POPE JOHN PAUL II, MY FATHER
By Hermit Sister Mary Beverly

I grew up in a small, rural town in southern Illinois...Edwardsville. I went from first to seventh grade in a two-story, red brick school...St. Boniface’s. These were the 1950’s and Pope Pius XII was the Holy Father. When he died, I remember thinking, with the logic of a child, that the next Pope would be named Pius XIII. This was “obvious,” because before Pius XII was Pius XI, and before him was St. Pope Pius X, and before him was Pope Pius IX. It was quite a shock to hear that the new Pope was to be called John XXIII.

My high school years in Beaverton, Oregon coincided with the years of the Second Vatican Council...1962-1965. Pope John XXIII died during this time and Pope Paul VI was elected; he it was who concluded the Council and oversaw the application of it. These were years of excitement and tumult, both joy and sorrow for me in the convent, as it was for many priests, religious and laity. But as important as all these events were for the Church and the world, none of those popes affected my personal, interior and intellectual life like Pope John Paul II.

I well remember where I was in St. Mary of the Valley convent, when I saw the television screen showing the newly-elected Pope come to the loggia of St. Peter’s to greet the throngs below. I recall how the cleric stumbled over his name and I thought, “A bishop from Poland with an unpronounceable last name!” I remember Pope John Paul II saying in his first speech, “Be not afraid...” and thinking, “Am I afraid? I don’t think so.” But, of course, I was a young adult then and did not yet know myself nor the world nor the depths of evil.

In May of 1981, when three of us Sisters were preparing to leave our teaching community in Oregon and come to Idaho to be Hermit Sisters, I heard that the Pope had been shot and I prayed and cried with the entire Church that his life would be spared. Through the early years of his papacy, 1978-1981, John Paul II was very much our beloved Pope, but it was at Marymount Hermitage that he became my spiritual father.

It was after 1984, when we first began living here in Mesa, Idaho that a retired priest of the Diocese of Boise brought us a stack of his papers from the Vatican. The Holy See publishes a daily paper in Italian, L’Osservatore Romano. This priest had a subscription to the English edition, which is a weekly paper. I confess with shame that I was not too excited about receiving this “gift.” I thought the articles would be dry, dusty and boring. Certainly the graphics and format of the paper were unappealing.(1)

After reading the first issue, I was surprised! The words of the Holy Father moved me in a way which I was not expecting. Little by little I read all the issues of the paper which had been given to us and they were not even in sequence because some were missing. This experience of finding real spiritual nourishment in the words and writings of Pope John Paul II helped us to decide to take the newspaper for ourselves, no small sacrifice for two poor Hermit Sisters since the subscription is fairly expensive. (2)

From that time on, my usual practice was to read one or two articles every morning while I ate breakfast. If I did this daily, I could finish a newspaper in a week before the next one came. I can honestly say that this gave serious impetus to my whole spiritual life. Instead of something dry and irrelevant, I have found the homilies, writings and encyclicals of the Holy Father to be manna in the desert, living water to quench my soul.

I became fascinated with this saintly, witty, intelligent man. I began reading other books about him, until I discovered the definitive biography by George Weigel, Witness to Hope. I have read this thousand-page book at least three or four times entirely and parts of it more often. I was reading it when we went to the Holy Land for our unforgettable pilgrimage while Pope John Paul II was also making his pilgrimage there. I tried to distill those memorable times and places in our newsletter commemorating that event. This was the Jubilee Year, the year 2000, the first of the new millennium, the grace of which will be forever in my life and in the life of the Church and the world.

Finally, there were the years of my own conversion, which made me realize that this Vicar of Christ on earth, this friend of the Bridegroom, this lover of the Church was my father, my spiritual father. I became a serious student of his life and teachings. He helped me to have confidence in the truth of Christ which the Church teaches, to feel joyful in sharing that witness with others, to maintain that inner serenity which comes from prayer and union with God: the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Pope John Paul II leaves a large hole in my heart with his passing. Many cardinals when offering Mass for him after his death, referred to this as “his return to the house of the Father.” I believe that deeply. It also makes me love in a new way the name of our chapel here, which we call “Our Father’s House.” When your father dies you can only be grateful for his life, the great gift of himself to you and his love. I am grateful, forever grateful, for Pope John Paul II.

Even as I mourn his going, I rejoice that he is more alive now in God then he was, however greatly so, in this life. I feel “John Paul the Great” to be close to me in spirit. I pray that I may be a worthy daughter of his and a faithful daughter of my Mother, the Church.

(1) Over the years, photos and graphics have greatly improved.
(2) The Vatican now hosts an excellent Website and documents can be downloaded from there.

In 2000 A.D., Pope John Paul II made his historic pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In the photo above, we were present while His Holiness offered Mass in Nativity Square in Bethlehem.

As the Holy Father holds up the Host, Jesus, the Bread of Life, the backdrop is the Church of the Nativity where the Son of God was placed in a manger by his mother, the Virgin Mary.

Neither Sister Rebecca Mary nor I will ever forget the privilege of seeing Pope John Paul II in person for the first time there. (Photo by Sister Mary Beverly)

During Pope John Paul II's pilgrimage to the Holy Land, 100,000 young people came from all over the world and processed before dawn until mid-morning up the Mount of Beatitudes near the modern city of Korazim. (Photo by Sister Rebecca Mary)

FRIEND OF THE BRIDEGROOM
By Hermit Sister Rebecca Mary

“I also saw a new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God, beautiful as a bride prepared to meet her husband.” (Rev. 21:2)

When I think of Pope John Paul II, I am reminded of my pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2000 and our rejoicing with 100,000 young people mostly from third world countries, singing, playing instruments, carrying banners, and climbing up the Mount of Beatitudes. We were on our way to the “New Jerusalem” and we, “the Bride,” were being “prepared” by the friend of the Bridegroom, Pope John Paul II.

On the top of this holy Mount of Beatitudes, our Holy Father reminded us again of the words of the Bridegroom:
“Blessed are those who mourn, they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for holiness, they shall have their fill.
Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called sons of God...”
Pope John Paul lived out these beatitudes. He consoled the sorrowing, was a staunch peacemaker, extended mercy even to the man who intended to kill him, was single-hearted in his love for God, the Church and the world. He was a man on an urgent mission and he hurried along his way, traveling to some 129 countries in 104 pilgrimages to extend the invitation of the Bridegroom. He invited all his brothers and sisters to the eternal banquet by his pure teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

He knew that the New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ, was for all peoples who sought the face of God. So He reached out to Jews, Moslems, Hindus and all peoples of every faith and to those who had not yet come to believe. All are called to the banquet feast of heaven. Twenty-six years was not a long time to reach the billions of the world, so he flew by jet to prepare hearts for the joy to come.

Like Christ, he was not afraid at times to admonish sternly those who perpetuated lies, violence and the culture of death. He was not “politically correct.” He lived and taught only the righteousness of God. A Baptist minister stopped by here last week to console us at the loss of our Holy Father. He described Pope John Paul II as a man who “truly expressed the heart of Christ.” I have pondered these words often as I mourn my spiritual father’s death, he who taught with mercy, authenticity and the love of God for all. He was indeed the loyal friend of the Bridegroom. He is my beloved father and friend as well. Pope John Paul II, pray for us all!

The tent, which shelters the stage for the Papal Mass, is seen below the crowds, like those who gathered about Jesus on this very hill. We watched the Vicar of Christ also multiply the loaves and feed the hungry multitude. This photo was taken by Sister Rebecca Mary. Sister Mary Beverly is silhouetted at the left in the photo.

On April 1,2 and 3 we had the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered for Pope John Paul II. This was thanks to Father Robert Griffin, SJ being here through Holy Week, Easter week and Mercy Sunday.

May eternal light shine upon him and may the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

MARYMOUNT HERMITAGE NEWSLETTER is published by Marymount Hermitage, Inc., a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation in the State of Idaho. The Hermit Sisters of Mary are a canonically approved Catholic community of women hermits following the Rule of St. Benedict.The newsletter is normally published three times a year and is free. The newsletter is sent to our relatives, friends and benefactors so that we might share the spirituality and material progress of Marymount Hermitage. Please pray that we may be faithful to our way of life in prayer and penance, solitude and silence. Any donations to Marymount Hermitage are sincerely appreciated and are tax-deductible.