen