In his letter to the Ephesians,
Paul talks about the grace of God, of how it should be open to all. It does not matter if we are Gentile or Jew - God
offers us his grace and his salvation. With his grace, we can draw
ever closer to the Lord on our journey.
Today, we celebrate the
memorial of Pope John Paul II – now St John Paul II. Many of us here can probably
remember when Karol Wojtyla, the Archbishop of Krakow, Poland, was selected as
the new pope in 1978. He was the first non-Italian
pope selected in 455 years. When he came out to the crowd
in St Peter’s square, he proclaimed: “Do not be afraid. Open, I say open wide
the doors for Christ.” As Paul proclaimed that God’s
grace is open to all, we saw John Paul II living this proclamation in his
pontificate, visiting 124 countries, some of which had very small Catholic
populations. He proclaimed God’s grace to
the world in the international day of prayer for world peace in Assisi, Italy
in 1986 in the hometown of the famous proclaimer of God’s peace, St Francis of
Assisi. No only did he invite the leaders
of the major Christian denominations, but also those of other world religions,
such as Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam. We remember Pope Paul II in
many ways, in the grace and dignity in which he forgave the man who tried to
assassinate him in 1981, in the way he helped bring about the fall of the
Communist regimes in many countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
In the Gospel, we are reminded
that we do not know the hour when the master will return, the time when we will
be required to give an accounting of the way we have managed the gifts God has
given us. May St John Paul II be an
example of holiness for us, an example of someone who felt God’s grace working
in his life and responded with courage and zeal. Yes, let us open the doors to
Christ.
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