Earlier this
month, one of Blessed John Paul II’s closest collaborators shared a little known story
about the late Holy Father. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Prefect Emeritus of
the Congregation of Bishops and former Vatican Secretary of State, shared a
story about the first time John Paul II had ever considered the priesthood.
In 1939, Karol Wojtyła was forced to quit college and work in a
quarry. Cardinal Re recounted:
There
he worked with a miner who set explosives in the mines, and one day the miner
told him, ‘I think you would make a great priest.’
…John Paul II told us that until that moment he had never thought of being a priest. He said, that man who I worked with already saw me as a priest…
…John Paul II told us that until that moment he had never thought of being a priest. He said, that man who I worked with already saw me as a priest…
Leaving his studies for a job in the mines
was most likely a source of great sadness for Blessed John Paul II. But this
story shows us how Divine Providence works, turning something quite sad into
something beautiful for young Karol Wojtyła
and eventually, for the whole world.
It also reveals the power
our words can have, especially with young men and women who are still searching
for their Vocations.
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