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The
Pope's Example
1
Peter 1:3-9
Fr.
George Smiga
3-4
April 2005
Just
a few hours ago our Holy Father Pope John Paul ll took his
last breath and brought to a close nearly a quarter of a century
of leading the Catholic church. For many days now the world
has been in vigil anticipating the pope's death. Already many
commentators have begun to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses
of his pontificate from political and religious standpoints.
But for us gathering today on this second Sunday of Easter
in our local parish church, I would like to pose a more fundamental
question concerning the life of Pope John Paul ll. This question
is one which is not only posed to a pope, but to anyone who
is baptized. In what ways did the life of this person reflect
the truth of the gospel? Some day each one of us will face
that question. How did our lives reflect the good news of
Christ and perhaps lead others to follow Christ more closely?
When
you ask that question of someone who has lived as long and
as publicly as John Paul ll, there are of course many ways
to answer it. But I would like to suggest today two qualities
of his life, which truly reflect the Gospel and also open
the way to imitation. Both of these qualities flow from what
is clearly the predominant theme of his pontificate: the belief
in the value of human life. John Paul ll from the time he
ascended the throne of Peter began to speak forcibly for the
dignity and the sacredness of life. His teaching on life did
not neatly attach itself to any particular political agenda.
He spoke regularly upon the importance of protecting the life
of a child within its mother's womb. He spoke regularly upon
protecting the life of prisoners on death row. He spoke of
the value of each human life and how every life had a sacredness
that could not be removed. His view of on the sacredness of
human life beautifully reflects the words of 1 Peter in today's
second reading. We have an inheritance “imperishable, undefiled,
unfading.” Yet John Paul was not about simply teaching these
things. He lived them. This leads to the two qualities that
I would like to highlight from his life: the example of his
happiness and his suffering.
John
Paul ll was a happy man. Those of you who can remember when
he became our pope recall that he was described as “the smiling
pope.” We had a number of good popes in the 20 th century;
Pious Xll, Paul VI, but they were rather grim in their appearance.
John Paul ll exuded a joy, a happiness. It might seem commonplace
to say so but he loved his job. He loved being the one who
could give voice to the presence and love of Christ in the
world as the leader of the Catholic Church. It was that happiness
in his work that moved him to visit as many countries as he
did throughout the world proclaiming the joyous nature of
being a follower of Christ. Joy is something we can undervalue
as a superfluous addition to life. But true joy is an indisputable
sign of the presence of God. John Paul was as successful as
a pope because people knew he was happy with his life, happy
as a follower of Christ.
That
joy of the pope is a challenge to us. It testifies to the
truth that God wants us to be happy. Sure there will be trials
and troubles in life, but fundamentally being a Christian
is being one who is called to joy. Therefore, if you find
yourself in chronic sadness whether in your marriage, your
job, or in your relationships, the testimony of John Paul
ll challenges you to recognize that something is wrong. God
is not calling you to sadness, to depression. God is calling
you to happiness, to joy. When we find ourselves in a continual
state of sadness, the Gospel calls us to change—to change
something in ourselves, to change something in our circumstances.
Our God calls us not to sadness, but to joy, and the witness
of John Paul ll gave testimony to that truth.
His
life also gave witness to suffering. In his latter years we
all watched as the Parkinson's disease and the aging process
took its toll. A once vigorous and active pope became more
and more frail and feeble. There were some people who called
for his resignation saying it was time for him to step down
in light of his sickness. That request would have made a good
deal of sense were the pope simply an administrator, a CEO
of the Catholic Church. But John Paul ll saw his role as more
than an administrator. He saw his mission to give witness
to what it meant to follow Christ. Therefore, as his health
failed, as his life became more difficult, he chose not to
hide that deterioration but instead to display it to the world.
This flowed from his belief that life, even when reduced by
aging and sickness, still had value in the eyes of God. This
truth challenges us all. We will age and will have to deal
with sickness and diminished vitality. If we truly appreciate
the gift of life, we will understand that that diminished
life does not rob us of our sacredness or dignity. We will
understand that we do not need to hide or apologize because
we are less of the person than we were 30 or 40 years ago.
We still have value because we still have the life that is
God's gift to us. Moreover, those of us who are younger and
who still have our health should examine our attitude to those
who are aging and sick. They are not people we should hide
away or neglect, but rather cherish and support. However diminished,
they still carry God's sacred gift of life within them.
For
the next few weeks the eyes of the world will be on our church
as we say farewell to John Paul ll and choose his successor.
There is a sadness in leaving a man who so forcibly showed
the example of the Gospel. But even as we mark his passing
we should be thankful for what he showed us about life and
its value. John Paul II showed us the importance of being
happy in what we are called to do and the value of our life
even as we cope with sickness and age. We entrust the holy
father to the Lord's care and we believe that he is now in
the presence of the God whom he served. We can do nothing
more to honor his memory than to follow his example—to live
our lives committed to the joy of the Gospel and always believe
that no matter what sickness or trouble we might attack us
we retain the sacredness and dignity of being daughters and
sons of God.
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