Who can forget his moving homily at the Mass for the inauguration of the pontificate of his pontificate, when, in a fully packed St Peter’s Square, on the bright Sunday of 22 October 1978, the newly elected Polish Pope cried out: “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’.”
This very man, now Servant of God John Paul II, worthy son of Poland and an exemplary pastor of the Universal Church, will be beatified on 1 May, Divine Mercy Sunday, at the Vatican by his successor and close collaborator, Pope Raztinger, officially known as Pope Benedict XVI.
Pope John Paul II’s profound spiritual will amply shows how challenging it was for him to personally open the doors of his heart to Christ. World history ran counter to his ideal for a Church that would help the world embrace Christ’s message. In effect he wrote: “24.II – 1.III.1980. During these spiritual exercises, I reflected on the truth of Christ’s Priesthood in view of the Passage which is, for each of us, the hour of our own death. For us, parting from this world − to be reborn in the next, the world to come, eloquent sign (he adds the word decisive above it), is the Resurrection of Christ. […] The times we live in have become unspeakably difficult and worrying. The life of the Church has also become difficult and tense, a characteristic trial of these times - for the faithful and for the pastors. In some countries (like the one which I read about during the spiritual exercises), the Church finds herself in a time of persecution equal to that of the first centuries, maybe more, according to the degree of cruelty and hatred. Sanguis martyrum − semen christianorum. Furthermore, so many innocent people have disappeared, even in this country where we are living […].”
Rooted and built up in Christ and well established in the Christian faith (see Col 2, 7), the Polish Pontiff recognised that his Petrine ministry could bear much fruit if he relied on God. His unshakeable faith was absolutely decisive. “Once again I wish to entrust myself totally to the Lord’s grace. He will decide when and how I am to end my earthly life and my pastoral ministry. In life as in death, Totus Tuus, through the Immaculate. By already accepting this death, I hope that Christ give me the grace for this last passage, that is (my) Pasch. I equally hope that he renders it useful for this more important cause I try to serve: the salvation of human beings, the protection of the human family, in all nations and among all peoples (among these I am thinking in particular of my own earthly country), useful for those who, in a special way, have been entrusted to me, in the Church, for the glory of the same God”.
Reflecting in retrospect on the assassination attempt he suffered on 13 May 1981, Pope John Paul found out that his total trust in God as well as in the loving protection of Mother Mary, was the secret that kept him alive. In fact, on 5 March 1982 he noted: “The attempt on my life, on 13.V.1981, has confirmed, in a certain way, the accuracy of the words written during the 1980 spiritual exercises (24.II – 1.III).
“I feel even more deeply that I am completely in the Hands of God − and I remain constantly available to my Lord, entrusting myself to Him in His Immaculate Mother (Totus Tuus)”.
World history changes its course but not God’s loving care for humanity. ‘Open wide the doors for Christ’ becomes the hermeneutical instrument through which one understands God’s providential intervention in worldly affairs. On 17 March of the Jubilee Year 2000, Pope John Paul wrote thus: “As for every year, during the spiritual exercises, I read my will of the 6.III.1979. I continue to maintain the provisions contained in it. What has been added, at that time and during the following spiritual exercises, constitutes a reflection of the difficult and tense general situation which has marked the eighties. Since the autumn of 1989, this situation has changed. The last decade of the past century was free of the previous tensions; this does not mean there were no new problems or difficulties. In a special way, may the Divine Providence be praised for this, in that the so-called ‘Cold War’ period has ended without violent nuclear conflict, a threat which weighed on the world during the previous period” (words underlined by the Pope himself).
These words acquire a special eloquence and significance when he entrusted the whole world to the Divine Mercy of Christ during his ninth and last apostolic voyage to Poland on 17 August 2002. “Today, therefore, in this Shrine, I wish solemnly to entrust the world to Divine Mercy. I do so with the burning desire that the message of God’s merciful love, proclaimed here through Saint Faustina, may be made known to all the peoples of the earth and fill their hearts with hope. May this message radiate from this place to our beloved homeland and throughout the world. May the binding promise of the Lord Jesus be fulfilled: from here there must go forth ‘the spark which will prepare the world for his final coming’ (cf. Diary, 1732). This spark needs to be lighted by the grace of God. This fire of mercy needs to be passed on to the world. In the mercy of God the world will find peace and mankind will find happiness!”
Hence, Pope John Paul II’s life and pontificate are characterized by the ardent invitation to open the door of one’s heart to Christ’s inconceivable and unfathomable mercy!