The John Paul II Foundation celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of St. John Paul II, the founder of the Foundation, on May 18, 2020 very solemnly. The celebration began with a holy Mass in the Basilica of St. Peter at the Vatican, which was celebrated by Pope Francis, who in his homily spoke about the Saint:
“St. John Paul II was God’s man, for he prayed a lot. However, how is it possible that someone who has so much work, manages the Church… has so much time to pray? He knew perfectly well that the bishop’s first task is to pray … and he did it” – the Holy Father said. – He is an example of a bishop who prays and considers this to be his main duty. He taught us that when the bishop makes an examination of conscience in the evening, he has to ask himself: how many hours have I spent praying today? John Paul II was a man of prayer. (…) He was a man who wanted justice, social justice, to turn away from the paths of war. That is why St. John Paul II was a man of mercy, for justice and mercy go hand in hand, they cannot be separated: justice is justice, and mercy is mercy, but they are inseparable – the Holy Father stressed. – Speaking of a just and merciful man, let us think of how much Saint John Paul II did for people could understand what God’s mercy is. (…) He felt that God’s justice had the face of mercy. And, this is the gift he has left us: justice-mercy and mercy-justice.”
The second part of the celebration took place in the Polish House at via Cassia 1200. Also, here a solemn Mass was celebrated. The holy Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko, the President of the Administrative Council of the John Paul II Foundation along with Fr. Sławomir Nasiorowski, Fr. Mieczysław Niepsuj, Fr. Krzysztof Wieliczko, Fr. Andrzej Dobrzyński, and the host of the house, Fr. Lukasz Kotarba.
Jubilee celebrations were held in all Chapters our Foundation through Australia, Asia, Europe and both of America.
Below is the homily of Stanisław Cardinal Ryłko:
Introduction:
The 100th anniversary of the birth of St. John Paul II – the day when especially we, Poles, his compatriots, whom he loved so much, thank God for the gift of the great Pope. The gift which for the Church, for the world, for our homeland, and for each of us, was and is this great Pope from the Polish nation…. We are the “generation of John Paul II”! We are all His debtors!…
That is not how we imagined this day of His 100th birthday! There were many plans to celebrate solemnly our great Compatriot: the national pilgrimage of Poles with a holy Mass at the St. Peter’s Square celebrated by the Holy Father Francis… Earlier, in April, a meeting of the John Paul II Foundation Chapters scattered around the world was to be held in Rome… Solemn holy Masses, occasional concerts, many memories…
Unfortunately, the pandemic raging in the world has shattered all our ambitious plans… The entire world paralyzed by fear, froze… The judgments of Divine Providence are unexamined!… We do not understand them to the end, but we accept them in humility and in the spirit of entrustment to Christ and His Mother – as St. John Paul II taught us.
Thus, instead of being at the St. Peter’s Square, we gather today at the Eucharist in the Chapel of the Polish House in which John Paul II is present in a special way through so many memorabilia that reminds us of Him and which tell us so much about Him; instead of numerous pilgrims from the Fatherland, we are a small group of people associated with the John Paul II Foundation… There are few of us today, but we bring to this Eucharist prayers and love for the person of John Paul II of so many members of the John Paul II Foundation existing throughout the world. We bear the spiritual fruits of the Triptych peregrination, which after the end of the epidemic will continue the visitation in Europe, America, and Asia (Indonesia, Singapore…) gathering around John Paul II so many people of good will…
So, let us prepare spiritually for this Eucharistic, that is, thanksgiving Te Deum for the person and work of St. John Paul II, through an act of sorrow and repentance for our sins and infidelity…
Have mercy on us Lord! – Because we have sinned against You!
Show us, Lord, Your mercy! And, give us Your salvation!
St. John Paul II: A great witness of faith and hope …
- Centenary of the birth of Saint John Paul II … We have heard so many conferences and sermons dedicated to his person; we read so many of his biographies, so many books and articles about his teaching; we have seen so many movies that showed him to us … And we still feel some spiritual hunger and the feeling that we know him so little … Despite the passage of years, the figure of John Paul II does not cease to fascinate people and prompts to ask questions: who exactly was this a giant of the spirit that has done so much for the Church of our time, for the world and for our homeland? These questions come back with particular strength on this year’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth …
The hundredth birthday of Karol Wojtyła spontaneously transfers our thoughts to his hometown of Wadowice, where – as he said – everything began: and life began, and school began, and theater began, great friendships began, which lasted the entire life of the future Pope. The vocation also began … The Lord led Karol Wojtyła from the very beginning along a difficult and demanding road. At the age of 9 he lost his mother … Then his older brother Edmund dies – an extremely talented young doctor (26 years old), of an infectious disease in a hospital in Bielsko Biała. During the war, in Kraków, in 1941, his beloved father dies. At the age of 21, Karol is left alone in the world … Studies Polish literature, then the choice of priestly vocation, secret seminary alongside Archbishop Sapieha, ordination in 1946, studies in Rome and return to the diocese: the parish in Niegowici, scientific work and student ministry at the parish of St. Florian in Krakow. In 1958 he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop (he was only 38 years old!), And in 1964 he became the Archbishop of Krakow at the age of 44. He participates in all sessions of the Second Vatican Council in a very active way (Constitution Gaudium et spes!) …. During the conclave on October 16, 1978 he was elected the Successor of Saint. Peter and adopts the name John Paul II – Pope from a distant country, the first Slav Pope! … And then 27 years of his pontificate (one of the longest pontificates in the history of the papacy!), Which made a deep mark on the life of the Church, the world and Poland … This is how the telegraphic summary of the rich life of Saint John Paul II … On April 2, 2005, he returned to the Father’s House, which filled us all with so much pain. And then the joy of beatification in 2011 (Benedict XVI) and canonization in 2014 (Franciszek). On May 7 this year, Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski officially opened the beatification process in Wadowice for both parents of John Paul II: Emilia Kaczorowski and Karol Wojtyła …
- Let’s take a closer look now at this extremely fascinating character. St. John Paul II is above all a man of steadfast faith. Homo Dei – God’s man! A man of great prayer and contemplation, all immersed in God. When he prayed, when he was celebrating Holy Mass, he moved completely into another dimension of God. And it felt! Many people converted when they saw him drowned in prayer … John Paul II is also a man of great deed, a tireless pilgrim of the Gospel who has traveled across and across all continents. «Open the door to Christ! Do not be afraid! Christ knows what is in man … »This was the basic program of his pontificate … He did not spare himself! He was all for God and all for people … He made 104 apostolic journeys to 138 countries around the world … He gave about 3000 speeches … Many millions of people had the opportunity to meet Him personally and hear His words spoken in their own language. He was the author of 14 encyclicals and 14 post-synodal exhortations. He convened 15 Synods of Bishops.
John Paul II was a good Samaritan who bent with love over the wounds of modern humanity. He became the voice of those who had no voice. He advocated for the rights to the dignity and freedom of those who were deprived of these rights. It was thanks to him that Europe began to breathe with both lungs – in the West and in the East … John Paul II was a true prophet of our time: he bravely demanded respect for fundamental human rights, but also – and above all – divine rights in the world. Like all prophets, he was uncomfortable for many environments because he was not afraid to proclaim the truth. That is why in the memorable year 1981 bullet reached him on St. Peter’s Square.
John Paul II is the Pope who introduced the Church in the third millennium of the Christian era … Pope marked by the cross of suffering sickness and old age, which he was not ashamed of and did not hide them, experiencing them with dignity in front of the whole world faithful to his mission until the end. He said: “Not descend from the Cross …”
And finally, John Paul II is a great apostle of God’s Mercy. The proclamation of a world rich in mercy was the guiding line of all his pontificate. And it was no accident that he returned to the Father’s house on the eve of the celebration of Divine Mercy in 2005. He in 2002 at the Łagiewniki Shrine of Merciful Jesus entrusted the world to God’s Mercy, and the words of this entrustment in the context of the pandemic raging in the world today take on a special meaning. They teach us that in times of historical experience the only and final source of hope for man is God’s mercy! … However, the question arises: are we learning about this teaching of John Paul II and we did not forget, relying completely on experts in medicine and politics? …
3. As Poles – compatriots of St. John Paul II – today we must feel particularly responsible for this great spiritual heritage that John Paul II left us. He had great love for his countrymen and that is why he set high expectations for us … He expected a lot from his countrymen – he still expects looking at us from heaven! … John Paul II taught us patiently that without Christ, man is not able to understand himself, that only in Christ is man able to achieve the fullness of life. He wrote in his first encyclical “Redemptor hominis”: “A man who wants to understand himself to the end – not according to any short-term criteria and measures of his own being – must with his anxiety, uncertainty, as well as weakness and sinfulness with his life and death comes closer to Christ. He must enter Him, with himself, he must assimilate, assimilate the whole reality of the Incarnation and Redemption to find himself … “(n.10) He taught us to follow God’s commandments, showing that they are not a restriction of freedom, but – on the contrary – they are a path to its fullness, they are its best guarantee. He taught to discover the irreplaceable value and beauty of the Christian family, built on the inseparable relationship of the sacrament of marriage. “The future of humanity passes through the family …” (Familiaris consortio, n.76) – he emphasized. He called for the defense of life from conception until natural death … John Paul II taught us how to properly use the gift of freedom. The guide of freedom is a righteous, well-formed conscience … How many are today with the sick consciences, the blind one, who cannot distinguish between good and evil. He said: “Poland calls above all for people of good conscience! To be a man of conscience, that is, above all, to listen to his conscience in every situation and not to drown out his voice in himself, although that voice is often difficult and demanding … “(Skoczów, 1994).4. The hundredth anniversary of the birth of Saint John Paul II reminds us that his person and his pontificate are not only a priceless gift for each of us, for which we must constantly thank God, but also a great task and challenge. It is not enough to admire John Paul II on such occasions as today’s one! It is not enough! We must learn his teaching better and simply live it. Today, each of us must ask ourselves: really, how much of John Paul II’s teaching is in me? … Because there is a great risk – as someone noticed – that we will remember the papal creams (kremówki), forgetting what this great Pope taught us …It is from this deep sense of responsibility for the spiritual heritage that John Paul II left for us and our Foundation which bears his name. Through the Foundation’s Chapters of Friends, it spreads among the faithful in various countries of the world. The knowledge and character of this great Pope despite the passage of time, has a lot to tell us! … In this Eucharist today, thanking for the person and work of John Paul II, we would like to embrace with our prayer also all the Foundation’s Friends on all continents, asking them to faithfully fulfill their mission in the environments in which they lived and worked.St. John Paul II pray for us!Let repeat again: “Do not be afraid! …” “Go deep!”
