As written in the Gospel Reading to commemorate St. John Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyła), John 21:15-17, recalls, the risen Lord asked Peter to care for and feed hissheep. In this the Lord Jesus Christ is fully entrusting Peter to pastor his sheep on his behalf. On 16 October, 1978, Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła of Krakow was chosen as the 264th Pope (263th successor of St. Peter) and on 22 October, 1978, he began his papal ministry to take care and feed the sheep of the Lord as Pope John Paul II.
Though Pope John Paul II was a successor of St.
Peter, his outreach on his papal mission from 1978 until 2005 was comparable to
St. Paul’s extensive mission in the Greco-Roman world in the first century. No
other Pope has logged as many miles as John Paul II has. He visited 129 nations
on 104 trips during his 26-year reign. This shows that St. John Paul II had the
fiery zeal, like St. Paul, to evangelize the whole world, rather embodying
these words of Jesus: Go, therefore, and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you
always, until the end of the age. (Mathew 28:19-20)
In addition to taking care of and feeding the sheep
of the Lord in his sheep pen, the domain of the Church, as Pope, St. John Paul
II has made extensive outreach mission trips to make more disciples out of all
nations to bring what the Lord has called “other sheep”( ἄλλα
πρόβατα/alla probate)into the sheep pen of the Good Shepherd
(καλός. ὁ ποιμὴν/kalos o poimen)
(John 10:16). So, he reached out to a
nation where Catholics make up a tiny portion, such as Japan, where Catholics
constitute less than 1% of its population. He was the first Pope to visit
Japan, as well as Pakistan, which is another nation where Catholics are in
great minority.
Wherever St. John Paul II visited, as St. Paul and
St. Peter did, he sowed the life-giving seeds, namely, the Word of the Gospel,
to make disciples – to bring other sheep. And to bring sheep lost in communism
back to the Lord’s sheep pen.
Communism tried to destroy Christianity and make the ground of the Christian faith too acidic to grow again throughout Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, as a result of St. John Paul II’s tireless and resilient pastoral outreach efforts to sow the seeds of the Gospel and to re-fertilize the ground for the seeds in this region, including his native Poland, Christian faith grew strong and the strengths of this faith growth knocked out communism, as the mustard seed’s growth overthrows a large mulberry tree into the sea (Luke 17:6).
This way to restore Christianity in Eastern Europe by
St. John Paul II’s steadfast commitment to the power of the Gospel is reflected
on how the Lord’s care restored Zion after the Babylonians had turned this holy
city into the land of desolation and abomination, as described in the First
Reading (Isaiah 52:7-10) to remember his life and legacy.
Certainly, the papal ministry of St. John Paul II
had to overcome countless daunting challenges for its successful completion –
just as St. Paul and his companions on missions had to face so many trials.
Nevertheless, St. John Paul II never lost his zeal, as St. Paul never lost it,
in spite of all adversaries. And, it is attributed to the phrase that St. John
Paul II has cited ever since the day one of his papal ministry: Be not afraid.
In his homily for the Mass of the inauguration of
his pontificate on 22 October, 1978, St. John Paul II said:
Brothers
and sisters, do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power. Help the
Pope and all those who wish to serve Christ and with Christ's power to serve
the human person and the whole of mankind. Do not be afraid. Open wide the
doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of States, economic
and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and
development. Do not be afraid. Christ knows "what is in man". He
alone knows it.
He kept St. Peter in his mind as he delivered these
words to the Lord’s sheep throughout the world. St. John Paul II reminded that
St. Peter’s mission completed in Rome. And, as the 264th St. Peter,
St. John Paul II began his papal ministry and mission from Rome. As St. Peter
had to overcome his own fear on his mission, after being asked and entrusted by
the Lord to feed and care for his sheep, as reflected in the Gospel Reading to
celebrate St. John Paul II (John 21:15-17), so had this 263rd successor
of St. Peter. And, he had overcome it by citing the Lord’s encouraging words to
Peter when he was terrified to be drawn in the stormy sea (Matthew 14:27). For
Peter to overcome his fear, he had to open his heart to let Christ and his
power in. So, St. John Paul II said in the homily, “Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ Do not be afraid. Open
wide the doors for Christ” to overcome adversaries on the mission.
“Be not afraid!”
– this encouraging phrase given to Peter in fear by the Lord was also said by
Moses to Joshua, reminding that God will go before him and will never forsake
him as Joshua will continue on his dangerous mission (Deuteronomy 31:8), echoed
by these words of Jesus to Peter and other disciples for their commissioning as
the first batch of the Apostles: Behold,
I am with you always, until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
Let us remember how St. John Paul II relied on
the Lord as he embarked on his
extraordinary outreach pastoral mission, constantly reminding, “Be not afraid!”, because the Lord is
always with him and us and always lead his and our way of mission, as he was
called and as we are called.
St. John Paul II, pray for us – for our courage and
strengths to overcome fear!
No comments:
Post a Comment