ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

Available for over a year

Many will remember that last December, Pope Francis was chosen by Time Magazine Person of the Year. What may now have been forgotten was that back in 1994 Pope John Paul II was similarly praised. And I was surprised to learn that Pope John XXIII was also acclaimed as Time Magazine Man of the Year in 1963! These three Popes are all in the spotlight together tomorrow. Millions of people both here in Rome and around the world, will witness Pope Francis declare both Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II to be saints – most certainly in heaven, in the presence of God, and most certainly offering to us examples of holy living. Many will not only strive to imitate them, but also now pray for their intercession on our behalf before the throne of God. The judgement of Time Magazine on their role in history and the judgement of the Church of their place in eternity do not use the same criteria and come with quite different stamps of approval. However, both are concerned with the impact these two Popes had on the world, but from different points of view. Sainthood is concerned essentially with a person’s relationship with God as the foundation and source of the good they might have done, despite their human frailty and failures. Canonisation tries looks at the person through the eyes of God. It also sees clearly how the saints, in everything that they did, were looking at the world through those same eyes of God and therefore always sought to act accordingly. The lives of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII offer plenty of evidence. John Paul spent entire nights in prayer, a profoundly contemplative person. This was the source of his immense stamina and courage. John XXIII opened his deep spiritual life in his famous ‘Journal of a Soul’, in which he displayed that profound trust in Christ, which enabled him to say each night: ‘Well, Lord, it’s your Church, you look after it because I’m going to sleep now.’ The popular titles of ‘Good Pope John’ and ‘Pope John Paul the Great’ are signs of the deep and widespread devotion in which these two men are held. They both brought hope to the world. How much we need their inspiration today.