“ ‘When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?’ (Luke 18.8) That, the Pope said was the question that had challenged every Bishop of Rome for almost 2,000 years. It was a question inextricably intertwined with the question Christ had asked Peter after the resurrection: “Do you love me?” (John 21.17) That was what Christ had asked the archbishop of Krakow on the afternoon of October 16, 1978. The question put to Karol Wojtyla that day had been ‘do you accept your election?’ – a question at once magnetic and terrifying, for to love Christ meant to walk his way of the cross.
[On his twentieth anniversary as Pope,] John Paul said, “I can not fail to ask myself a few questions today. Have you observed all this? Are you a diligent and watchful teacher of faith in the Church? Have you sought to bring the great work of the Second Vatican Council closer to the people of today? Have you tried to satisfy the expectations of believers within the Church, and that hunger for truth which is felt in the world outside the Church?” The very asking of those questions, after twenty years, was a moving testimony to the Pope’s humility and his enduring sense of responsibility.…The athletic vigorous John Paul II of twenty years before had passed into history. Those watching saw something even more compelling: a man who had so evidently spent his life out in service to his Lord was still asking, 'Have I loved enough?' "(Witness to Hope, 840).
One of the greatest opportunities to love and to trust, I think, comes in the crossroads of life. I call them crossroads, my friend Michael calls them moments of truth. Michael explained that these moments are analogous to bench pressing. “It’s like when you attempt to do three ascending sets, reps of ten. The first sets relatively easy. The second one you start to struggle around the 6th or 7th rep. The third you are struggling around number 4 or 5 and usually need your spotter to give you a hand in order to complete the set. There comes a point when you need to push through to get stronger. There comes a point when you need to accept help in order to succeed.”These moments come in both the life defining moments and in the mundane (i.e. to bite one’s tongue or to pray for others instead of doing what we might prefer).
It’s easy to look at the mark of a great Pope, a GREAT Saint, and to see the compendium of his life and work as a canvas of grandeur. However, what I love about Bl. John Paul II’s reflection is that he shows us the constant call to conversion, to refine our wills, and to offer a complete gift of ourselves to Christ and His Church. We know that the Pope’s confession of faith and love was an outflowing from the work of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of Christ, through Mary, that allowed him to profess yes consistently and continually to the will of God. Yet, it was his willingness to preserver in loving with a great love by continually allowing Christ to stretch him.
How’s Lent going? Maybe it’s blessed and peaceful and an intimate time with the Lord. Sweet! Keep on walking. Maybe the festivities from St. Patrick’s and St. Joseph’s feast days (what a good week) have thrown you a little off. Maybe your initial commitment for this time of intentional growth has waned. Wherever you are in your Lenten journey, let us commit and recommit to this time Christ offers us. Let us entrust ourselves to the process of change so that we who die with Christ may proclaim on Easter Sunday that we rise with Him. Let us give of ourselves selflessly. Let us trust the Pope’s advice that we can only find our self by making a total gift of ourselves. Let us get comfortable being uncomfortable. Let us trust we can’t get where we want to go unless we embrace where we are.
Bl. John Paul II, pray for us. Teach us to be holy, selfless, and joyful apostles. Teach us to Love
freely in truth. "The love of Christ and human freedom are intertwined, because love and truth have an intrinsic relationship."
Verso l’alto,
Kathryn Grace
Lord, please keep making me broken
The thing I find most amazing about amazing grace is the chance to give it out, maybe that’s what Love is all about
I hit walls and I wanted to quit, I picked myself up but the truth is
I didn’t get here alone
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