It is exactly a hundred years since the birth of Karol Wojtyła – St. John Paul II, Founder of our Foundation, which has been carrying out scholarship program for young people from central and eastern European countries and other countries of the former communist bloc for more than 30 years. Over the past years, more than 1,000 people have benefited from the Foundation’s help, gaining comprehensive knowledge at the Catholic University of Lublin, as well as deepening religious-spiritual values to try to “be more” than “have more” on their paths of their lives; the attitude to which St. John Paul II encouraged young people to follow.
When we celebrate 100th anniversary of the birth of Karol Wojtyła, on all graduates and current scholarship recipients of the Foundation, there is the moral duty of a grateful prayer to God for the gift of the Holy Father, St. John Paul II, who inspired by the Holy Spirit established a Foundation and a scholarship program. In prayers, the entire Foundation along with the administrative board as well as many benefactors scattered across all continents of the world should be included.
A solemn holy Mass was celebrated on May 18th in the chapel of the Foundation Home in Lublin at 6 p.m. Fr. Jan Strzałka who celebrated that Mass in his homily pointed out the love of St. John Paul II to the Blessed Mother. Due to the prevailing coronavirus epidemic only some scholarship recipients and current residents of the Foundation Home participated in the Eucharist. Other scholarship recipients spiritually joined our prayers at their current places of residence.
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When, on October 16, 1978, on the third day of the conclave, at 6:18 p.m. a white smoke appeared above the Sistine chapel, signaling that the choice was made, the entire world held its breath. It was a sign that Cardinals elected a new Pope. Thirty minutes later Cardinal Pericle Felici from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica delivered the Habemus Papam message informing that Cardinal Karol Wojtyła from Kraków is the 264th Pope in the history of the Church.
A little bit later, the successor to St. Peter appeared on the balcony. He greeted the faithful and, contrary to the previously existing tradition, spoke spontaneously to the Romans and pilgrims from all over the world: “I come from a faraway country, but always so close (to Rome) through communion in the Faith and in the Christian tradition.”
From the very beginning of his pontificate, John Paul II called himself “Slavic Pope”. Dozens of times he emphasized that Europe should breathe both lungs – eastern and western.
In this context, his words, delivered during the homily on Lech Hill in Gniezno on June 3, 1979, on the Pentecost day, provided the strongest echo: “Is it not Christ’s will, is it not what the Holy Spirit disposes, that this Polish Pope, this Slav Pope, should at this precise moment manifest the spiritual unity of Christian Europe? Although there are two great traditions, that of the West and that of the East, to which it is indebted, through both of them Christian Europe professes “one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all” (Eph 4:5-6), the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In the spirit of this boundless love of John Paul II to the Slavic nations, the scholarship program should be understood. The scholarship program which since 1990 has been implemented as part of the only Foundation, established in 1981 personally by John Paul II. On the 20th anniversary of the Foundation, on October 23, 2001, John Paul II said about the Foundation: “The initiative that most likely should be enjoyed the most is the scholarship fund for young people from Central and Eastern Europe and from other countries of the former Soviet Union… Whoever invests in man, in his comprehensive development, never loses. The fruits of such an investment are eternal.”
Holy Father! Your scholarship recipients promise that they will do their best not to disappoint the hopes You place in them. Throughout their lives, they want to be the hope of the world, the Church, and Your hope!
Prayer through the intercession of St. John Paul II
God, in the Most Holy Trinity, we thank You for giving Pope John Paul II to the Church. In him Your fatherly kindness, the glory of the Cross of Christ, and the beauty of the Spirit of love have been shined. He, completely entrusting himself into Your mercy and the motherhood of Mary, presented to us a vivid image of Jesus the Good Shepherd, pointing out holiness, which is a measure of Christian life, as a way to achieve eternal union with You.
