John Paul's Spirituality

When Vittorio Messori asked John Paul II how-and for what-does the Pope pray, John Paul II offered us a glimpse into his spirituality. The subject of his prayer, John Paul II said, was the phrase that begins the Conciliar document: The Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, "The joy and the hope, the grief and the anguish of the people of our time." Indeed his tireless trips criss-crossing the globe testify to the fact of the depth of his listening heart, at home with, at one with, at the side of the people whom he calls his brothers and sisters, his friends. To these people he has one message, the words of his first homily in St. Peter's Square: Do not be afraid.

Do not be afraid of the truth of ourselves, so often floundering in confession and moral weakness. After Peter addressed to Jesus the words, "Leave me, I am a sinful man," Jesus responded, "Do not be afraid!"

Do not be afraid of men! "Man is always the same. The systems he creates are always imperfect, and the more imperfect they are, the more he is sure of himself. Where does this originate? It comes from the human heart. Our hearts are anxious. Christ knows our anguish best of all" (Crossing the Threshold of Hope, page 6).

"God purifies man's heart. The heart, created to be the hearth of love, has become the central hearth of the refusal of God, of the sin of man who turns away from God towards other types of "idols." But when this same internal place of man opens itself to God, he newly finds the purity of the image and the resemblance given to him by the Creator since the beginning.

The Pope's prayer-as evidenced in his homilies and writings-is imbued with the Gospel joy of creation. God, who in creating saw his creation was good. "It is good that you exist." This good is greater than all evil. This point clearly distinguishes Christianity from all forms of existential pessimism, and allows John Paul II to see hope in the youth, in the religious, in the laity, in the priests, in the Church, in Christ. He has stated, "Salvation not only confronts evil...but proclaims victory over evil. 'I have conquered the world,' says Christ." The Pope's spirituality gives him the strength to defeat evil and to embrace the divine filiation which constitutes the essence of the Good News. The Pope is a man of joy and a man of hope, a man of the fundamental affirmation of the value of existence.

Looking through any book that contains pictures of the life of John Paul II one is not surprised by the number of places the image of Mary appears. On John Paul II's coat of arms are the Latin words Totus Tuus, which mean All Yours. To her he attributes the saving of his life after the attempted assassination in St. Peter's Square, May 13, 1983. As soon as he was able to leave Rome he visited the Sanctuary of Merciful Love at Collevalenza in Todi to give thanks for his recovery. "My personal experiences this year," he said, "together with the events on May 13, make me cry out: We owe it to the mercy of God that we are not dead."

In his apostolic letter On the Rosary of the Virgin Mary, John Paul wrote: "With these words, dear brothers and sisters, I set the first year of my Pontificate within the daily rhythm of the Rosary. Today, as I begin the twenty-fifth year of my service as the Successor of Peter, I wish to do the same. How many graces have I received in these years from the Blessed Virgin through the Rosary: Magnificat anima mea Dominum! I wish to lift up my thanks to the Lord in the words of his Most Holy Mother, under whose protection I have placed my Petrine ministry: Totus Tuus!"

John Paul II offers us a spirituality particularly profound in a time of scientific and technological wonders. "Our era seems more like a time of surprising scientific and technological discoveries than like a time for saints. But if man is not realized spiritually by internally conforming to Christ, all his victories remain insignificant and could even become dangerous. And precisely because today we are looking for personal realization, there is a greater need for saints. Our times call for mature persons who, because they have understood the value of saintliness, try to realize it in their daily lives.
(Homily, Maribor Airport, Slovenia, May 19, 1996)

Finally, on April 30, 2000, John Paul II had the privilege of canonizing Sr. Faustina, the women religious to whom Jesus revealed himself as the Divine Mercy. The Pope brought into relief the spiritual testament of this Polish religious, propelling it into the forefront of the Church's message at the turn of the millennium. "Today my joy is truly great in presenting the life and witness of Sr Faustina Kowalska to the whole Church as a gift of God for our time. By divine Providence, the life of this humble daughter of Poland was completely linked with the history of the 20th century, the century we have just left behind. In fact, it was between the First and Second World Wars that Christ entrusted his message of mercy to her. Those who remember, who were witnesses and participants in the events of those years and the horrible sufferings they caused for millions of people, know well how necessary was the message of mercy.

"Jesus told Sr Faustina:  'Humanity will not find peace until it turns trustfully to divine mercy' (Diary, p. 132). Through the work of the Polish religious, this message has become linked for ever to the 20th century, the last of the second millennium and the bridge to the third. It is not a new message but can be considered a gift of special enlightenment that helps us to relive the Gospel of Easter more intensely, to offer it as a ray of light to the men and women of our time.

"What will the years ahead bring us? What will man's future on earth be like? We are not given to know. However, it is certain that in addition to new progress there will unfortunately be no lack of painful experiences. But the light of divine mercy, which the Lord in a way wished to return to the world through Sr Faustina's charism, will illumine the way for the men and women of the third millennium."

Encyclical Redemptor hominis, 1979
Encyclical Dives in Misericordia, 1980
Encyclical Redemptoris Missio, 1990
Encyclical Redemptoris Mater, 1987
Encyclical Dominum et Vivificantem, 1986
Rosarium Virginis Mariae (16 October 2002): Apostolic Letter of the Holy Father John Paul II
Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 2003