Dear Parish Family, We mark October 22nd as the feast day of Saint Pope John aul ll. Karol Józef Wojtyla was born in Poland and was the first non-Italian Pope in over 455 years and the first to come from a Slavic country. His popularity grew as he traveled from land to land with the message of advancing human dignity and to deter violence. He felt the “The only way to peace is forgiveness!” Loosing his mother at an early age, brought him even closer to the Blessed Mother. He firmly believed that Christianity not communism was the true protector of the poor and the oppressed. Many people have described this holy man, but the one that stands out for me was his ability to make an individual feel they were the only person he saw or heard in a crowded room. What a gift! You mattered! In our troubled world, let’s remember St John Paul II’s words – “I plead with you – never ever give up hope, never doubt, never tire, and never be discouraged.” “Let us remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look forward to the future with confidence.” “Only in Christ can men and women find answers to the ultimate questions that trouble them. Only in Christ can they fully understand their dignity as persons created and loved by God.” We saw the humility of St Pope John Paul II when as a young man he fought against communism, he forgave the man who shot him, claiming that Our Lady saved him, when he continued on through the ravages of his Parkinson’s disease and showed radical courage and compassion for others. He was a man of deep and constant prayer, often being late for appointments, because he felt the need to pray. In his writings he affirmed that “we need to live life without fear and that the human body reveals God.” Mary Jo