St. Pope John Paul II – Pastor in the Post-Modernistic World, Vicar of Christ the Good Shepherd

Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.   Psalm 93:3, Refrain from the Responsorial Psalm (96:1-2a, 2b-3, 7-8a, 10) for Memorial of Saint John Paul II, Pope, October 22.

Throughout the history of the Church, among all the Popes, ever since St. Peter, there has been no other Pope who has so extensively traveled to proclaim God’s mighty deeds (i.e. Psalm 96: 3) and  the Good News (i.e. Mark 16:15), as St. John Paul II has.  As the 263^rd successor of St. Peter, St. John Paul II (Karol Wojtyła) has made pastoral visits to 129 countries during his reign from 1978 until 2005.

In the world plagued with relativism and materialism from the late 20^th century into the 21^st century, St. John Paul II, has raised his prophetic voice to stir up the faith and conscience of Christ’s sheep in ways to make sense in the post-modernistic  world. In order to defend the Church and the faithful, whom he shepherded on behalf of Christ the Good Shepherd, as Pope, St. John Paul II, carried on the Thomistic theological tradition, in fighting communism and relativism, as his predecessors, especially Pope Leo XIII and St. Pope Pius X did during the time post-industrial revolution modernistic time with the rise of communism. He

As Pope, St. John Paul II also made many new initiatives, such as the World Day of Prayer for Peace, annual interreligious meeting of prayer for peace since 1986, and the World Day of the Sick since the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes in 1993, “to transform the whole of human civilization into a civilization of love”, citing from his 1984 Apostolic Letter, “Salvifici Doloris”, in his message for the first annual Day of the Sick on October 21, 1992.  Such a pastoral view of St. John Paul II gives a more focused attention to Church’s mission as “dispenser of the medicine of mercy” (St. Pope John XXIII), as well as, “the field hospital” (Pope Francis), reflecting on Jesus’ words in sending the twelve disciples on mission (Matthew 10:8). It is also necessary to note that he initiated the Word Youth Day in 1985, which has been celebrated since 1986, reflecting his special interest in reaching out to the youth and young adults ever since when he was a young parish priest in Poland.

The post-modernistic world that St. John Paul II served as Pope was like the post-Exilic Jerusalem. The Babylonians destroyed and desecrated Jerusalem and the Temple from 587 to 586BC, taking those who survived the massacres into captivity in Babylon. Therefore, the Holy City, Jerusalem, needed to be rebuilt and purified by those who returned from the Babylonian Exile with renewed faith and hope, with God’s glad tidings, as reflected in the First Reading (Isaiah 52:7-10). Likewise, the Church and hearts of the faithful from the modernistic era into the post-modernistic era have been assailed and poisoned with relativism, egoism, and materialism, needing to be repaired and maintained with constant renewal of faith with reason. As Pope, St. John Paul II, has invigorated this mission, expounding on the spirit of the Vatican II Council further in balancing the Council’s directives of aggiornamento and ad fontes for the Church, emphasizing constant dialogues of faith with reason, as promulgated in his 1998 encyclical, “Fide et Ratio”. This way, the Church shall thrive as the verdant pasture for Christ’s sheep to be nurtured in the post-modernistic era.

As the 263^rd successor of St. Peter, whom risen Christ commissioned to feed and care for his sheep, as reflected in the Gospel Reading (John 21:15-17), St. John Paul II, vigorously served as Vicar of Christ the Good Shepherd (i.e. John 10:11-18), feeding Christ’s sheep with the Word of God in his extensive teaching and the Holy Eucharist, and caring Christ’s sheep with his pastoral presence through his extensive global reach out. He has also reached out with the Word and his pastoral presence to what Christ has called “other sheep”(John 10:16), what Karl Rahner described as “anonymous Christian”, through his extensive ecumenical and inter-religious dialogues for peace.

As the 263^rd Pastor of the world, St. John Paul II steered the Church from the 20^th century into the 21^st century, fighting what he called the “culture of death” with love and mercy to promote “the culture of life”, as promulgated in his 1995 encyclical, “Evangelium Vitae”.

In reflecting on the legacy of St. John Paul II on his memorial feast day, how are we, as the Church, doing in keeping up with his directives? Are we fighting well against modernism and other enemies of the Church, such as “the culture of death”, materialism, egoism, and so forth? Are we also proclaiming God’s marvelous deeds on our respective apostolic missions, honoring the way of St. John Paul II?

Let us not get lost to the post-modernistic world of relativism, materialism, egoism, and "the culture of death".