Divine Mercy Sunday 1 May 2011 – Remembering Pope John Paul II
There is a photograph by the late Gianni Giansanti (1956-2009) in John Paul II – Portrait of A Pontiff ( White Star Publishers, 1996) of the Holy Father at a working breakfast with Cardinal Stephen Kim of Korea (1). Giansanti wrote, ‘Breakfast comes after Mass, either with guests or just people from the household. The table is a simple rectangle, with ten chairs at the most, all identical, with the same high backs and arms. There is only one difference in seating: the Pope sits alone on one of the long sides of the table, with no one next to him. The menu is very simple: milk, coffee, cheese, jam. The bread, which is already on the table, is the Roman “rosette” that Karol Wojtyla has loved since he was a young priest. “I came to Rome especially to eat these bread rolls with no centre,” he said to a fellow student who offered him a slice of wholemeal bread, “and you’re offering me the ordinary stuff.” Breakfast lasts no longer than half an hour, after which John Paul II works ……..
The simplicity of the Holy Father’s meals was reflected also in his last Will and Testament, written and updated at several Lenten spiritual exercises till the last entry in March, 2000. He wrote,”….I leave no property behind me of which it is necessary to dispose. As for the everyday objects that were of use to me, I ask they be distributed as seems appropriate. My personal notes are to be burned…..”(2)
Pope John Paul II died on 2 April, 2005, in the Octave of Easter, on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday. Serendipitously, I had scheduled leave the following week to spend time at home to read and work. It became a period of mellow reflection. Thus, I was able to experience the entire Mass of Requiem on TV, which started in the afternoon on 8 April 2005. I recalled vividly (and alarmingly) as the strong winds blew down the Via della Conciliazione, flipping page after page of the Liturgical Missal, which sat atop the altar table. I wondered if it might blow right off but of course it didn’t!
The simplicity of Pope John Paul’s life is balanced by the richness and ceremony of the Church’s Ecclesiastical celebrations that day. Here, we are reminded of his simple reply, when asked why he traveled so extensively during his pontification, “The problem of the universal Church is to make it visible,”
We are also reminded that it is always appropriate to invest in Jesus, and to make Him known to the world in the account of the anointing at Bethany from St Matthew’s Gospel (26, 6 – 13) , “Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of costly perfumed oil, and poured it on his head while he was reclining at table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant and said, “Why this waste? It could have been sold for much, and the money given to the poor.” Since Jesus knew this, he said to them, “Why do you make trouble for the woman? She has done a good thing for me. The poor you will always have with you; but you will not always have me. In pouring this perfumed oil upon my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Amen, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be spoken of, in memory of her.”
In 2009, I visited Rome and St Peter’s Square for the first time with my family, and recalling Giansanti’s photo, savoured the rosette bread, and remembered fondly our Blessed* Pope John Paul II. Alleluia!
Available at:
(1) Gianni Giansanti (1956-2009) – Pope John Paul II’s photographer
(2) Full Text: Pope’s Last Will and Testament – Remembering Pope John Paul II
From, Remembering the Holy Father Pope John Paul II, a reflection first contributed to The Apostle, a newsletter of the Catholic Church of Saints Peter and Paul, Singapore, Divine Mercy Sunday 1 May 2011 (* On the Beautification of Pope John Paul II) .