Yesterday began the 9-day novena to St. John Paul leading up
to his feast day on October 22! This man has always had a special place in my
heart for a number of reasons. One, I share an ethnic bond with him; being half
Polish myself, he’s always been ‘my Polish papa’. Two, he is a shining example
of what it means to be unabashedly living every moment for Christ. I melt
inside every time I look at a picture of this amazing Pope… why? His surrender
to Christ, his willingness to embrace everything for the sake of The Church,
for souls, for salvation, is so palpable – even in his pictures! Just looking
at him makes me want to grow in holiness. The photos of him with his famous
crucifix, head bowed in prayer, pressed to the Cross of Jesus Christ, reveals
the intimacy he had with Jesus Crucified – again, an intimacy palpable even
from a picture.
In a novena email that I received from a friend of mine for
the first day, the meditation was on JPII’s famous words: “Be not afraid! Open
wide the doors to Christ!” These are powerful words, but I am sure you can
agree with me when I write that they are simple, yet tremendously hard (at
times) to live out. We are often overcome by fear, and being human and desiring
to be in control, we have an issue with complete surrender. Feeling the need to
have a say in what we do, how we do it, how we live our life, as well as to be
self-confident, independent, and proud of who we are, are some of the main
stumbling blocks to our ability to give control to God – we become afraid of
what we might lose, afraid of the judgments of others, afraid that we won’t be
happy, etc. This is where our St. John Paul can shed some light…
He was a happy man! He greeted everyone with a smile on his
face and joy in his heart! His love for Jesus, and Jesus’ love for him, spilled
out onto all of those souls with whom he came in contact. Afraid of not being happy?
Have you ever met anyone happier than a saint surrendered to Christ?! As we
know, this doesn’t mean suffering won’t come our way, but suffering would come
our way whether we were surrendered to Christ or not! It’s the human condition –
not one person goes through this life without suffering. Better to have a
Savior to suffer with, who first suffered for us, than to be alone in our
suffering.
Afraid of what we might lose: Well, there is a lot we will
lose, but it’s all stuff we’ll be happy to get rid of! Attachment to sins that
weigh us down, vices such as anger, greed, jealousy, lust, etc., that torment us and
keep our eyes fixed on worldly things when we really do want to keep them fixed
on God… all of these will begin to melt away when we start to practice a life of
surrender. Fear the loss of control? No need. The control we think we have over
our lives is only an illusion. Anything can happen at any time in any part of
our life and suddenly, we aren’t in control. We can’t control when or if we become
ill, if we lose our job, if we lose a loved one, if the power goes out, if our
car breaks down, and so on. The control we think we have is just that – we think we have it. Everything is a gift
from God; it is all in His control anyway, and if some misfortune befalls us,
He still has a plan for us in the midst of it – nothing is without purpose.
Surrendering to God gives purpose to things we don’t understand, instead of us just
becoming dismayed in the face of difficulty. Furthermore, in place of these
things we lose, there is so much to be gained – peace, joy, understanding,
grace, virtue… All these things replace the ‘losses’ of the sin, vice, worry
and fear. A pretty amazing trade-off if you ask me!
That other fear I mentioned… the fear of the judgment of
others… it is a real fear, and one that I struggle with personally. We are
afraid of being ‘labeled’ as one of those
Christians… over-zealous, Jesus-freak, blah, blah, blah… but look at John
Paul: sure, he had his enemies, and plenty of people who didn’t like him, but
look at the flocks of Christians around the world who loved him so much! He
didn’t care about the people who thought he was crazy – he lived boldly for
Christ and cared to bring others to want to live boldly for Christ too. He
lived unabashedly for Jesus. I love that word ‘unabashedly’ – it holds such
power. Its definition:
[i]Unabashedly:
Not ashamed, disconcerted, or apologetic; boldly certain of one's position.
Not ashamed, disconcerted, or apologetic; boldly certain of one's position.
That’s what I pray for – for myself and for the whole
Church, that we would become unabashed in our relationship with Jesus Christ!
We are all called to be saints and we have a man of our own times – Saint John
Paul the Great – who succeeded in fulfilling that call. He was an ordinary man
who loved skiing, play-writing, literature, poetry, and good times with good
friends, but his first love was Jesus
Christ; and in this, he was bold and unashamed. This, my brothers and sisters,
is the life of a saint, and one that we can imitate. We must first love God above
all things, and the rest is history.
One more note concerning attachment to human respect and
affection… Jesus Christ himself was ridiculed and judged when He was here on
earth and tells us ahead of time that we who follow Him will be treated in much
the same way – but to not be discouraged, for this is our ticket to Heaven –
this is how we know we are getting it right.
First, the warning:
[ii] “If the world hates you,
know that it has hated me before it hated you.19 If you were of the
world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but
I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant
is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute
you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all this they will do to you on my account,
because they do not know him who sent me.”
Second, the promise:
[iii]“Blessed are those who
are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Okay, we understand all of this, and much of this is not new knowledge to most who read this, but we still struggle with surrender! We get it, but why is it still so hard to do?! The
secret is to know that surrender isn’t a one-time action; it wasn’t a one-time
deal for John Paul and it’s not for us either. Surrender is something that we
have to do every day, sometimes multiple times a day, and that’s what John Paul
had to do too. If we think that this great saint made one act of surrender at
some point in His life and that was it and then he was good to go and was
able to live a holy life, we are fooling ourselves. We are human, we are
fickle; we need reminders and renewals to make this life work. John Paul was no
different. Each day, he abandoned himself to God. With each blessing, trial,
work, sorrow, he made a new act of surrender. When he was elected Pope, don’t
you think he had to surrender to God, entrusting that mission to Him? When he
was shot and went through that suffering of being so hated and almost losing his
life, don’t you think he had to surrender again, giving it all over to God?
When he was filled with joy at the World Youth Days, being with all the young
people of the Church, that work too he surrendered to God, letting Him move in
the hearts of the young people. When he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, when he
dealt with world problems, wars, and global leaders… surrender. When he was
just having a rough day (like we all have)… surrender. It’s not a one-time
thing, it’s a continual offering of ourselves to God. This is the road to
sanctity; it’s in the little things each day, the surrender of each moment,
letting God be the Lord of our life. Don’t be afraid to give your heart to
Jesus Christ!
[iv]“Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. The
kingdom of heaven is for those who are determined to enter it (cf. Lk
16:16; Mt 11:12)…Do not be afraid to be holy! Have the courage and
humility to present yourselves to the world determined to be holy, since full,
true freedom is born from holiness.”
~ Saint John Paul the Great, pray for us! That we will be
determined to enter Heaven, to be holy, to be free! ~
[iv] Message
of the Holy Father to Youth Meeting in Santiago de Compostela; http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1999/august/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_08081999_youth-compostela_en.html
