The saints are such a great source of hope and inspiration for all of us and I have found that there is one future saint in particular that is an absolute wellspring for me. Who is this marvelous example you ask? None other than the Venerable Pope John Paul II the Great.
JPII let the light of Christ shine through him so brightly that his funeral Mass was the largest attended funeral in the history of the world. People from all over the world, Catholic and non-Catholic, many even non-Christian, came to pay their respects to a man who radiated the beauty of Christianity with his very life.
JPII was incredible in so many ways, but one talent we often forget to mention about him is that he was an absolute genius at evangelization. He allowed Christ to fill his soul in such a profound way that people of every background and creed were drawn to him. When he spoke, people listened. The example of forgiveness, suffering, love, total self-donation, and abandonment to the will of God was unmistakably evident within him. To lead others to Christ by the simply example of our lives was a great gift and lesson that he gave to the world.
The students at Catholic Campus Ministry are embracing this very lesson of authentic love. Every day I see students striving to live the Gospel. Students attending daily Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament are not uncommon things around the Newman Center. They recognize that participation in the Sacraments is an indispensable part of their lives. Just the other day a group of students came up to me and said they were going to take a trip to a local parish that Saturday to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They know that in order for them to bring Jesus to other students on the SEMO campus they themselves must first be rooted in Christ, the Church and the Sacraments. More and more students want to be involved in Catholic Campus Ministry and we are so excited to see the graces that our Lord is pouring out on them! We have 15 students serving on the Newman Council during this academic year and they are on fire with the love of Christ and the Church! Peer evangelization is one of the most effective ways of communicating the love of Christ to the world and these students are ready to meet this challenge.
We are all called to be evangelists in some way. A quote that is often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi is, “Preach the Gospel and when necessary use words.” Like John Paul II, our very lives should proclaim the goodness, beauty and truth of our Lord and His Church. Though it can sometimes be difficult, the Lord is ready and willing to bestow graces upon us, especially through the Sacraments, that will aid our efforts.
As I end my second year as campus minister at Catholic Campus Ministry, I look back in awe of how God has been working in the students’ lives and I look forward to seeing the new and exciting things He has in store for the coming months. I ask you to keep CCM, especially the students, in your prayers as they take on this great work of evangelization and continue to develop their own relationships with the Lord.
May we call on John Paul II to be a great intercessor for us, especially the young people of the world, for whom he had great devotion. The Holy Father had great confidence in the young. May we echo his words of hope and courage from his homily at the 17th World Youth Day, “I have seen enough evidence to be unshakably convinced that no difficulty, no fear is so great that it can completely suffocate the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of the young... Do not let that hope die! Stake your lives on it! We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.”
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