The full text of the beatification decree for JPII is now available on Zenit. It covers nine aspects of his life: his contribution to Vatican II, his total trust in Our Lady, the Iraq war and the ‘peace offensive’, the year 2000 Jubilee, attention to the youth and WYD, the simplicity of his prayer, his will – to entrust himself totally to God’s grace, the deep spirituality he built on that foundation, and his entrusting the world to the Divine Mercy.
Here’s a brief excerpt from the introduction:
John Paul II’s pontificate was an eloquent and clear sign, not only for Catholics, but also for world public opinion, for people of all colour and creed. The world’s reaction to his lifestyle, to the development of his apostolic mission, to the way he bore his suffering, to the decision to continue his Petrine mission to the end as willed by divine Providence, and finally, the reaction to his death, the popularity of the acclamation “Saint right now!” which someone made on the day of his funerals, all this has its solid foundation in the experience of having met with the person who was the Pope. The faithful have felt, have experienced that he is “God’s man”, who really sees the concrete steps and the mechanisms of contemporary world “in God”, in God’s perspective, with the eyes of a mystic who looks up to God only. He was clearly a man of prayer: so much so that it is from the dynamism of his personal union with God, from the permanent listening to what God wants to say in a concrete situation, that the whole of “Pope John Paul II’s activity” flowed.
JP, what do you think is the best way to stop enemies of the faith defining his legacy? (Apart from resurrecting Hilaire Belloc, fighter that he was)
Do the best we can to provide the counterbalance, I guess. Your challenge on the other thread is a good one.
Mr Badger, I’ve written a prayer which I intend to post when people attack JPII:
Dear God, who gave to the witnessing world a remarkable example of a life poured out for you, help us to face our own sufferings with the patience, cheerfulness, and forebearance with which John Paul II carried the cross of his illness in his final years. Help us to forgive those who try to reduce his life story to a single issue, as he forgave the man who tried to take his life. Help us to reach out to our brothers and sisters of other faiths, as he reached out, in Christian charity, seeking the true unity which is unity with you.
Amen.
That’s a lovely prayer JP, I will remember it.
It’s great see something worth reading in the world of Kiwi Catholics online, which has had a very unedifying last 24 hours. But I will say no more, after all continence is a virtue 😉