Happy Birthday St. John Paul II!

For more on Saint John Paul II's origins, consider visiting our permanent exhibit, A Gift of Love: The Life of Saint John Paul II.

On this day in 1920, our beloved Saint John Paul II was born. Named Karol Józef Wojtyła after his father, this young babe grew into one of the greatest saints of our time.

As pilgrims to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine know, little Karol’s childhood was marked by great suffering. Yet, he never forgot his origin in the love of his parents and in the love of God.

Let us praise the Father for this day in history—who knows where the Church would be without it!

Saint John Paul II, Pray for Us!

The Mission In The Ascension

The Ascension, Giotto, 1305

At the Ascension the Risen Christ speaks to the Apostles one last time about the coming of the Holy Spirit. He says: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” (Act. 1, 8).

…The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost marks the beginning of the Church’s mission. The Apostles received this mission from Christ. The Holy Spirit gave them the power to fulfill it by word and deed even to the shedding of their blood. Martyrdom is the ultimate testimony to the truth about Christ crucified and risen. Following in the footsteps of the Apostles the Church has inherited the same mission, and she fulfills it in the midst of all the nations.

-Saint John Paul II, 1989

Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us!

From our permanent exhibit,  A Gift of Love: The Life of Saint John Paul II.

The Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Fatima on May 13. Saint John Paul II had a strong devotion to Our Lady of Fatima, and he was convinced that her intercession saved his life after the assassination attempt in 1981.

In a homily for the consecration Mass of the Church of Our Lady of Fatima in Poland, St. John Paul II said:

The message of Fatima, which Mary gave to the world through three poor children, consists in an exhortation to conversion, prayer, especially the rosary, and reparation for one's own sins and for those of all mankind. This message flows from the Gospel, from the words which Christ spoke at the very beginning of his public ministry: "Repent, and believe in the Gospel!" (Mk 1:15). It aims at man's interior transformation, at the defeat of sin within him and the strengthening of goodness, and at the attainment of holiness. This message is addressed in particular to the people of our century, a century which has been marked by war, hatred, the violation of fundamental human rights, the immense suffering of individuals and nations, and finally by the struggle against God, carried even to the denial of his existence. The message of Fatima is an outpouring of the love of the Heart of the Mother, who is always open to her child, never loses sight of him, thinks of him always, even when he leaves the straight path and becomes a "prodigal son" (cf. Lk 15:11-32).

Our Lady of Fatima, please intercede for us during this month of May, that we may repent and bring the Gospel to the world.

This piece was originally posted on May 13, 2012.

Remembering A Legacy

Earlier this spring, Our Sunday Visitor posted an article about the legacy of Saint John Paul II.  While the author admits that she only covers a fraction of his legacy, she does a wonderful job of capturing the impact the late Holy Father made on the Church and the world.

This is something we set out to do in our permanent exhibit, A Gift of Love: The Life of Saint John Paul II, and today we decided to lay out how we preserve the pieces of our beloved John Paul’s legacy that the author mentions.

Theology of the Body

John Paul II’s anthropology gave the Church a new language with which to address the fallout of the sexual revolution and help Christians recover a sacramental understanding of the world.

World Youth Days

With each successive World Youth Day, Pope John Paul II helped the Church see that it didn’t need to change in order to inspire young people; rather, it needed to challenge young people to change — to be bolder, more faithful and more heroic.

Mary, The Mother of Mercy

Mary is also Mother of Mercy because it is to her that Jesus entrusts his Church and all   humanity. At the foot of the Cross, when she accepts John as her son, when she asks, together with Christ, forgiveness from the Father for those who do not know what they do (cf. Lk 23:34), Mary experiences, in perfect docility to the Spirit, the richness and the universality of God's love, which opens her heart and enables it to embrace the entire human race. Thus Mary becomes Mother of each and every one of us, the Mother who obtains for us divine mercy. 

                -Saint John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor

During this month of May, let us ask the Mother of Mercy to look down on us with favor and to pray for us.

Jesus, The Face Of The Father’s Mercy

This week, the Vatican announced more specific details about the upcoming Year of Mercy. They also introduced a logo for the Holy Year. There has been much excitement about this Jubilee –which is to begin this coming December, on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception—especially on Divine Mercy Sunday when Pope Francis released Misericordiae Vultus, the Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.

The Holy Father called for this Year of Mercy, because we “need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy.” He continues:

It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it. Mercy: the word reveals the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us. Mercy: the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters on the path of life. Mercy: the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness.

We also need to contemplate this beautiful mercy, “so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father’s action in our lives.” If the Church does not show the world mercy, then how will the world know of the all-merciful Father? How will they know of His presence? Of His love for us? Pope Francis declared this Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy as a time for the Church “when the witness of believers might grow stronger and more effective.”

There would be no Year of Mercy if it weren’t for the Pope of Divine Mercy. During his presentation at the Shrine last month, Andreas Widmer said that this Holy Year is "one of the many fruits of the teachings of John Paul."

Papal Intentions For May

Pope Francis during his visit to the Philippines earlier this year (CNS photo / Paul Haring)

This month, Pope Francis asks us to pray that, “rejecting the culture of indifference, we may care for our neighbors who suffer, especially the sick and the poor.” He also asks us to pray for an “openness to mission,” and that “Mary’s intercession may help Christians in secularized cultures be open to proclaiming Jesus.”

The sick and the poor are often forgotten in our society, and fears keep us from preaching Christ to those around us. Please join us in praying with the Holy Father, that we may encounter all with love and a New Evangelization.

Saint John Paul II, Pray for Us!