By Sister Mary Scholastica, O.C.D.
Reflecting on which random topic to touch upon this week…let’s just say it was a “no-brainer” when I saw that October 22 was around the corner. The feast day of Pope St. John Paul II!
Now, this is going to upset some of you reading this, but facts are facts. I was his favorite. I know. Sorry to break it to you. Do pause for a minute before reading further in case you need to let that sink in.
How odd, isn’t it? That a man I never met in my lifetime could have that much influence on my life. I’m not entirely sure which generation is called the “JPII Generation” as it seems to span decades. Those older than I and those much younger than I all see Pope John Paul II as their father and mentor, and we all feel ourselves to be “his favorite”.
He has been a steady presence in my life. I would imagine in yours, as well. His words strengthen and challenge, his photos continue to touch my heart and his smiling face without fail, encourages me to keep moving forward one day at a time.
When you think about it, he was just one man who lived and died in our world. Same as you and I, (though if you are reading this, you haven’t experienced the dying part yet!). Amazing, isn’t it?!? The millions of lives he touched and the change he brought about in our world because he lived. When you look at it in a super simplistic way, he’s just someone who continually said “yes” to God. In all circumstances, in all aspects of his life. What God did through him, what he allowed God to do through him…amazing!
We think of our saints as these far away people who received extraordinary graces in life. Seen in this way, I suppose it’s somewhat true. However, it is no different than the lot marked out for you and me. We receive extraordinary graces every day and I live in the City of Angels (Los Angeles) which for many people is quite “far away”. You might live in North Dakota or in Alaska which for me, is remote and quite far away.
My point in noting this is to highlight that the call to holiness is the same whoever you are. It’s about saying “YES”. You and I, we’re all called to be saints. It’s not this “remote thing” for “special people” who receive “extraordinary graces”. It’s for you and me. We’re simply asked to say a wholehearted “yes” to all the ways the good Lord is leading us. “Yes”, when things are clear, “yes” when you can’t see the road ahead of you. “Yes” in times of joy, blessings, sorrow, confusion. “Yes”. What a great word. To say “yes” and to mean it with your whole being and to have all parts of you align around that “yes”. It’s not for the faint of heart. It’s the stuff of saints.
Our Holy Father set the example for us. I know and you know that he is walking this journey with us. He’s encouraging us as only a good father can and he wants to tell us face-to-face one day, that indeed, we were all “his favorites”! Pope St. Paul II, pray for us
