So, I went to mass on Sunday and you won't believe who the celebrant was...Pope John Paul II. Hahaha I bet I have your attention now. John Paul was not physically present there, but through the mystical Body of Christ I know he was present!! Anyhow, the mass was celebrated by a Polish priest who spoke just like our late Holy Father!! I sat in the back and was unable to see the priest for most of the mass, so I had fun pretending that my beloved intercessor was celebrating. His homily also had a distinct JP II flare; It was all about Love!

He spoke about his experience in America hearing confessions. He said that it has been hard for him to explain the mysteries of the faith to those that come to him (mostly because of language barriers). He spent an hour trying to explain the Queenship of Mary to someone, and he kept feeling like the explanation was falling short. He then said that he realized that no matter how much he learns and grows in holiness he will always fall short (he said this more eloquently of course in an awesome Polish accent). He said Love is the only thing that has the power to bridge the gap between the mysteries of God and us. Love brings us far beyond the point of explanation. My favorite line was, "It is Love that brings us to the altar, and it is Love that we recieve there."                   

This was a much needed consolation for me. I don't know if yall have experienced this in your own life. But there are times within mine when Christ has done marvelous things and a few days, even a few hours later, I doubt if it was real. I constantly wonder if it was a figment of my imagination. Then when I kneel down and reflect, Love shows me the truth. Love allows me to see with the eyes of faith that these miracles are true and are a reality in my life.

We don't just believe and follow in Christ and his Church because of a lofty ideal or a set of morals. We believe and we follow because of Love. It is Love that moves us; Love in a personal God who gives us his very life.

I will let the amazing John Paul II explain this much better then I:

"It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something Great with your lives, the will to follow an idea, the Refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal." - Pope John Paul II