How to Share Your Faith Using The Pope's Death
Karol Joseph Wojtyla was born in 1920 to an officer in the Polish army and a school teacher. In 1946 he was ordained as a priest in the Catholic church. In 1964 he was appointed as the resident archbishop of Krakow, Poland. In 1967, Pope Paul VI elevated him to a Cardinal, and finally in 1978, Karol was selected as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He took the name John Paul II and was the leader of the Church for 26 years.
John Paul II died at the Vatican on Saturday April 2, 2005 at the age of 84. He had the third longest stint in the position of Pope and he leaves behind an incredible legacy in human rights and social reform. This Pope is considered by many to be one of the greatest that the Catholic Church has had in hundreds of years.
But it didn’t seem that way at the beginning. When Karol became John Paul II criticism abounded and most people thought his term at the head of the Catholic Church wouldn’t amount to much. He had a lot of things going against him like being the first Pope from “insignificant” Poland and the first Pope in over 400 years that wasn’t from Italy. His supporters were few and were often drowned out by the critics. They did not expect him to do much but sit around and look important.
But he proved them wrong. A speaker of 8 languages, he traveled to over 130 countries and probably spoke to more people in more cultures than any person in history. He was an advocate for the end of communism, which he had suffered under in his native Poland. He boldly voiced the need for freedom and justice the world over and spoke out against declining moral issues such as abortion, euthanasia and biochemical warfare. Many, especially in the Catholic world, consider him to be one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century.
All this from a man who was supposedly going to amount to nothing.
This week and in the weeks to come, the world will be focused on Pope John Paul II, the Catholic Church, and Christianity as a whole. More than ever, the entire world is hearing about Christianity in the newspaper, on the internet, on the TV news. You can’t get away from it! It’s a perfect opportunity to bring up Jesus and the Gospel message.
This week when the topic of the Pope and all that he has done in his life comes up, bring up the point that people expected little out of his tenure as church leader. The critics were screaming all over that he was a bad fit, but the few supporters turned out to be right in the end.
Daily in the lives of our friends, Satan is sending out screaming messages that they are worthless, useless and will amount to nothing in their lives. Satan and the world continually tries to drown out that small voice that says “You can be everything that I have planned you to be. You can do anything if you depend on my strength and put your trust in my voice.” This week when people talk about the Pope, point out that just like him, your friend are surely feeling the pressure of the outside world to accept the lie that they will amount to nothing. Then point out the truth of Jesus Christ, that he came to die for us so that we could amount to everything! Jesus came to give, not just life, but FULL and COMPLETE life…eternal life. Share the GOSPEL Journey with them and hopefully they will come to realize that they can have a life that matters when they give control of it to Jesus Christ.
