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 published: 2005-04-22

In the Light of Truth

The moment I most missed John Paul II, was the moment of a my commitment to Pope Benedict XVI

Después del gran Papa Juan Pablo II...

After the great Pope, John Paul II …

Nach dem großen Papst, Johannes Paul II. ...

Foto: Donnelly © 2005

 
 

María está a nuestro lado

Mary is at our side

Maria ist uns zur Seite

Foto: Abram © 2005

 

USA, Margaret Fenelon. I had never missed Pope John Paul II more than at the moment Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was presented to the world as Pope Benedict XVI. I wasn’t unhappy with the conclave results; on the contrary, I was quite pleased and thankful. It was because the introduction of the new Holy Father put an air of finality to the reign of Pope John Paul II that I had not felt before then.

Certainly, his death brought great sadness to my heart. I held my breath as I received the news of his passing. I grieved as I watched his televised funeral in the wee hours of the morning from my living room sofa. I attended Requiem Masses. I mourned his passing along with the rest of the Church. But the announcement "Habemus Papam!" struck my heart with an indescribable thud.

My only Pope

Pope John Paul II is the only pope of whom I’ve ever been aware. He was elected when I was in my early teens – just as I was awakening to the universal Church beyond my own parish. I followed his papacy with enthusiasm and took his words in deeply. With John Paul II at the helm, I felt more secure that the ship would sail a steadier course, preserving the Truth for my children and my children’s children.

I saw him last September during a private audience at Castel Gondolfo with the Schoenstatt Family commemorating the dedication of the Matri Ecclesiae Shrine. There were more than a thousand of us, yet I felt as though he had greeted each one of us individually. Crippled and weak from his physical illness, he struggled to straighten up and pass his gaze over the crowd. As he looked my way, I was positive he had made direct eye contact with me. His eyes were penetrating and filled with love and I wanted desperately to run up and embrace him. After my return home, I heard and read accounts from many people who had met him under other circumstances and had experienced the very same phenomenon.

A humble man surrendering himself to uphold the Truth

Now he’s gone. We won’t gaze into those loving eyes again until we see him in Heaven. We’ll have to learn to gaze into a new pair of eyes – those of Pope Benedict XVI.

What will we see in those eyes? We’ll see a humble man surrendering himself to uphold the Truth. Pope John Paul II opened the doors to the New Evangelization. Pope Benedict XVI will ascertain that the task is carried out in the light of Truth. Our new Holy Father has a history of being unyielding against dissent and unorthodox teaching. Some secular media have called him a "hard liner" in regard to Catholic doctrine. Those with immoral agendas are already ridiculing him. Then let us be ridiculed with him and stand up for the Truth, for Truth is absolute and cannot be compromised.

What a challenge! With escalating derision in society and in the Church itself over the dignity of human life, the sanctity of marriage and Church teaching, we’ll be called upon to stand firm against the tide. The influx of relativism into moral issues will require us to fight for what is right. This could cost us our reputations, our freedom and even our lives. Pope Benedict XVI will lead the way, but we must be ready to follow his lead by committing ourselves to walk with him in the light of Truth.

He cannot do it alone. He said so himself after accepting the papacy: "After the great Pope, John Paul II, the Lord Cardinals have elected me, a simple, humble worker in the Lord's vineyard. I am consoled by the fact that the Lord is able to work and act with insufficient instruments and, above all, I rely on your prayers. In the joy of the risen Lord, confident of his permanent help, let us go forward. The Lord will help us, Mary, his Most Holy Mother, is on our side. Thank you."

I don’t know if I will ever stop missing Pope John Paul II. Likely, none of us will. But he has left us a legacy and a mission to carry out – the New Evangelization. Decades ago, our Father and Founder had referred to it as "the Church on the new shore." Now we have a new Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, to shepherd us on that journey to the new shore as we travel in the light of Truth.

 



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