Meeting the Shepherd
The great John Paul II was probably one of the greatest Popes that ever lived. Then again, I say this because I've never known any other Pope (although I have a slight recollection of Paul VI). So naturally, I'm biased for a good reason. I was a teenager when Karol Wojtyla became Pope and I remember watching him on television as he emerged from the balcony with the same kind of joyful trepidation, as Benedict XVI had. And I heard the same kind of response from the crowd, naturally falling in love with their new Santo Papa.
John Paul II was instrumental to my vocation. I attended two World Youth Days during his 26 year pontificate. The first in 1995 held in Manila and the second in 1997 in Paris (where we were joined by our local bishop, now the new prefect of the CDF, his Excellency, William Levada). Both events were part of the parish youth ministry, where I was leading the Youth and Religious Education program at the time. The whole experience of pilgrimage with the Holy Father is something I will always treasure. The act of moving from one end of the world to the other to meet the Vicar of Christ is an act of meeting Christ Himself. The mere preparation to travel, to physically transport oneself to a foreign land is an enormous undertaking, not to mention physically taxing. The fact that the Holy Spirit moves us to go on pilgrimage reminds us that God calls His beloved sheep constantly and the sheep ultimately hear His voice.
Pope John Paul II went out and called the youth of the world to meet Christ. Every two years, he would arrange a meeting place with them, in order to remind them of the love that Jesus has for them and that they in turn may realize this and learn to know and love Him more and more.
The next World Youth Day is in August 2005 in Cologne, Germany. It is not a coincidence but by Divine Providence that our present Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI is a native of this country where the next meeting place will be. We await this momentous occasion when we will surely witness once again a Pope falling in love with God's people and His people falling in love with the Pope.
Let me at this point highly recommend these excellent articles by Mary Beth Bonacci called JPII, Why Did We Love You? and Carroll Campbell's The Way Of Benedict posted in IgnatiusInsight
John Paul II was instrumental to my vocation. I attended two World Youth Days during his 26 year pontificate. The first in 1995 held in Manila and the second in 1997 in Paris (where we were joined by our local bishop, now the new prefect of the CDF, his Excellency, William Levada). Both events were part of the parish youth ministry, where I was leading the Youth and Religious Education program at the time. The whole experience of pilgrimage with the Holy Father is something I will always treasure. The act of moving from one end of the world to the other to meet the Vicar of Christ is an act of meeting Christ Himself. The mere preparation to travel, to physically transport oneself to a foreign land is an enormous undertaking, not to mention physically taxing. The fact that the Holy Spirit moves us to go on pilgrimage reminds us that God calls His beloved sheep constantly and the sheep ultimately hear His voice.
Pope John Paul II went out and called the youth of the world to meet Christ. Every two years, he would arrange a meeting place with them, in order to remind them of the love that Jesus has for them and that they in turn may realize this and learn to know and love Him more and more.
The next World Youth Day is in August 2005 in Cologne, Germany. It is not a coincidence but by Divine Providence that our present Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI is a native of this country where the next meeting place will be. We await this momentous occasion when we will surely witness once again a Pope falling in love with God's people and His people falling in love with the Pope.
Let me at this point highly recommend these excellent articles by Mary Beth Bonacci called JPII, Why Did We Love You? and Carroll Campbell's The Way Of Benedict posted in IgnatiusInsight
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