Today is the death anniversary of Bl. John Paul II (April 2, 2005). He will be canonized, together with Bl. John XXIII, on April 27, 2014 (Divine Mercy Sunday). Below are excerpts of Benedict XVIs homily last April 2, 2006. How can the evangelical testimony of this great Pontiff be summarized? I will attempt to do so in two words: fidelity and commitment; total fidelity to God and commitment without reservations his mission as Pastor of the universal Church... He embodied in himself what he wrote: suffering is present in the world in order to release love, in order to give birth to works of love toward neighbor, in order to transform the whole human civilization into a civilization of love... His illness, faced with courage, made everyone pay more attention to human pain, to all physical and spiritual pain. He gave suffering dignity and value, demonstrating that man is not worth for his efficiency or his appearance, but for himself, because he has been created and loved by God.. On the contrary, the encounter with Christ makes our life more exciting. Precisely because he drew ever closer to God in prayer, our beloved Pope was able to make himself a fellow traveler of each one of us... He encourages us not to be afraid to follow Christ to take proclamation of the Gospel to all...
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 00:12:32 +0000