After lunch with the priests from Krakow, John Paul II presented a “Letter to priests” with a personal signature to each of them. Such a nice gesture – says Archbishop Mokrzycki. – But, also symbolic. As if this letter was part of what was happening at the table. The Pope wanted them to know that this bond between them is important to him. He often referred to the words of St. Augustine. He also quoted them in one of his letters to priests: “If I am anxious about being for you, I am consoled by being with you. For you I am a bishop, with you I am a Christian … In the first there is danger, in the second there is salvation.” For them he was Pope, together with them he was a Christian. The Saint in his – as Archbishop Krajewski said – amazement over the mystery of the Eucharist. In his late documents on the Eucharist (I recall that John Paul II died in the year he declared the Year of the Eucharist), the Pope above all expressed his great amazement, he explained. Always, before the celebration of the holy Mass he was taken by this amazement. He allowed himself to be led, immersing into adoration. We witnessed this in the sacristy. I am convinced that this is the secret of the extraordinary power of what he later was saying during Mass – that it changed our lives. With this amazement, when he was delivering a homily, he really spoke in God’s name.
With the consent of Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki – “Place for everyone”
Znak Publishing House, Kraków 2013.
