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In
Search of the Spirit
A
monthly letter from the Glenmary Vocation Office
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April 2005
John Paul II: Jesus for the World
By Kyle Brandon
When Jesus carried his cross up Calvary, he carried it for every one of us. We all carry our own crosses, but the true goal of our faith is salvation not only for ourselves but for others as well. The saintly among us become Jesus for others.
As a young seminarian of 25, Karol Wojtyla did just that. When he met a young woman, just 13, who had recently been released from a Nazi death camp, he gave her food and drink and carried her frail body to the distant train station so that she could make the trip home. In this encounter, we see the image of a future shepherd guiding us home—to heaven. Feeding us with the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation, John Paul II, sometimes very literally, carried us to the train.
It is amazing to think that someone who lost his entire family by age 20, endured Nazi and Communist occupations, and suffered attacks on his life did not become bitter, self-pitying or self-absorbed. He chose instead to suffer in love and to take on the burdens of others—and my generation loved him for it.
The only pope we ever knew, John Paul II won the hearts and minds of young people around the world. Our beloved shepherd captured our attention by first attending to us. And he captivated our minds with a profoundly personal love informed by a radically realistic understanding. No one had ever challenged us to live the gospel like he did.
By telling us that we were not just the future but the Church today, he inspired our life in Christ. In St. Louis, Miss., he told us: "Remember Christ is calling you; the Church needs you; the Pope believes in you and he expects great things of you!" In Spain he told us: "Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. The Kingdom of Heaven is for those determined to enter it." Youth who had never before been invited came flocking to find the true meaning and direction of their lives.
He ignored no topic and, more importantly, no person. He became our wise grandfather who stood unshakeable in an uncertain time—and my generation knew his love. He truly did it all. He poured himself out to carry our burdens. He understood our problems. He addressed our struggles. John Paul II reared a generation who needed leadership.
Like the crowd who listened to Jesus, we noticed that this man taught differently. He spoke with authority, and we followed. We followed him to World Youth Days in Denver, Rome, Toronto—and hoped for Cologne. He has illuminated our path by his final journey. And he will be there to carry us to that same train home. A hero for millions, a father for all, a saint for the ages—John Paul II we love you.
By Kyle Brandon, 24, is Glenmary's associate vocation director.
