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Bishop Olmsted's Homily
For the Diocesan Pastoral Center Staff

Mass in Remembrance of Pope John Paul II

Rise, Let us be on our way

My relation to Pope John Paul II for over nine years was parallel to the one between me and you who work for the Diocese of Phoenix. I assisted the Holy Father in his mission, the mission of Peter in the Church, of the Vicar of Christ, of the Servant of the Servants of God, of the Pater Pauperum.

The greatest blessing, in my little contribution to his ministry, was that John Paul made it clear we were not serving him but Christ and His Church. He was Christ’s Vicar, so all he did was to serve the person and mission of Christ. And that was the first duty of all in the Roman Curia. We were inspired by the Holy Father to develop a deep personal, loving relationship with Christ, and to embrace and live enthusiastically our mission from Christ.

To serve beside the Successor of Christ effectively we needed to ponder Peter’s role in the Church and the world, especially to confirm his brothers and sisters in their faith, to foster unity in truth and charity, and to deepen their confidence in the loving Providence of God. From the start, John Paul was focused on this mission. In his first homily as pope, he said: Be not afraid. Open the doors to Christ, the doors of your personal and family lives, the doors of your business and career, the door of your mind and heart. Open the doors to Christ. And be not afraid.

To help us to hear the voice of Christ today, April 6, 2005, to assist us in opening the doors to Christ in these days as we mourn the death of John Paul II, I would like to draw upon one line from each of today’s reading and one passage from each of the autobiographical works of the Holy Father. The three works are: CROSSING THE THRESHOLD OF HOPE, written in 1993, to mark the 15th anniversary of his pontificate;
GIFT AND MYSTERY, written in 1996 to mark his 50th Anniversary of Priestly Ordination;
RISE, LET US BE ON OUR WAY, written in 2004 to mark the 25th anniversary of his pontificate.

1. The Prophet Daniel, in today’s first reading (Dan 12:1-3), offers us words of hope as he talks about the four last things: death, judgment, heaven and hell. Let us listen again to his words:

“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some shall live forever, others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.
But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.”

In his first autobiographical work, CROSSING THE THRESHOLD OF HOPE, (p 71ff), John Paul II considers the four last things, and writes:

“And what is this eternal life? It is happiness that comes from union with God. Christ affirms: ‘Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ’ (Jn 17:3)… Christianity is a religion of salvation. The salvation in question is that of the Cross and the Resurrection. God, who desires that man ‘may live’ draws near to him through the death of His Son in order to reveal that life to which he is called in God Himself. Everyone who looks for salvation, not only the Christian, must stop before the Cross of Christ… Love, above all, possesses a saving power.”

2. When elected to the See of Peter, a man must first choose the name by which he will be called for the rest of human history. On October 16, 1978, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla chose the name John Paul II, because, it was said at the time, of his great admiration for 3 of his predecessors, John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul I. Not unlikely this is true. But as we look back over his 26 ½ year pontificate, it seems as if the more important reason was his great love for the New Testament writings of the Apostles John and Paul. What he admired in both of these was their close union with Christ, and especially their enthusiasm for making Christ known to others. How appropriate then that our 2nd reading today comes from Paul’s 1st letter to the Thessalonians (4:13-18). Not surprisingly, the Apostle speaks of Christ and His power at the hour of death to draw us into ever closer communion. Especially fitting for us today as his words:

“the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words.”

In his second autobiographical work, GIFT AND MYSTERY, in which he reflects on 50 years of priestly ministry, John Paul II writes (p. 85):

“If we take a close look at what contemporary men and women expect from priests, we will see that, in the end, they have but one great expectation: they are thirsting for Christ. Everything else—their economic, social, and political needs—can be met by any number of other people. From the priest they ask for Christ! And from him they have the right to receive Christ.”

3. John Paul II’s third autobiographical book is appropriately entitled, RISE, LET US BE ON OUR WAY. The earlier autobiographical reflections looked back to his childhood, early days as a priest and then his work as a bishop. But this third one touched more closely on his life in his last years as pope. Not surprisingly, as the Parkinson’s disease progressed, he reflected on the place of suffering in human life (p. 75),

“I have always been very conscious of the fundamental importance of what the suffering [persons] contributed to the life of the Church. I remember that at the beginning the sick intimidated me. I needed a lot of courage to stand before a sick person and enter, so to speak, into his physical and spiritual pain, not to betray discomfort, and to show at least a little loving compassion. Only later did I begin to grasp the profound meaning of the mystery of human suffering. In the weakness of the sick, I saw emerging ever more clearly a new strength, the strength of mercy. In a sense, the sick provoke mercy. Through their prayers and sacrifices, they not only ask for mercy but create a ‘space for mercy,’ or better open up spaces for mercy. By their illness and suffering they call forth acts of mercy and create the possibility for accomplishing them. I used to entrust the needs of the Church to the prayers of the sick, and the results were always positive.”

No pope in history has as many published homilies and talks and encyclicals and apostolic exhortations as John Paul II. But it may be that his greatest preaching was proclaimed without words, in the way that he bore suffering with such patience, dignity and trust in God. It began early in life, with the death of his mother, 3 weeks before his First Communion, the death of his only brother when he himself was only 12, and the death of his father while still a teen. But his suffering was most intense during his years as pope, from the time he was shot by Ali Agca in 1981, and especially during the last 10 years of his life when he was suffering from progressing stages of Parkinson’s disease.

That witness of patent endurance of pain in union with Christ on the Cross may be his most eloquent homily. It certainly highlights the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel (Jn 12:24):

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”

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