The skin is racking when a person thinks about how it was all interconnected. How Providence guided him. From Bethlehem to Bethlehem, one might say. History has come full circle. And, John Paul II said then: “On the first Christmas of my ministry as the successor of the Apostle Peter, I publicly expressed my great desire to begin my pontificate in Bethlehem, in the Grotto of the Nativity. It wasn’t possible then, and it wasn’t possible until now. But, today how could I not praise the God of all mercy, Whose ways are mysterious and Whose love knows no end, for having led me to the birthplace of the Savior in this year of the Great Jubilee? Bethlehem is the very heart of my Jubilee pilgrimage. The paths I have taken have led me to this place and to the mystery it proclaims.”
For me, the most beautiful moment of this pilgrimage was the Holy Mass in the Upper Room – recalls Archbishop Mokrzycki. Two thousand years earlier, the Last Supper took place there, during which Jesus instituted the Eucharist and the sacrament of Holy Orders. And, then I watched as our beloved Holy Father celebrated a holy Mass at the altar. It was a great emotion for me. It was a great emotion also for John Paul II. (…) The Holy Father was visibly moved and happy. He wanted to prolong his joy at the Mass here by remaining alone for twenty-five minutes in prayer. I remember that the Holy Father prayed for a long time – recalls Archbishop Mokrzycki. During his homily, he said that he had a great desire to visit this place as a pilgrim.
With the consent of Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki – “Place for everyone”
Znak Publishing House, Kraków 2013
