Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors to Christ! These words with which Saint John Paul II took the chair of Saint Peter on this day, Oct 22, 1978 still resounds in our ears and our hearts.
These words became the clarion call of the 26 ½ years of his papacy and they continue to amplify for us today, Saint Paul’s well-known cry of freedom, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
For a troubled world, John Paul II raises up Jesus who understands the depths of the human heart and shows us what it means to be human, while as God with us, He offers us real hope and grace for our transformation.
Saint John Paul didn’t just hold out inspirational words. He clearly taught ways to leave fear behind and follow the Light!
Leading the Church in discerning what is right, as the Lord commands us today, he courageously confronted the pressing issues of our times, calling relentlessly for a culture of life.
Yet always clear in his teaching is our Source, Christ Himself: knowing Him and loving Him, so to be transformed by that love within us.
That, for him, is a matter of the whole person - body, mind, and, especially the heart!
From his own experience, he knew that Our Holy Mother Mary leads us on this journey to Jesus. In the first week of his papacy he said immediately and confidently, "The Rosary is my favorite prayer!"
The "School of Mary" through which she teaches us to contemplate the face of Christ, and become like Him, and united to Him, as she is!
In the later years of his service, he distilled his legacy as a pathway to Holiness for us, in the Church and the world of today.
In the year 2002 he published his beautiful Letter on the Rosary of the Virgin Mary to complement his Encyclical on the Eucharist. He wanted us to find, to know our way! He held up the Holy Mass and the Holy Rosary: pillars for the Church today.
Living a prayerful, Eucharistic life, we grow: casting out fear, radiating the love of God and letting the Light of Christ shine to guide our lives and our world.
Do not be Afraid. Open wide the doors to Christ!
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