Saints: St. John Paul II

I am going to try something a little out of the box and start a blog series on Saints! I might think of a better tag for these: like BSF (Best Saints Forever), or G's Saints or maybe you might have a better title (< this is me asking you to comment).  Anyway what I plan to write about is a few saints but this is going to be a different from your typical saint bio. I am going to share with you who these saints are to me. How they have changed my life, and how I have developed a relationship with these champions of faith. And I can not think of a better way to start than with a man I met (if meeting means I came within 15 feet of Him while he was driving past): St. John Paul II.

Pope John Paul II and I have a lot in common, we are both Polish and Catholic. I am half Italian and he lived in Rome with Italians for a large chunk of his life. There is a giant statue of him in front of the church where I received my Baptism, First Eucharist, and Conformation, and I hear they are considering putting a smaller statue or bust of me next to it one day.

I met Pope John Paul II at World Youth Day, Toronto, during the end of the Freshmen year of high school with my youth group, BRICK. I traveled with many of my best friends, whom I was just getting to know. Two of them being my future wife and my future best man. It was a key moment in my life, my chance to meet the Pope!

I remember losing my friends in a crowd of thousands just to capture the picture above. His presence filled those around me with excitement and zeal! The night before the pope celebrated mass, we marched miles and slept in a field with over 850,000 people. And it rained and was very windy... When the Pope started Mass he said jokingly "This is a Baptism in a natural manner!"   By the time the homily began the sun was shining and we were dry. 

St. John Paul II was the only Pope I had for most of my life, and I believe His life has directly effected my life. Maybe his greatest work, The Theology of the Body, influenced and inspired many Catholic's to speak and write on this subject. These men and women took this deep and profound work and made it digestible for a teenager. He gave me one of the best gifts I have ever received; a desire to live a life of chastity and the drive to save sex for my marriage. I know his intercession, as well as many of the saints, the prayers of loved ones, and my wife gave me the courage and strength to save sex for marriage. John Paul II has truly blessed my marriage and his writings continue to bless my family.

His example of frequent confession, love of Eucharistic adoration and devotion to Our Lady, have shown my the path to Christ. John Paul II lived an astounding life and has blessed the Church in countless ways, but I believe his greatest acts are just about to start.

I left for Toronto just to meet the pope. John Paul II gave me something much more amazing than a photo; a life with Christ

  St. John Paul II pray for us.