Wednesday, April 16, 2003

 
A Fitting Gift

Holy Thursday is a special day of remembrance for most Christians. We remember the Last Supper, when Christ showed His great love for His disciples by sharing a last Passover meal with them, and teaching them about the sacrifice He was about to make. Most importantly, he instituted the Lord’s Supper, the Mass, Communion, the Eucharist--the memorial and sacrifice that the Church offers continually until Christ comes again.

In the West, Holy Thursday is today. In the East, they call it Great and Holy Thursday, and celebrated it last week.
For Roman Catholics, it is special this year, because John Paul II is signing an encyclical, a major teaching document. It is his first in nearly 5 years, and almost without doubt his last. And it will be on the Eucharist.

Many Americans, including older Catholics who should know better, are suprised to find out that there is so much more to this man than the controversies that have swirled around him. They are mystified by the hundreds of thousands of youngsters who erupt in joy and hope wherever he goes. I have followed him more or less closely since his election, and I feel strangely and undeservedly privileged, compared to many in my generation.

Nietsche said that the 20th Century would see the emergence of “strange brotherhoods of men” dedicated to new religions. Karol Wojtyla lived directly under two of those strange religious brotherhoods—Nazism and Communism--for forty years, most of that time as a celibate seminary student and priest with no surviving family. He did not engage in politics. He sought ways for people to find freedom in Christ and in their own culture while the government masters tried everything to destroy their faith and their country.

Amazingly, all the while he kept an eye to developments in the Free World, developments that seemed in their way just as deadly as the brutal systems his own people were enduring. "The Culture of Death," he has named it, "a war of the powerful against the weak."

He has sought to bring the Gospel of Life to as many people as God will enable him to. The numbers are impressive: 7 million at one Mass, 12 million along one road, 2 million kids in Rome, 1.6 million in Paris. But to him, they are so many individuals, so many distinct persons. Everything he has done is in service to a thought you find in nearly all his writings: God so loved every individual person so much that He Himself became a man.

At some point he developed the habit of looking out of the window of his apartment with the curtain pulled back, just far enough for him to see. He has watched the pilgrims in the square below him. "In each of them I tried to imagine the story of a life, made up of joys, worries, sufferings; the story of someone whom Christ had met and who, in dialogue with him, was setting out again on a journey of hope." That concern for each individual person is what has drawn so many to him.

The purpose of the Christian life is to be "conformed to the image of His Son." (Romans 8:29.) We see the Son in Scripture, in the Liturgy, and reflected in our fellows who comprise “the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.” (Ephesians 1:23) When anyone appears who bears the message of Christ so boldly and clearly, we should all consider if there is something for us to learn.

With Karol Wojtyla, the lesson is both simple enough to grasp and deep enough to repay a lifetime of study. He is a model for all Christians, of whatever confession.

It is therefore mysterious that so many older American Catholic leaders have not even bothered, as Mary Ann Glendon put it so memorably, with "reading their mail," that is, this Pope’s messages. Will the current generation of leaders finally wake up, or will we have to wait for the rising generation of "JPII Catholics," who can be found on both the left and the right politically, to assume their places?

It is a great sadness, in any case, that the older generation missed a great adventure while it was unfolding.
It is an even greater sadness that the adventure is clearly coming to an end.

I want to blurt out the Polish blessing, made famous here from news reports of his first visit to his homeland, in 1979: "May you live 100 years."

But that seems selfish. I have said for a very long time that I think it is the duty of the faithful not to ask God that Karol Wojtyla give us more, but that this man who has given us so much may be borne to a blessed and happy repose.

The Pope, of course, has shown no signs of agreeing with me. When his two top advisors publicly speculated that he could not make his epochal trip to Toronto, Mexico, and Guatemala, he did anyway, spending hours with the common people he loves so much. He recently completed a number of liturgical changes, and made some important appointments. And he has written this encyclical.

His every movement must be agony. Karol Wojtyla is a very open man. There is just one part of him that is not public, and that is the mystical conversation he has with God, to which everyone around him testifies. Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit, according to St. Paul (I Cor. 6:19). Communion with the Spirit must mean very freedom to so great a soul trapped in such a body.
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There are many, many people who think that the world is a safer place because John Paul II sits on the papal throne. Actually, the world in many ways seems uglier than it did in 1978. No doubt, if he had not been here, the prospect would be more dismal still.

But then, the Fifth Crusade went on as planned, even though St. Francis himself preached to the troops in Syria, and I doubt that the average professor at the University of Paris was a notably better teacher because he sat next to St. Thomas Aquinas in the refectory. For that matter, the Romans didn’t quit Palestine when Jesus walked there; they left several centuries later, when the Muslims arrived, with a stronger army. And yet, following and working with the Messiah whose "kingdom is not of this world," all of the saints in history--the vast majority of them not Popes, or even priests-- have affected millions.

Ultimately, it is not the Pope, not even this Pope, who protects the Church; God protects her. In the wisdom of His grace, He gave us this amazing man for a remarkably long time. Still, the day will come when the Vatican Secretary of State will be called to the bedside of John Paul II. In an ancient ritual, he will take a small silver hammer and tap the Pope lightly three times--fittingly, on the part of the forehead we call the temple--each time calling out the name his mother gave him: Karol, Karol, Karol. And then after a short while we will learn who is to lead the Church in the first part of the 21st Century.

Karol Wojtyla lived many of the 20th Century’s worst moments on his knees, but with his eyes open. He is leaving us a remarkable set of teachings, and a shining example, to help guide us through the stormy era ahead. And let us not forget that he reveres St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower who died so young and who hoped to “spend my heaven in doing good on earth.”

"For me to live is Christ, to die is gain." We are seeing St. Paul’s words lived before us. It falls to us to listen carefully to what he has to say in this last encyclical, to go back and learn again what he has taught us before, to commit ourselves to joining with those saints who came before us, Popes or not. And we should offer up thanks for having been granted so very great a blessing. Now we should pray for him, in his very great suffering, and give back a little of what he has given us.

The Pope, as I should have expected, may wonder if he will make it through today, but he is still planning for the future. There are rumors that arrangements have finally been made for him to realize his dream, and visit Russia. It will be in Tatarstan, not an Eastern Orthodox region, but still, it is in Russia. And it will be, Lord willing (as he always adds) in August. And before that, it there are two shorter trips. Until the Lord calls him home, he will not cease from his labors.

But when that day comes, as it surely will, I will feel bereft, and the world will seem a much lonelier place.

If you are interested in reading some of John Paul II’s great writings, I suggest these.

His homily on St. Therese, when he named her a Doctor of the Church.

His address to the American Cardinals on the scandals. Please note what he said was the most important thing. Apparently the phrase "above all else" made it invisible to most American commentators.

His Apostolic Letter on the Rosary, for the mystical and contemplative among you:

And this wonderful Apostolic Letter on Suffering. (Salvifici Doloris)


For Christians of all confessions who want to take a deeper plunge, and be seriously challenged in their thinking, I suggest his three great encyclicals from the 1990’s: Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason), Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth, my personal favorite,) and what remains his most important, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life).


posted by A Mind That Suits 10:50 PM

 
Welcome to The Fullness of Him, a website dedicated to the study of prayer and Christian spirituality, seen primarily through the Liturgy, the lives of the saints, and contemporary life. The emphasis will be on truths that unite Christians, while it will undoubtedly have a Roman Catholic foundation. Evanglicals, other Protestants, and Orthodox need not fear to tread.

This first entry is a little off subject, because it is about a saint who is still with us, Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II), although it is not so far off the subject: the following reflections are inspired by his release today of a new encyclical, The Church from the Eucharist. Indeed, this great man’s teaching and example will probably make frequent appearances on these pages, so it is only fitting that we start with him. It is also a little off in that I simply could not cut it down to 1000 words, so it is 350-400 words longer. Others will be closer to the standard. I have done, I will do it, I promise. As with today’s, I will always try to offer links and references for further reading.

Future Posts will reflect topics as they come up in the calendar, together with two series. One will be “And With Thy Spirit.” One of the last gifts John Paul has given us is a retranslation of the Liturgy into English, and to help prepare people for the changes, which should come in about 2 years, we will look at what is being restored and why it is important. The other will take a closer look at The Church of the Eucharist , the doctrine of the Eucharist more generally, and of the other sacrament that JPII always considers with it, Penance and Reconciliation, i.e., confession. I don’t have a name for that one yet.

When I return from Easter, I will offer a brief reflection on my first year as a Catholic, or rather, as an acknowledged one, and then we will commence our slow journey. I hope you find this a blessing. May you have a blessed Easter.

posted by A Mind That Suits 10:50 PM