The cloisters of India call for Wojtyla to be “immediately sainted!”
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – Four years on from the death of the great Pope John Paul II, on April 2nd 2005, the Church recalls the figure of a pope dearly loved by faithful worldwide. Tomorrow Benedict XVI will a memorial mass, with a special invitation to the young people, to “prepare together for World Youth Day” which this year will be celebrated at a diocesan level on Palm Sunday.
In remembering Wojtyla AsiaNews publishes a testimony that comes from India. For over 30 years Sr. Mary Joseph has lived in the Carmelite Convent of Andheri East Mumbai. In the name of India’s Catholic community she re-launches the call for John Paul II to be immediately sainted.
The religious sister speaks of the devotion for a pope who through his example showed that the “culture of death” can be defeated, in a historical period in which nihilism appears to triumph along with the possibility of putting an end to life at will exalted, with the promotion of “diabolical acts” such as “euthanasia and abortion”.
Sr Mary Joseph – born Radha Krishnan – is the fourth daughter of a devout Hindu family from the Brahmin caste “Iyengar”. Converted to Catholicism, she decided to enter the Carmelite order and each and every day offers her life and her sorrows – just like Pope John Paul II – for “the world”. (NC)
Our beloved Pope John Paul II will most certainly be raised to the altar of sainthood in the Church, but I am praying for this great event to take place at the earliest as he is a model for both Youth and Aged and Suffering,
As we approach Holy Week and the death anniversary of our beloved Holy Father, we recall the public suffering of Pope JP II, who entered with a salvific dimension into the humiliation of his debilitating sickness in the most public manner, inviting all humanity to unite their own sickness with the passion of Jesus Christ.
The Pope of life and suffering
Pope John Paul II was a charismatic personality, a person who spontaneously drew massive crowds to himself, and yet even as he grew older, the speech of the master communicator was incoherent and at times spittle would dribble from his mouth.
Pope John Paul accepted his sickness and old age; he never shied from the public, and allowed himself to be seen in his frailty and at times humiliating physical weakness.
Even though a series of disabilities beset the pope especially after 1993 and JPII even lost his ability to walk, he continued fearlessly in the public glare his Pontificate.
Suffering and old age lived in communion with the passion of Christ are some of the most powerful catecheses of his pontificate. This is most relevant for today as Euthanasia is plaguing our generation. ‘Euthanasia’ is an evil which is gaining increasing legitimacy even in our beloved India. Our Holy Father gave value and showed the world, the sacredness of human life in old age and crippling sickness. In his own life, he showed the world the value of each person, and most especially, when presented himself with suffering and infirmity, he has shown us the willingness to embrace life as a gift.
The comforter of the young
I pray unceasingly for our youth, in India and all over the World, our youth are under severe pressure from different sources and voices, and live in challenging times. However, in his own youth, the late Holy Father also faced difficulties and challenges. He is a model for the emerging generation living in a negative environment. The Pope’s early life was marked by personal hardships. He witnessed the Nazi invasion of Poland and noticed that some of his friends had disappeared, killed in war or seized in the night by Nazi troops. In spite of the difficulties and hardships he endured, he blossomed into a mature, kind and sensitive human being - and is inspirational for our young people today.
Pope John Paul II had entered Krakow’s clandestine theological seminary, which was a risky step under the Gestapo’s watchful eyes. What negative environment! what tragedy and sufferings yet he emerged as the leader of the Catholic Church championing the rights and dignity of the human person, and called for ethics and morality in all spheres of life and service.…
For our own youth- today, who are living in troubled times, John Paul II also tread that same difficult journey. - John Paul II was literally without a family, his older brother and both of his parents died during his youth - he was alone by the age of 20; yet nothing stunted his personal growth.
He blossomed into a good mature adult, seeking spiritual goods, yet working for justice and the common good. This should motivate our youth today, many of whom come from broken homes (as regrettably marriages crumble), many are living in negative environment, and here is a Model before them, who triumphed in spite of all the difficulties.
None of the negative influences affective his personality, instead John Paul II developed a Magnetic and marvellous personality. He is a Model for our youth, going through trying times personally and in a society where life is often debased and a decadent society.
The pope of the cloistered
Pope John Paul II loved the cloistered monasteries. The Holy Father had a monastery built in the Vatican as he wanted the nuns to be close to the Vatican, and he desired that the Pope and his Mission to be the centre of their prayers. Often the Holy Father would send cakes to the monastery and even visit the nuns.
It has been said, that early in his career, he sought permission from his superiors to spend his life in a cloistered monastery. They turned him down, believing he was meant for other things. Nonetheless, his personal devotion to prayer, scripture and the rosary made him a model of spirituality for millions of Catholics and others.
May we all have the immense gift of saying Saint John Paul II, pray for us. !
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07/02/2019 17:28
11/02/2009
