In 2002 I went to World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada to be
with thousands of other Catholics and John Paul II. The theme was “You are the light of the world…you are the
salt of the earth”—a similar theme as our Gospel this morning. In it we learned what it meant to be
light in a world of darkness and salt in bland worldly societies.
A
powerful moment of World Youth Day came on the day JPII arrived. My buddies and I got up at 5:00am and
arrived at the venue at 8:00am to get a good spot. We waited for nine hours right next to the road where he
would pass. When he did it was as
if a force traveled with the Pope.
Everyone in his path was touched by the Holy Spirit with laughter or
tears. He looked right at our
group and waved!
I
consider St. John Paul II one of my heroes and mentors in my priesthood. Especially as a new pastor, I have
noticed three qualities I want to emulate which have been inspired by
JPII. First, he loved being with
people. I find the greatest joys
of priesthood is when I am with you—at
Church, in your homes, teaching the faith and helping prepare for baptisms,
weddings and funerals.
I
hope to follow John Paul II’s great witness of hope. No matter what
challenges we face at our parishes, God is real, Jesus came and the battle was
won on the cross.
Finally,
John Paul II never settled for mediocrity. Our Church in the USA often finds herself hunkered down and
in a defensive mode against the world.
Forget that! We need to go
on the offensive, making disciples and inviting those to join us. We have the best family in the world
that is filled with the Holy Spirit.
It is not enough to say, “We’ve never done this before,” or, “That won’t
work.” Pope Francis has challenged
us to cause a ruckus for our faith and I will not settle for mediocrity here.
May
we, too, grow in our relationships with our family, living out the virtue of
hope and leaving any sense of mediocrity for excellence.
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