The Man From A Far Away Land
The respected priest was on the way back to his homeland. There must have been memories of long now coming afresh in his mind. His birthplace in Wandowice, his Mother, Father and Brother, all who died before he was 21, his dead sister who he never saw, his many Jewish friends who fled to Israel or perished in the holocaust, his young days in the theater and as a factory worker and not to forget the horrors of World War - II which he experienced in front of his eyes. Yet he knew that now his homeland needed liberation, his people thirsted for freedom. Three decades of communist rule which was not a part of his people’s culture had hit badly the spirit of his God fearing people. But now he knew he was not just an ordinary priest. And he turned to his only source of strength, a source he was committed to- Christ. And in the summer of 1979 as he landed home he applauded “Do not be afraid, open the doors to Christ and experience his power, yes open yourself to the Divine floodgates of Christ”. In the 9 days he spent at home he was seen by a quarter of his people in person despite opposition from the rulers.
Those days were to change the world. Inspired by this man a peaceful revolution began. On a small Baltic sea port of Gdansk in Poland an unemployed electrician called Lech Walesa climbed over the fence of a shipyard and took over the workers strike. Through a peaceful revolution much inspired by the Elderly priest and powered by prayer the revolution swept Poland first with Walesa winning the Nobel peace prize and then becoming the first non Communist president of Poland and signing a declaration of peace with a pen decorated with the priest’s picture. This was followed by revolutions in Eastern Europe against the Communist regimes which ended with the downfall of Communism in USSR, its stronghold on December 25th 1991. Through Christ’s Power Freedom was won. Though he never accepted that he was responsible for the fall of communism the last Communist leader of USSR Mikhail Gorbachey said of him strongly “The collapse of the Iron Curtain would have been impossible without John Paul II’"
Many wonder what was the greatest quality of Pope John Paul-II. His deep commitment to Christ, his strong prayer life or Devotion to Divine Mother. But perhaps the greatest quality grew from all these and it was his stance to defend the Dignity of the Human Person. He would reiterate-“The Human person is so sacred and in the image of God that any attack on it from Conception till Death is a grave offence on Human Dignity”. Further “The root of Evil” he concluded was the “Failure for a human to recognize that another person too is human”. And quiet true this is what he said was the root of evil which plunged mankind into wars of the 20th century may it b by Nazism or communism or the Cold war. And through this ideology he defended the Commitment of the Catholic Church he led against Abortion, Communism, and Euthanasia; Drug trafficking, Contraception and War which he called a “Defeat of Humanity”.
Finally in April 2005 after leading the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years successfully Pope John Paul-II lay dying at Vatican. As news spread about the dying Pontiff Tens of thousands of people, most of them the youth assembled and held vigil in St. Peter's Square and the surrounding streets for two days. In addition to those gathered at Vatican many maintained Vigils in Churches and Squares all over the world Upon hearing of the gathered crowd , the dying pope was said to have stated: “I have searched for you, and now you have come to me, and I thank you.”.This message was especially to the Youth of the world. And saying “Amen” he surrendered his pure soul to the Lord at 21:37 hrs on 2nd April 2005, the eve of the feast of the Divine Mercy. His simple acts of faith made him great. May his life be an inspiration to all especially the youth of this world. The world remembers him again as he will be beatified by his successor Pope Benedict XVI on the 1st of May 2011. Blessed Pope John Paul- II Pray for us.
----William Afonso