22 October 2014
Feast of Pope John Paul II
The West Coast of the US is full of mountains. But rising above even the very high mountains are volcanoes – Mt. Shasta, Mt. Rainier and the other snow giants that dwarf mountains that would be high by any standards. They are vast, serene, powerful, mysterious, unmistakable.
John Paul was like that. There can be fairly impressive people near the top of any institution either by dint of their God-given gifts or their human-given ambition! But a real giant is rare. A 90 year British Jesuit superior I greatly admire, long resident in Rome, simply said of him: “The pope of a thousand years.” Well, my British friend has lived for almost 10% of that stretch of time, so I can only trust his opinion as a non-Pole. John Paul’s countrymen had our own reasons for rejoicing. Mostly that God is just – that only God can really give justice – and that it is worth waiting for.
Perhaps the justice we crave is not ours to give, perhaps it is best we not push that too hard. Surely John Paul II saw the tremendous crimes that were perpetrated by people drunk with a passion for justice. No doubt that is why he loved mercy above all, the ocean of mercy of which St. Faustina spoke. How curious, that the vast volcano covered with the snow of mercy yet had within a burning fire of passion for truth, and, yes, for justice! Perhaps the blend is really called love.
Thank God for His gifts, which seem to come mostly when we most need them. And, alas, they leave when God calls them back to Himself. Praise God for Saint John Paul II!