On Monday, October 22, 2018, scholarship recipients, residents and guests of the John Paul II Foundation Home gathered in the Chapel to celebrate the liturgical remembrance of St. John Paul II. It is a very important day for us, in which we wanted to be closer to our Patron and Founder.
A solemn Mass was celebrated by Fr. Bartłomiej Król, Sacred Heart Priest who also delivered he homily dedicated to our Saint Patron. I think that the question “What is opening in your heart when you hear about John Paul II?” asked by Fr. Bartłomiej is relevant to each of us. Can we open ourselves to the words of the Holy Pope? Do we read and contemplate His texts? Truly, it really does not matter that we learn by heart the biography of the Pope and we will be able to list every important date associated with his life. Yes, in a way, it is important, but it is more important to say with full awareness: “For myself I discovered St. John Paul II. In his words, behavior and attitude in life, I found inspiration for living in Christ.” The Pope counted on us, young people. He saw the future in us. Let’s not let him down!
After the Holy Mass, during the Eucharistic adoration, we prayed the Rosary in several languages: Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian. This way, through the intercession of the Blessed Mother and Saint John Paul II, we were delivering our intentions to God. At the end, we paid homage to the relics of Saint John Paul II by kissing them.
Then, there was a meeting during which we had the opportunity to treat ourselves with delicious delicacies and talk among ourselves in a family atmosphere of the JPII Foundation Home.
Uliana Hirniak
Photographs: U. Bila
