On Sunday May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday, John Paul II will be beatified in Rome.
The Risen Saviour is very much a feature of Medjugorje. Countless are the resurrections witnessed there and the many lives that take on a new beginning.
The Risen Saviour sculpture at Medjugorje was familiar to the late pontiff. He first set eyes on the sculpture when he visited Slovenia in 1996 and a silver copy was presented to him as a gift by the church authorities. The Slovenian sculptor Andrej Ajdic was later told by a bishop and a member of the Vatican Council for Culture that many in the Vatican who saw the sculpture were fascinated by it and regarded it as very special.
In the light of Benedict’s beautiful tribute to JPII highlighted in the CNA report below, can we hope to expect JPII’s beatification commemorated in some way by a Risen Christ feature on Sunday? And if not then, possibly at a later date?
On April 30, 2000, John Paul II designated the Sunday after Easter as the Sunday of Divine Mercy. More recently, another prominent Church official and major promoter of Divine Mercy, cardinal Christoph Schönborn, said when he visited Medjugorje in December 2009: “When you look at a place like Medjugorje, you can see a superpower of mercy. Many merciful deeds were born here or they were supported here.”
Recalling with emotion the passing of Pope John Paul II three years ago today, Pope Benedict said April 2 will remain imprinted on the mind of the Church as the day when the Servant of God departed from this world.
Thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for a memorial Mass in honor of the beloved pope, whose abiding memory continues to draw thousands of visitors every day to his tomb inside St. Peter's Basilica.
Pope Benedict said that the life and pontificate, was as a whole and in many specific moments, "a sign and witness of the Resurrection of Christ."
John Paul II died on the eve of the second Sunday of Easter, the fulfillment of the "day that the Lord has made."
The Holy Father said, "Like three years ago, today we are not far from Easter. The heart of the Church is still deeply immersed in the mystery of the Resurrection of the Lord. Indeed, we can read the entire life of my beloved predecessor, in particular his Petrine ministry, as a sign of the Risen Christ.”
Recalling how today is the day John Paul II died, Benedict XVI said, "His agony was beheld by all this "day," in this space-time that is the new ' "eighth day," desired by the Holy Trinity through the work of the Incarnate Word, dead and risen.
"In this spiritual dimension,” the Holy Father said that “Pope John Paul II repeatedly demonstrated that he was some way immersed in this mystery during his life, especially in carrying out the mission of the Supreme Pontiff."
Since childhood, Karol Wojtyla experienced the truth of St. Paul's words, 'if we die with him, we shall also live with him. If we persevere with him, we also reign with him" (2 Tim 2,11-12), the Pope said.
The Holy Father then walked through the life of Karol Wojtyla, narrating his way of the cross.
He encountered these words in facing his way of the cross, that of his family and his people. He soon decided carry his cross together with Jesus, following in his footsteps. He wanted to be his faithful servant, to accept the call to the priesthood, and to commit his entire life as a gift. He did all of this through the unique mediation of Mary, Mother of the Church, Mother of the Redeemer and effectively intimately associated with the saving mystery of his death and resurrection, Pope Benedict reflected.
