Today, in the liturgy we remember St. John Paul II – Great Pole beatified in 2011 and canonized in 2014. The liturgical remembrance happens on the day, when the Polish Pope solemnly inaugurated his pontificate.
On this solemn day, on the initiative of the John Paul II Foundation a Holy Mass was celebrated at the tomb of St. John Paul II in the St. Peter’s Basilica. The Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko, who in his homily said:
Saint John Pau II: gift and duty
1. Despite years that have passed, Saint John Paul II does not stop to fascinate people. John Paul II lives in people hearts and their grateful memory…this is evidenced by so many pilgrims who kneel at the altar of his relic in deep prayer…we can say that at the altar of his relic, there is endless Papal audience… that it the characteristic of saints: they live… After departure to the Father’s Home, they become even more present for us than during their lives…
In the perspective of the next year’s 100th anniversary of the birth of our Great Compatriot, again there is the basic question: who in fact was St. John Paul II for the Church and the world, for Poland and each of us…you cannot pass by John Paul II untouched…
John Paul II above all – a man of deep faith … Homo Dei
God’s man…the man of deep prayer and contemplation, the mystique all immersed in God… when he prayed, when he celebrated Mass, when he moved the beads of the Rosary, he was going into another, divine dimension. And it was felt!… Many people converted, seeing him in deep prayer…
John Paul II is also a man of great actions, tireless pilgrim of the Gospel, who walked along and across all continents. “Open the door to Christ! Do not be afraid! Christ knows what is in man!” That was the basic pastoral program of his long, almost 27-years long pontificate… He did not spare himself… He was able to be fully dedicated to God and fully dedicated to people… He went on 104 apostolic pilgrimages to 135 countries on all continents… He delivered over 3,000 speeches… He traveled about one and a half million kilometers… Many millions of people had the opportunity to meet him personally and listen to his words spoken in their own language… He was the author of 14 encyclical letters and 14 apostolic exhortations…
John Paul II as the Good Samaritan was leaning with love over the painful wounds of modern humanity… He became the voice of those who had no voice… he called for the right to dignity and to the freedom of those who were deprived of those rights. Thanks to him, again Europe started again to breathe with both lungs of the west and east side… John Paul II is a true prophet of our times: with courage he demanded to respect human rights, but also – and above all – Divine rights in the world… Like every prophet, John Paul II was not convenient for many people, as he was not afraid to say the truth …Thus, a bullet reached him on the St. Peter’s Square in 1981…
And finally: John Paul II is the great apostle of Divine Mercy… Proclamation of the God’s world rich in mercy was the leading line of the whole pontificate… This was not a coincidence that he went back to the Father’s House on the eve of the Divine Mercy feast in 2005, and his beatification and canonization took place precisely on the feast of Divine Mercy.
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John Paul II – great witness of hope in the world, which more and more is losing the hope…
2. What a great wealth has the person and works of St. John Paul II!… He has been and is to this day a great gift to the Church, to the world, and in a special way to us, his compatriots, to Poland… (…)
John Paul II was teaching us to use the gift of freedom in a smart manner. A righteous and sensitive conscience is the guide of freedom. Without conscience, freedom is blind, can easily be lost, can turn against man…He was teaching us the difficult art of choice between good and bad….
What a profound richness of this spiritual heritage that St. John Paul II has left us! His person and his pontificate today are not only a gift to us – but also a great call and an urgent task… It is not enough to admire John Paul II! That is not enough! We must, first and foremost, learn more about his teachings and we must turn that into action… The 100th anniversary of the Holy Father John Paul II birth – which we will celebrate next year – that is a great call to undertake this assignment!
Saint John Paul II – the Patron and Defender of faith in our difficult times – pray for us!… Holy Father, bless us! Amen…
