Pope John Paul II: Nine Days that Changed the World

I finally viewed Newt Gingrich's Nine Days that Changed the World, the story of John Paul II's victorious return to Poland after being elevated to the Papacy. The DVD is beautifully done with stunning, never-seen-before footage.

It is hard for Americans to understand this history-altering event from the inside. A bad day for most Americans is an unexpected $500 car repair bill. Our Polish brethren lived through Nazi occupation which resulted in the death of 5.5-6 million Poles, and the dark, soul-crushing, brutal regime of Communism after this carnage. Their suffering can not be comprehended by Westerners.

This documentary gives you that glimpse from the inside where in June of 1979, 12 million Poles (1/3 the population) greeted John Paul in person as their conquering hero and their national hope.

George Weigel summed up the trip saying that by the second day of this nine day trip, the Polish people had a new de facto leader of their county; the Holy Father had overtaken the government and eclipsed the fear it held on the people. Communism was headed to the "ash heap of history."

I can not emphasize enough that this is a DVD that every Catholic household should own. It should be viewed by your children and grandchildren to understand the greatness of Pope John Paul II, the unparalleled influence of the Papacy and the effect that the power of the absolute truths of Catholicism can have when preached and recognized.

Amazon apparently does not sell this DVD. I would go directly to the DVD's official website and secure this masterpiece for yourself and your family. Click here for the Nine Days Web site. Here is a little sample of this great DVD:

Maximilian Kolbe: Was Just As Precious to God

Joseph Pronechen had a great interview in the National Catholic Register where he interviewed a 91-year-old priest - Father Lucjan Krolikowski - who knew Maximilian Kolbe. This interview crushed my self-inflected bias on St. Kolbe. I always thought of him as a man who met the moment; taking the place of a husband and a father in a Nazi death camp selected to die of starvation. After this article, I realize that the moment actually met Fr. Kolbe.

Fr. Krolikowski remembers the saint:

"Maximilian Kolbe used to come very often to the seminary. He played chess. He was so brilliant: a genius in math. He would play with 10 seminarians at one time and win every one. But he was humble and gave us a chance to win.

He was a genius. When he applied for the novitiate, there was a committee studying each case. When it came to Raymond — his name from baptism — his professor of math and physics said, “To be a monk would be a waste of time. He is a genius, and they need to send him to the university. He could be another Galileo or Copernicus.” The father provincial said, “Yes, you might be right; he is a genius. But I will tell you, professor, we also have geniuses of the spiritual realm, and we call them saints.”

...He was humble, very humble. Many times when people ask me how I would describe his humility, I say to all, “If you would come to [our religious community] and say to me, ‘I hear so much about Maximilian Kolbe. Who is he? What does he look like?’ I tell them, ‘I will march in a file in front of you (all the friars) and you guess who could be Maximilian Kolbe.’”

He would be the last to be recognized. He was so self-effacing, so ordinary and humble.

The brothers loved him so much. When he was arrested by the Nazis, 20 brothers applied to replace him, ready to die in his place, and the Nazi colonel said, “Even if it be 1,000 you would not liberate him. He is precious to us.”

...He had to be bright to manage everything — 700 brothers, 130 seminarians, all the printings [of a Catholic newsletter he published].

His monastery was so expanded and complicated; printing so many publications. What Maximilian Kolbe did sometimes — you judge it’s not in the ability of a man to do it. He has to be helped by God. It’s like a miracle.

[While Fr. Kolbe was actively running the monastery] Our superiors were afraid that, when he died, the monastery would collapse because it was too complicated to be run by one person. The father general said, “Let Father Maximilian Kolbe answer these accusations.” Fr. Kolbe stood up, put his hands like this [Father Krolikowski demonstrates, holding his arms down, with wrists crossed as if bound] and said nothing. Why? He believed in the providence of God.

Later I heard the father general said “I felt like Pilate before Christ.”"

As if Fr. Krolikowski wasn't lucky enough to know one saint, he tells a story in the article that a visiting Cardinal heard he was celebrating his silver jubilee with orphans. The Cardinal wanted to go and spend time with the orphans. Fr. Krolikowski remembers he saw the doors of the room he was in swing open, and before him stood Karol Wojtyla who spoke to the orphans for 10-20 minutes.


"No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hetacombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we are ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?"~ St. Maximilian Kolbe

McCain/Palin: An Upset in the Making?

Acknowledging a McCain/Palin victory is a very uphill proposition, here are some things that should make the Obama camp tremble in their boots:

1) Zogby cites that for the first time in many weeks, McCain polled higher than Obama (48% to 47% respectively) in yesterday’s daily poll taking independents and blue collar workers:

Pollster John Zogby: "Is McCain making a move? The three-day average holds steady, but McCain outpolled Obama today, 48% to 47%. He is beginning to cut into Obama's lead among independents, is now leading among blue collar voters, has strengthened his lead among investors and among men, and is walloping Obama among NASCAR voters. Joe the Plumber may get his license after all. "Obama's lead among women declined, and it looks like it is occurring because McCain is solidifying the support of conservative women, which is something we saw last time McCain picked up in the polls."

2) Dick Morris stated yesterday on the Michael Medved radio show that McCain has an "excellent" chance to pull an upset. Morris claims large blocks of demographics are still shifting both ways and this election is far from over. He sites the youth vote is now shifting towards McCain in greater numbers while the elderly vote is shifting towards Obama likewise. Morris the other night on Fox News also stated that Obama has been "hemorrhaging votes" these last two weeks.

When most Conservatives are discourage at the gap between Obama and McCain in the polling, Morris, though his experience in running actual campaigns, knows better. He points out Obama is having great difficulty breaking 49% in the national polls as quoted in the Washington Post. He is looking at election day top down:

"It does not matter how wide or narrow the gap is between the two candidates. What matters is how far above or below 49 percent Obama is in the final polls (49 percent assumes that Ralph Nader gets 1 to 2 points as he did in 2004). Right now, Obama is straddling the 49 percent mark; about half the polls put him over it and half under it. If the final polling numbers indicate that Obama is not convincingly north of 49 percent, we are in for a long night."

He also believes that the "Undecided’s" will break heavily to McCain. I agree with this thinking and anticipate McCain will take these votes 2 to 1. With everything as bad as it is right now, if they haven't decided on Obama by now, they won't.

3) Obama also has had a stranglehold on the Hispanic vote to date. That might change in these last few days. As a population that has the iconic of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the unborn, as a symbol that marks their ethnic identity , their heritage and core is pro-life. This is not compatible with pulling a lever for Obama.

Retired Bishop Rene H. Gracida sent out an e-mail in Spanish to 2.9 Million Hispanics instructing them to vote pro-life. The letter has been made into a radio commercial and will play in battle ground states over Spanish airways. This is a nightmare for the Obama campaign.

4) Finally, politics is all about reading the nuances. The Obama campaign, and their supporters in the media, are throwing out the idea that if Obama loses this campaign, while being so far ahead, it must be racism. It is not the middle class relating to "Joe the Plumber," it is not Obama’s stupid mistake of saying "spread the wealth", it is not the definition of the middle class that keeps being adjusted down, it is racism. The Obama campaign is hoping by making these remarks public it will make people feel guilty if they vote for McCain. This was mentioned on Fox News this AM as a quote from the Obama operatives, and others like Susan Estrich have been floating this out. This really speaks to the issue of how the Obama camp is feeling the tides turn and the pressure. Playing the race card has serious implications on the voting electorate and is never played from a position of strength.

So take heart this is not over yet.

HABEMUS PAPAM 30 YEARS LATER TO THE DATE...

As the current political and financial situation of our great country seems to be very dim, I would like to reflect on a man up a balcony thirty years ago today who instructed us to "Be Not Afraid…"

As I am sure we can agree, God has a master plan for all of us. I think one of the greatest gifts from the life of this great Pope was that it assured and reminded us that God has a master plan for our "little lives" because we saw God’s master plan for Pope John Paul II’s majestic life so clearly. It is easier to see paint on the canvas when there are broad strokes rather than thin lines.

I heard many years back, and wish I could quote the source, maybe George Weigel, that it was very against the tradition of the Papacy to have a Pope call himself, the first. And yet in 1978, when Albino Luciani was elected Pope John Paul I, it happened. This unique situation in 2,000 years of Church history and the use of the Roman numeral was not a pointless effort because it foreshadowed a second to come. It was God’s plan to have Karol Wojtyla in the Papacy at that time as seen by how he called Pope John Paul I home after less than two months. Looking back, the first designation makes all the sense in the world now as we now know who was coming. For those trivia buffs out there, Wojtyla’s first instinct was to be called Pope Stanislaw, or Pope Stanley, to honor a very significant Polish saint and bishop of Krakow. He reconsidered and took the name John Paul.

When they announce "Habemus Papam", or Latin for "We Have a Pope!," on that night in St. Peter’s square the announcement of the non-Italian sounding name, "VOY-TEE-WHA." brought confusion and polite applause from the crowd in the courtyard. I often think he in his life went from polite applause that October night to 4,000,000 people coming to his Mass in the Philippines 15 years later. What an impactful life!

The two most incredible events that I have seen in my forty years of life, were both tied to this great man. One was the week of his funeral and viewing. The non-ending lines of mourners went on day, after day, after day. I remember telling a friend, the scene felt more like of a funeral for a beloved King, not a humble priest. I also vividly see as I write this post the page-flipping Bible on his plain wood casket during his funeral and the Cardinals holding on to their birettas/hats. A great wind was present at his funeral, a sign of the Holy Spirit.

The second most incredible world moment of my life was the week when the Berlin Wall came down. To see East-Germans sitting on top of the wall and swinging sledgehammers is an image that no one can ever forget. They were not breaking into tiny bits a structure, they swung their hammers thinking about smashing an evil regime and an ideology into tiny bits. An oppressive government collapsed and people were free.

Many do not know a story about John Paul that lead to this moment. When the Polish Solidarity movement was about to be crushed by Soviet tanks, John Paul II communicated to the secretary of the Soviet Communist party stating that if there was any Soviet aggression against the Poles, he would resign the Papacy and stand on the front lines with his people. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when the Kremlin received that letter. This was not a political ploy, he was dead serious. He would resign the Papacy and stand with his people. It is somewhat of a global PR nightmare to run down a defenseless Pope in a tank. The Russians hands were tied and they continued to lose their control of Poland. As a historical note, the Kremlin feared the senior Cardinal of Poland, Stefan Wyszyński, much more than Karol Wojtyla when they were Cardinals. They felt Wojtyla was less of a threat and could be reasoned with when comparing the two Polish Cardinals. I read a comment that was made within the Kremlin after Wojtyla's election, saying at least it was not Wyszynski. They could not have been more wrong.

I will finish this reflection with VCR friend Fr. Owens Kearns’ statement after the passing of John Paul II. He was a guest on a cable news network and was asked by the commentator what was the greatest achievement of this Pope’s life was. So many thoughts riffled through me head: defeating Communism, his encyclicals, the "Culture of Life" movement he established. Fr. Owen surpassed my thoughts. He said, paraphrasing, "The example he gave us of life’s beauty and value in its fading days, the way he accepted his suffering and died with grace." I was speechless and stunned. This was also more poignant because Terri Schiavo's life was being seen as having no value at the same moment down in Florida.

I think many parents have many things they want to teach their children. Being honest, how to play Sports, finances, relationships, family history, cooking, etc… Don’t ever underestimate the learning opportunity we can gift wrap to our children as they witness us meet our most difficult trials in our lives with grace, acceptance and Faith; offering everything up. John Paul,a spiritual parent to us, did not underestimate this teaching opportunity.

John Paul the Great, Pray for Us!

What's in a Name?

I have always been fascinated on the words that come out of someone’s mouth who know they are facing death. Their words are not controlled by filters or pretense, they’re not concerned about backlash from what they say or being politically correct, absolutely nothing left to hide or protect. They are speaking what they believe as truth from their hearts through their last moments of their mortal existence.

Moreover, and more notably, there can be found a lifetime of wisdom in these statements when they come from Saints. Those who lived not of this world; but now are leaving it.

It was reported that Pope John Paul II said during his last moments, “ I have searched for you, and now you have come to me, and I thank you.” I remember thinking that this comment was beautifully directed to the huge crowds outside his Vatican apartment who kept steadfast vigil. This failing Pontiff, who once tirelessly searched for anyone and everyone who would listen to his message in every corner of the globe, now acknowledged the outpouring of love that his flock returned.

A few years later, my biased understanding of this was shattered when I read a deathbed comment from St. John Vianney. Known as “The Cure of Ars”, Vianney was a French mystic priest, an incorruptible and one of my favorite saints.

Vianney said, “And how kind the good God is! When I cannot go to him any longer, he comes to me! But my body now is not much to present to Our Lord.”

These phrases were too similar to be different. It was a realization moment for me that both these ‘saint’s’ comments were directed solely to God.

Two 20th century priests who, I believe, will follow the same trail to sainthood are Blessed Miguel Pro, a Jesuit priest from Mexico, and Cardinal Ignatius Kung, a Chinese priest who suffered through 30 years in a communist jail because he would not deny the Papacy.

In 1927, after being railroaded through a fixed trial, Fr. Pro faced the firing squad without a blindfold at his request. He outstretched his arms as if being crucified in unison with Christ, forgave his executioners, then emptied his heart by screaming the creed that was most dear to him.

In 1955, then Bishop Ignatius Kung, was brought in handcuffs and pajamas by the Chinese Government in front of a microphone at an outdoor stadium to renounce his Faith before tens of thousands of Chinese. Understanding that this was in all probability his last moment of life if he would not appease the Communists and deny his Faith, Cardinal Kung released from his heart the same exact words as Miguel Pro said decades earlier.


"Vive Chistus Rex!/Long Live Christ the King!” I can think of no better name for a blog.