Homily: October 22 - Saint John Paul II - "Deeply United to God"

Today is the first time since he recent canonization that the Church celebrates the Feast of Pope Saint John Paul II.  His feast is celebrated on the 22nd of October, the anniversary of his papal inauguration in 1978.  On that day, the new Bishop of Rome began a ministry that would change the world.

His papacy lasted 26 years, 5 months, and 17 days, the third longest papacy in history.  He traveled the world more than any Pope in history, visiting 129 nations during his pontificate, he was the first pope to visit the White house.  He spoke latin fluently, but could also converse in Slovak, Russian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portoguese, German, Ukrainian, English, and of course, his native Polish.  He holds the record for the one human who gathered the most people together in one spot.  At the 1995 World Youth Day in the Phillippines, 5 million people attended Mass celebrated by His Holiness—the largest human gathering in history, in fact, he was seen by more people than other person in history.  He published the first official Catholic catechism since the Council of Trent.  He had one of the most prolific pontificates in history, publishing, 14 encyclicals, 15 apostolic exhortations, 11 apostolic constitutions, 45 apostolic letters and 28 motu proprios.  And he canonized more saints than any other Pope in history.  He played a decisive role in the downfall of communism in eastern Europe

The list of accomplishments goes on and on.  His personal holiness could be felt by those around him.  If you ever had the eyes of Pope John Paul II on you, you could sense his deep love for God.  He was a mystic.  His prayer life, his love for God, his devotion to the Blessed Mother infused his life, and radiated from him.

At his canonization, Pope Francis said of him, that John Paul II was “not afraid to look upon the wounds of Jesus, to touch his torn hands and pierced side.”  He “bore witness” to Jesus’ mercy for us.  John Paul instituted Divine mercy Sunday and was Canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday.

In the collect we pray that, instructed by John Paul’s teaching, “we may open our hearts to the saving grace of Christ”.  He was a prolific writer, yet his greatest teaching is in his witness to Christ.  At his Beaitification, Pope Benedict XVI said, John Paul “remained deeply united to God amid the many demands of his ministry.” Even as he was stripped of good health in his final months, he remained a “rock of faith”.  May we learn from his example, of deeply united ourselves to God, through prayer and service, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.