Springtime in the Church

It‘s hot out! Things around the Blessed John Paul II Shrine are steaming, and the Washington DC community is preparing for 100 degree weather today. Summer is officially here.

As we sadly say goodbye to spring, it is heartening to remember that the Church’s springtime is still with us, and that it gets more beautiful every day. Blessed John Paul II was the first to notice this “promising” and “hope-filled” springtime. During his pontificate, he observed increased parish activity and bustling religious communities. He joyfully noted that this newfound energy revealed “the power of God’s love which in overcoming divisions and barriers of every kind, renews the face of the earth to build the civilization of love.”

In his 1998 message for the World Congress of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities, Blessed John Paul II said:

From the beginning of my Pontificate, I have given special importance to the progress of ecclesial movements, and I have had the opportunity to appreciate the results of their widespread and growing presence during my pastoral visits to parishes and my apostolic journeys…They represent one of the most significant fruits of that springtime in the Church which was foretold by the Second Vatican Council, but unfortunately has often been hampered by the spread of secularization. Their presence is encouraging because it shows that this springtime is advancing and revealing the freshness of the Christian experience based on personal encounter with Christ. Even in the diversity of their forms, these movements are marked by a common awareness of the "newness" which baptismal grace brings to life, through a remarkable longing to reflect on the mystery of communion with Christ and with their brethren, through sound fidelity to the patrimony of the faith passed on by the living stream of Tradition. This gives rise to a renewed missionary zeal which reaches out to the men and women of our era in the concrete situations where they find themselves, and turns its loving attention to the dignity, needs and destiny of each individual.

This “renewed missionary zeal” was no doubt inspired by Blessed John Paul II—the missionary Pope himself. He worked tirelessly throughout his pontificate to “build the civilization of love,” by bringing his flock closer to Mary, to Jesus, and to the “threshold of hope” that every soul seeks. He promoted the dignity of man by personally reaching out to many throughout the world. He is the most well known saint of our time, yet he constantly and humbly reminded us that he was merely a servant of Christ, attempting to mimic Him in every way.

Years after his papacy, Blessed John Paul II’s springtime lives on. Vocations are up, the Church is uniting, and his successor continues to lead the charge in the New Evangelization. Praise the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit for John Paul II, and praise Them for this beautiful springtime!