Beatification of John Paul II

A big day for the world, May 1st. Big day for the Body of Christ. Big day for Humanity.  Whether you believe in ("my", "a", "your", "absence of") God or not, trust me, this day affects us all.

In Rome, the Vigil Mass is going on, and there's a worldwide pilgrimage to view the Beatification of John Paul II.  I wish I could go. Someday, I will make my pilgrimage to some site dedicated to JPII. 

I wish I was more well-versed in papal history so I could speak (blog) with eloquent authority about his accomplishments to the human race -- NOT just the Catholic Church.  I wish you knew how he changed the face of the modern-day church. I wish you knew how much he appreciated, valued, loved all of us, (yes, even you!) purely & wholly. He prayed for you. And he prayed for me. And we are we, in part, because of him.

This man was Pope most of my life.  I was not always Catholic.  In fact, I used to not only be agnostic, but I was anti-Catholic.  However, as far back as my teenage years, I distinctly recall being drawn to watch him on television whenever images of him happened to appear on my parent's television during the nightly news.  I was always compelled to him. I never understood why. 

He has a warm, playful twinkle in his smiling eyes. The depth is endless. His hands convey compassion and strength. His demeanor was calm, confident, peaceful. He defines the word 'perseverance'. 

His expression conveys his spirit.

There is opposition to his "fast-track" to sainthood. Beatification is the step before canonization (a.k.a. sainthood. Catholics have fancy words for every thing!).  Personally, I don't mind one bit that he's on the fast-track.  If I were Queen of the World, Pope John Paul II would've been sainted on his death bed! 

I will call to him for intercession. I will always hold him near and dear to my heart.  I will be paying attention through the night, waiting, hoping, praying.  The peace I saw him embody, I pray I do as well.  Surviving struggle the way he did, I pray I do.  To be loving to you, I pray I am. To having smiling, playful  eyes, even in my sadness, I pray to have. 

I discovered that in his youth, Karol Wojtyla wrote poetry.  Here is a poem you might enjoy:

Song of the Brightness of Water

From the depth—I came only to draw water
in a jug—so long ago, this brightness
still clings to my eyes—the perception I found,
and so much empty space, my own,
reflected in the well.

Yet it is good. I can never take all of you
into me. Stay then as mirror in the well.
Leaves and flowers remain, and each astonished gaze
brings them down
to my eyes transfixed more by light
than by sorrow.

Good night.