|
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS .......... an audience with John Paul II .................as told to the Detroit Free Press/News
It was the trip of 100 lifetimes
and arranged by my sister Jude Green. In November 1995, our family would spend
3 days in Rome, one of which would be designated to meet Pope John Paul II for
a private mass and a special audience with the Pontiff. Having flown transatlantic,
we were hoping to get a days rest before meeting JPII. Hours after arriving
in Rome however, the call came very early from the papacy to meet Brother Aloysious
as he would escort us to JPII's private chapel that is situated directly down
the hall from the papal apartment. A travel worn, bleary eyed family turned
laser focused when we entered the chapel to find the Pontiff on his kneeler
so steeped in pre mass prayer that defies proper description. I never fully
understood the power of prayer until I watched this man pray that morning. You
could feel his private meditations almost hanging in the air. Somehow, it suddenly
became easy for me to separate the Pope, John Paul II, from the man of Krakow,
who cracked rocks with a pick ax under Nazi occupation and then overthrew communism
with one visit to Poland. He had endured so much pain in his life that prayer
was simply a conditioned reflex and it so showed that morning.
After mass we were ushered into the Vatican State room where heads of state
meet 'IL PAPA' as he is called in the Vatican. Slowly he walked up to each of
us and handed us the papal rosary with a fleeting look into our eyes. For me,
the gaze from his blue eyes was something so incredibly piercing and yet for
an instant exposing that fiery core of mysticism that was JPII. I still get
goosebumps when I recall the moment. The next day brought Vatican access that
few eyes ever see; JPII's vestments, the papal balcony, his private elevator,
the Vatican gardens, the scavi(collected tombs of past Popes) the 'stairway
of death'(where Popes earthly remains are carried upon death), the Sistine Chapel
with it's freshly rejuvenated frescoes, the Pauline Chapel, where the conclave
traditonally met to elect the new Pope, and finally a private dinner with Cardinal
Mahoney in the papal dining room.
Like any experience in life, it's full impact is never felt until time takes
it's measure. JPII's passing brought that magical experience back to me in full
color with an important lesson. As his condition worsened over his final three
days and even a simple body function like swallowing became a struggle, he bravely
sat at his window and exposed his frailty to show us all a redemptive view of
suffering and ultimately dying. As I laid my eyes that day in Novemeber 95 on
maybe the greatest species humanity has ever known, I still did not know that
one day he would teach us all how to live.............and how to die.
A privileged man.
jimmy risk
www.LoyalEars.com
586 771 7449
jimmy@LoyalEars.com
|
