Category: Saint Pope John Paul II

CATHOLIC FAITHLINK: “[Feast of the Visitation:] Conclusion of the Marian Month: Homily of His Holiness Saint John Paul II” – 5.31.79

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“‘And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord’ (Lk 1:45). 1. With this greeting, the elderly Elizabeth exalts her young kinswoman Mary, who has come, humble and modest, to help her. Under the impulse of the Holy Spirit, the mother of the Baptist is the first in the history of the Church to begin to proclaim the marvels that God has brought about in the girl from Nazareth, and sees fully realized in Mary the bliss of faith, because she has believed there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. …”

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CATHOLIC FAITHLINK: “Letter on the Occasion of the IV Centenary of the Death of St. Philip Neri” – Saint Pope John Paul II, 1999

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View of St. Peter's Basilica at Vatican from River

“… The loving figure of the ‘saint of joy’ even today still maintains intact that irresistible charm that he exercised on all those who drew near him to learn to know and experience the authentic sources of Christian joy. Leafing through the biography of St Philip, in fact, one is surprised and fascinated by the cheerful and relaxed method he used to educate, supporting each person with fraternal generosity and patience.

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CATHOLIC FAITHLINK: “APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION REDEMPTORIS CUSTOS OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF JOHN PAUL II ON THE PERSON AND MISSION OF SAINT JOSEPH IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST AND OF THE CHURCH” – Saint John Paul II/ VaticanVa

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Saint Pope John Paul II file photo, adapted from image at archives.gov

“1. ‘Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took his wife’ (cf. Mt 1 :24).

Inspired by the Gospel, the Fathers of the Church from the earliest centuries stressed that just as St. Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus Christ’s upbringing,(1) he likewise watches over and protects Christ’s Mystical Body, that is, the Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the exemplar and model.

… I wish to offer for your consideration … some reflections concerning him ‘into whose custody God entrusted his most precious treasures.'[] I gladly fulfill this pastoral duty so that all may grow in devotion to the Patron of the Universal Church and in love for the Savior whom he served in such an exemplary manner.

In this way the whole Christian people not only will turn to St. Joseph with greater fervor and invoke his patronage with trust, but also will always keep before their eyes his humble, mature way of serving and of ‘taking part’ in the plan of salvation.[]

I am convinced that by reflection upon the way that Mary’s spouse shared in the divine mystery, the Church – on the road towards the future with all of humanity – will be enabled to discover ever anew her own identity within this redemptive plan, which is founded on the mystery of the Incarnation.

This is precisely the mystery in which Joseph of Nazareth ‘shared’ like no other human being except Mary, the Mother of the Incarnate Word. He shared in it with her; he was involved in the same salvific event; he was the guardian of the same love, through the power of which the eternal Father ‘destined us to be his sons through Jesus Christ (Eph 1:5). …”

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CATHOLIC FAITHLINK: “DIVES IN MISERICORDIA” – Divine Mercy Encyclical by Saint John Paul II – VaticanVa

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“It is ‘#God, who is rich in #mercy’ Whom #Jesus #Christ has revealed to us as Father: it is His very Son who, in Himself, has manifested Him and made Him known to us. Memorable in this regard is the moment when Philip, one of the twelve Apostles, turned to Christ and said: ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied’; and Jesus replied: ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me…? He who has seen me has seen the Father.’ These words were spoken during the farewell discourse at the end of the paschal supper, which was followed by the events of those holy days during which confirmation was to be given once and for all of the fact that ‘God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.’ …”

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The Freedom to Do What We Ought – Saint Pope John Paul II Apostolic Journey to United States of America

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Saint Pope John Paul II, in his 1995 Apostolic Journey to the United States, reminded Americans and the Faithful about what freedom truly means – having the right to do what we ought:

Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

Homily of His Holiness John Paul II, Apostolic Journey to the United States of America Eucharistic Celebration, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Oct. 8, 1995

In some of his broader remarks, John Paul II observed that Christ “is the answer the question posed by every human life.”  We are to be open to transformation by God, and motivated to share the Good News with all.

… Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: openness to the Lord – a willingness to let the Lord transform our lives – should produce a renewed spiritual and missionary vitality among American Catholics. Jesus Christ is the answer to the question posed by every human life, and the love of Christ compels us to share that great good news with everyone. We believe that the Death and Resurrection of Christ reveal the true meaning of human existence; therefore nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in our hearts. Christ died for all, so we must be at the service of all. ‘The Spirit God has given us is no cowardly spirit… Therefore, never be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord’ (2 Tm. 1: 7-8).

Thus wrote Saint Paul to Timothy, almost two thousand years ago; thus speaks the Church to American Catholics today.

Challenging the Culture

There are times when Christian witness calls us to challenge a culture, including when that culture attacks the truth about the human person.

Christian witness takes different forms at different moments in the life of a nation. Sometimes, witnessing to Christ will mean drawing out of a culture the full meaning of its noblest intentions, a fullness that is revealed in Christ. At other times, witnessing to Christ means challenging that culture, especially when the truth about the human person is under assault.

Freedom and Truth

While the United States has aspired to be a land of the free, America is challenged “to find freedom’s fulfillment in truth.”

America has always wanted to be a land of the free. Today, the challenge facing America is to find freedom’s fulfillment in the truth: the truth that is intrinsic to human life created in God’s image and likeness, the truth that is written on the human heart, the truth that can be known by reason and can therefore form the basis of a profound and universal dialogue among people about the direction they must give to their lives and their activities.

Democracy and Moral Truths

Democracy itself is not a moral “free-for-all,” but rather, to be sustained, requires “a shared commitment to moral truths about the human person and human community.”

… Lincoln asked whether a nation ‘conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal’ could ‘long endure’. … Lincoln’s question is no less a question for the present generation of Americans. Democracy cannot be sustained without a shared commitment to certain moral truths about the human person and human community. The basic question before a democratic society is: ‘how ought we to live together?’ …

Christian Moral Teaching and America’s Founding

Indeed, moral values played a formative role in America’s founding. When America, as a democracy, asks how people are to live together, would it be realistic to exclude Biblican wisdom that was part of the nation’s founding.

The basic question before a democratic society is: ‘how ought we to live together?’ In seeking an answer to this question, can society exclude moral truth and moral reasoning? Can the Biblical wisdom which played such a formative part in the very founding of your country be excluded from that debate? Would not doing so mean that America’s founding documents no longer have any defining content, but are only the formal dressing of changing opinion?

Excluding Biblical Wisdom also would mean blocking the contributions of tens of millions of Americans of Christian belief and moral convictions.

Would not doing so mean that tens of millions of Americans could no longer offer the contribution of their deepest convictions to the formation of public policy?

Freedom Means the Right to do What We Ought

Rather than true freedom meaning to do whatever we like (i.e., at a given moment), it means having the right to do what we ought. This truth should be offered to every generation.

Surely it is important for America that the moral truths which make freedom possible should be passed on to each new generation. Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

Click here for full text of Homily of His Holiness John Paul II, Apostolic Journey to the United States of America Eucharistic Celebration, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Oct. 8, 1995

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