St. John Paul II (1981-1985)

Series: On the life of John Paul II

From 1981 - 1985 A.D.

Involvement with Poland's politics

For John Paul II, the decade of the 1980s was the decade of Poland. The rise in food prices prompted the union called Solidarity, to call a general strike. So, under pressure from Moscow, General Jaruzelski imposed martial law in Poland and arrested the leadership of the Solidarity movement. The Pope longed to return to his native Poland at this time, but was thwarted in 1982 A.D. from celebrating the 600th anniversary of Our Lady of Jasna Gora, because of the martial law imposed by Jaruzelski. Although the Pope was able to return to Poland in June of 1983 A.D., for a week's visit, his movements were heavily controlled by the regime. And he also felt sorrowful because Lech Walesa, one of Poland's leaders opposed to Communism, and leaders of Solidarity, were all in jail. Moreover, his relationship with the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Jozef Glemp, was strained.

The attempt on his life

But before the Pope became very involved with Poland and the eventual fall of Communism, he unsuspectingly was being targeted for assassination. The man who was planning to assassinate him arrived in Rome in December 1980 A.D. This information comes from counterespionage experts. It was on the afternoon of May 13, 1981 A.D., that the Turkish assassin Ali Agca, positioned himself near the place where the Pope was to lead a service. As the Pope was being driven through the crowds of pilgrims in his Popemobile, Ali Agca fired two shots from a pistol at a range of about nine feet from where the Pope was. A bullet tore through the Pope's abdomen, and a second one grazed his elbow and hit two American pilgrims.

In gratitude for Mary's protection

In the aftermath of the assassination attempt, the Pope said on October 12, 1981 A.D.: "Again I have become indebted to the Blessed Virgin...(since the date of the attempt to kill him, May 13, was the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima). A year to the day after the attack, the Pope traveled to Fatima and placed the bullet that almost killed him, in Mary's crown at the shrine. He spoke of how one hand had guided the trigger, while another, "a motherly hand," had guided the bullet so as to miss vital organs.

Back on the road again as missionary Pope

As the Pope's health improved, he was back in his global ministry again. He was truly a missionary Pope for the world: the universal pastor. After the success of his trips to Mexico, Poland, Ireland, and the United States in 1979 A.D., there had been trips to Hungary, Africa, France, Brazil, and West Germany in 1980 A.D. In February 1981 A.D., he had set off on his first Asian pilgrimage - Pakistan, the Philippines, Guam, Japan - then stopping over at Alaska as he flew back to Europe. Having recovered from his bullet wounds by the spring of 1982 A.D., he embarked on a visit to Britain in May, followed by a trip to Argentina.

The Pope's missionary itinerary from May 1984 A.D. - September 1985 A.D.

The years 1981-1985 proved to be the Pope's most busiest years in travel. During these years, he visited more than 150 cities all over the world.

• On May 2-12, 1984 A.D., he visited Korea, Papua-New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Thailand
• On June 12-17, he visited Switzerland
• On September 9-12, he visited Canada
• On October 10-13, he visited Zaragoza, Spain; Sto. Domingo, Dominican Republic; and San Juan, Puerto Rico
• On November 2-4, he visited northern Italy (Milan, Varese, Pavia, Varallo, and Arona)
• On January 26, 1984 A.D. - February 1985 A.D., he visited Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Trinidad-Tobago
• On May 11-21, 1985 A.D., he visited Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium
• On August 8-19, he visited Togo, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Republic of Central Africa, Zaire, Kenya, Morocco
• On September 9, he visited Kloten, Switzerland; and Liechtenstein

The Pope's mission of evangelization through Saints and Blesseds

The papacy of John Paul II will also be remembered for the enormous numbers of saints and blesseds that he all raised in the altar of the Church. It was evidently part of his strategy of evangelization - to demonstrate to the world the heroic sanctity that could be achieved by the faithful in every quarter of the globe. Traditionally, it took decades -sometimes even centuries - for the making of a saint or a blessed. This Pope, reduced the process to a few years. In January 1983 A.D., he published an Apostolic Constitution which abolished the "Devil's Advocate" - a lawyer probing the claims of the 'servant of God', as a candidate for sainthood. This lawyer's adversarial methods evidently slowed down the process. In place of the "Devil's Advocate", it was the writing of a positio, where the merits of a servant of God is established well in the writing of the candidate's biography or hagiography.

The year 1985 A.D. concluded

The most meaningful and significant event in which the Pope concluded the year 1985, was the Second Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on: "The Twentieth Anniversary of the Conclusion of the Second Vatican Council" (November 25 - December 8, 1985 A.D.). Before this, the Third Plenary Meeting of the College of Cardinals on the reform of the Roman Curia was held (November 21-23); the Pope received the official visit of President Francesco Cossiga of Italy (October 4); and the Pope sent a personal message to President Ronald Reagan of the United States and Mikhail Gorbachev of Russia, for the Geneva summit. And this was only the 7th year of his papacy.

Edited from the following books and references

• The Pope Coming from the East, by Teresio Bosco, S.D.B.
• An Intimate Portrait: John Paul II, by Mark Bakermans
• The Pontiff in Winter, by John Cornwell
• Pope John Paul II: Champion of Faith, by TV Guide Magazine Group, Inc.
• Special Report: The 25 Years of Pope John Paul II, Vatican Information Service
• John Paul II: A Great Pope Passes into History, Readers Digest (June 2005)
• John Paul II: 1920-2005, Newsweek Special Double Issue (April 11/April 18, 2005)

27th Sunday of the Year (A)

(Edited) Sunday reflections: (From) years 2014 (A), 2015 (B), and 2016 (C)

October 5, 2014
Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80
Philippians 4:6-9
Matthew 21:33-43

"He sent his son but the tenants killed him."

The parable of the wicked tenants. There are two parables in the gospel of Matthew which precede this parable. Those parables are the parable of the two sons (Mt 21:28-32), and the parable of the wedding banquet (Mt 22:1-14). Reading these three parables, the reader can discover a common pattern of protagonist pairing - that of the father and the son. This father-son theme runs throughout the three parables: father and second-son (or first-son, depending on your New Testament translation) in the first parable; father-landowner and son-who-inherits in the second parable; and father-king and son-bridegroom in the third parable. What is strongly emphasized in these father-son protagonist pairs is the will of the father on the son.

Focusing now on the parable of the wicked tenants, and seeking other references in Bishop Fulton Sheen's book "Life of Christ", Bishop Sheen says that God (here symbolized in the parable as the father and landowner of the vineyard), was not wearied out with the cruelty and evil of the people (the tenants). By sending repeatedly other servants, after the previous group of servants was violently treated, God was giving the wicked people an opportunity to repent of their previous evil action. Therefore, the will of God was to bring those people to obey His will. When the last group of His servants was still cruelly treated, God finally sent His Son. But the evil people, still steeped in their wickedness, mercilessly killed the Son.

With just this simple parable, Jesus gave His hearers a glimpse of the whole history of salvation. God sent many prophets to His people to warn them of their wicked ways, but His people killed these prophets. The people Israel continued to be steeped in their evil. So God sent His Son that people may know His will and obey it for their own good. (The gospel reveals the analogy). Still steeped in sins, a generation of Israelites nailed Jesus, His Son, to the Cross, and killed Him. The Lord however vindicated His Son. He raised Jesus from the dead, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and made Him the keystone of the Church. The Church now continues the work of the Lord to bring all humanity to repent, amend their lives and obey God's will.

Scripture quotes for reflection:
"The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his cherished plant." (Isaiah 5)

St. John Paul II (1978-1980 A.D.)

Series: On the life of John Paul II

From 1978 - 1980 A.D.

The joyful news echoed around the world

Poland was very happy at the news of Karol Wojtyla's election to the papacy. It was such a great surprise, that for 15 minutes, the church bells pealed in many parts of the country. Joyful processions also made their way to the churches in thanksgiving to the Lord for this momentous event. In the rest of the world, newspapers were preparing biographical notes on the new Pope, Karol Wojtyla. The journalists discovered that, besides speaking in Polish, Pope Wojtyla also spoke fluently many different languages: Latin, Italian, French, German, and English. Also, the reporters and journalists were able to discover that this new Pope had already a host of written works: five books, more than 500 newspaper articles, some good plays written, and also poetry. Someone said to Cardinal Wyszynski, Karol Wojtyla's good cardinal-friend: "Tonight, the whole of Poland must be rejoicing." The good Cardinal Wyszynski knows this to be true; and the world also shares greatly in the joy and happiness of Polish people.

Quickly settling into a prayer and work routine

Before settling into a prayer and work routine, the Holy Father made changes in the papal household so that it now consisted of mainly Polish workers. His secretary from Krakow, Stanislaw Dziwisz, was moved into the papal apartment to learn the secretarial tasks and responsibilities in the papal household. So the papal administrative body in the household consisted of forty Polish priests and nuns, who reported to Stanislaw Dziwisz.

Schedule in the morning

With the papal household now reorganized, the Holy Father made it his routine to rise at 5:30 a.m., and to pray in his chapel until Mass at 7:30 a.m. After Mass and thanksgiving, he greeted the visitors in his library, and several of them would be invited for breakfast with him. By 8:30 a.m., the Pope would be at his desk, where he would work undisturbed until 11:00 a.m. Every Wednesday at midmorning, he would greet the public audience. For private audiences, which were held in the late morning, he met with diplomats, government officials, and Church leaders.

Schedule after lunch

The Pope took lunch at 1:00 p.m. Lunch was then followed by a short 20-minute siesta, and then he would go back to his office to study official papers for an hour or two. Then, he would rise to his roof terrace above to pray the rosary while walking for half an hour. At 6:30 p.m., he would receive top-ranking Vatican officials. Then supper would be at 7:30 p.m., which often would be a light meal with the presence of guests. Before 9:00 p.m., the Pope would go to his office to spend time reading until retiring for a good night's sleep at 11:00 p.m.

Schedule on Sundays

On Sundays, when in Rome, the Pope would greet pilgrims at noon from his window overlooking St. Peter's Square. He would then pray the Angelus and deliver a short homily. This was basically the core of John Paul II's praying and working schedule while he was in the Vatican. We are also to be reminded that he was a missionary Pope, and that he traveled a lot to many countries around the world.

The Holy Father's global ministry

As the first non-Italian pontiff in more than four centuries, John Paul II inspired so many Roman Catholics from Canada to Cameroon to think of him as their own. But it was by leaving Rome for foreign shores - a journey that he made 104 times, more than all previous popes combined - that he came to speak to all of humanity - both Roman Catholics, other Christians, and non-Christians.

Focusing on his global ministry

This series on the Holy Father's life will specially focus on his global ministry, which can be divided as follows:

• 1979-1980
• 1981-1985
• 1986-1990
• 1991-1995
• 1996-2000
• 2001-2004

A special section of this series will also be devoted to the last period of his life, especially when he became severely debilitated with Parkinson's and arthritis.

Missionary trip to Mexico

The Holy Father's first foreign trip was to Mexico, on January 26, 1979 A.D. He participated in the Latin American Bishops Conference (CELAM). His mission in this part of the globe was to set straight the influence of liberation theology - a very socially progressive theology that was influencing many parts of Latin America.

A visit to his home country, Poland

On June 2, 1979 A.D., the Holy Father visited Warsaw, Poland. He made forty public appearances within a period of nine days. Three days he dedicated to Czestochowa, then he visited Gniezno - the birthplace of Polish Catholicism. He also went to Krakow and the shrines of Kalweria. Then he visited Auschwitz. During his visit, he stressed that he was a Slav Pope with a mission not only to Poles but also to Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenes, Serbs, Croats, Bulgarians, Ukrainians, and Russians. As a Slav Pope, he had a special mission to heal the centuries-old division between Christianity of the East and the West.

John Paul II visits the U.S.A.

In October 1979 A.D., the Holy Father was in New York, speaking before the General Assembly of the United Nations. He also visited Philadelphia, Des Moines, and Chicago. He then went to attend a service at Washington, D.C., where 700 nuns were present. Although the religious sisters wanted to promote to the Holy Father their desire to be included in all the ministries of the Church, the Holy Father firmly towed a conservative position by delivering a sermon extolling the religious life of nuns as a spiritual marriage with Jesus Christ.

The mission to Africa

In May 1980 A.D., the Holy Father journeyed to Africa, first to Zaire, then to Brazzaville in Congo, and further on to East Africa and Kenya. He continued on to Upper Volta and the Ivory Coast. What captured the hearts of the Africans was his trip to Uhuru Park, Nairobi, where he donned an ostrich-feather headdress and held a leopard-skin shield in one hand and a spear in the other. Despite this gesture of friendly inculturation, the Holy Father did not forget to remind the African bishops (behind closed doors) not to merge pagan practices with Catholicism.

Trips to France, Brazil, and West Germany

In France

The Holy Father went back to Europe and made a visit to France. In his four-day visit to the "eldest daughter of the Church", he addressed the delegates of UNESCO on June 2, 1980 A.D.

In Brazil

Next, on June 30, 1980 A.D., John Paul II was off to Brazil for a twelve-day visit. What he was concerned with in this country of Latin America was the mass defections to Protestant evangelism and the political activism of priests.

In West Germany

His next visit was to West Germany. What the Holy Father was concerned with in West Germany was the trend at that time of men and women who engaged in "trial marriages".

Edited from the following references

• The Pope Coming from the East, by Teresio Bosco, S.D.B.
• An Intimate Portrait: John Paul II, by Mark Bakermans
• The Pontiff in Winter, by John Cornwell
• Pope John Paul II: Champion of Faith, by TV Guide Magazine Group, Inc.
• Special Report: The 25 Years of Pope John Paul II, Vatican Information Service
• John Paul II: A Great Pope Passes into History, Readers Digest (June 2005)
• John Paul II: 1920-2005, Newsweek Special Double Issue (April 11/April 18, 2005)