St. John Paul II (1920-1939 A.D.)

Series: On the life of John Paul II

From 1920 - 1939 A.D.

Birth and parents

Karol Wojtyla was born on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice - a large village about twenty miles southwest of Kraków, in southern Poland, not far from the Czech border. His father, also named Karol, and a former army lieutenant, was employed by the town council. His mother, Emilia Kaczorowska, was a Lithuanian, but spoke German at home.

The young Polish Republic attacked by the Russian Red Army

Just only three months after Karol was born, the young Polish Republic was attacked by Russia's Red Army. The Polish forces were able to repel the Russians in the Battle of Warsaw - which became known as the Miracle on the Vistula River. Eventually, the Russians succeeded in subjugating and dominating Poland. Little did Karol know that six decades later, as Pope of the Catholic Church, he would be one of the major catalysts for Poland's peaceful rejection of Communist subjugation.

The family Wojtyla

The Wojtylas lived in a small apartment across the street from St. Mary's Church, where the young Karol, nicknamed "Lolek", was baptized. Edmund, Lolek's elder brother, whose nickname was "Mundek", was fourteen years his senior. Edmund went off to college when Lolek was four years old, and studied to become a doctor. Between these two brothers, their mother also had given birth to another child, the only daughter, Olga, who however died in infancy. This sister whom Lolek never knew nonetheless remained a presence in his heart.

The death of Emilia, Karol's mother

The first eight years of Lolek's life were generally happy ones. But the ninth year brought a cross too heavy to forget for this young Pole: the death of his mother. Karol's father, Edmund, took him to the altar in the basilica at Kalwaria in 1929 A.D. to pray for the soul of his mother Emilia. Emilia had died alone, away from home, at the age of forty-five years. She had been under treatment for kidney and heart diseases. Ever since Lolek was small, Emilia was already in frail health. She was often ill and confined to bed. Upon hearing the news of the death of his mother, Lolek said, "It was God's will."

The spiritual mentoring of his father

After his mother's death, Lolek drew close to his father, who cooked and cleaned for him, read him Polish history, and inspired him with his piety and self-discipline (he was an army man). They slept in the same room, prayed together upon rising in the early morning, and took long walks in the evening. His father was the first of many mentors to engage Lolek in spiritual discourse, and encourage him toward the priesthood. When Lolek became Pope John Paul II, he would write, "My father's example was in a way my very first seminary, a kind of domestic seminary."

The death of Edmund ("Mundek"), Karol's brother

When Lolek was twelve years old, he experienced another loss in his life. Three years after the death of his mother, Edmund the doctor, Lolek's beloved older brother, who had carried him everywhere on his shoulders, died from scarlet fever contracted from a patient in the year 1932 A.D. While his brother was still alive and practising his medical profession in the city of Bielsko, they would often see each other, and Lolek would even entertain his brother's hospital patients. But Edmund contracted scarlet fever, and died in agony and anger, questioning why such a thing would happen to him, since he had just finished medicine. Lolek however had the answer: it was "the will of God". From the two experience of losses (that of his mother and now of his brother), Lolek was already showing signs of a faith that would champion the Catholic Church upon his ascent to the papacy. And when he was elected Pope, and took the name John Paul II, he never forgot his love for his family, especially since he always kept his brother Mundek's stethoscope in a drawer in his desk.

Studying at Jagiellonian University before the eruption of World War II

Graduating from high school in 1938 as class valedictorian, Karol set off for the prestigious Jagiellonian University in Kraków to study the discipline of linguistics. His father went with him, and they set up housekeeping together. One year later, on September 1, 1939 A.D., life in Poland was disturbed as the Nazis seized the country and World War II erupted. As the Nazis subjugated the Jews, they also set about conquering the Poles and enslaving its people. Jagiellonian University, were Karol was studying, was shut. Cathedrals were also closed. Many were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Some were simply shot on sight. Religion, art, literature, theater, and all that is good and decent were forced to go underground.

Edited from the following references

• The Pope Coming from the East, by Teresio Bosco, S.D.B.
• An Intimate Pope John Paul II Portrait, by Mark Bakermans
• The Pontiff in Winter, by John Cornwell
• Pope John Paul II: Champion of Faith, by TV Guide Magazine Group, Inc.

St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church (Feast: September 30)

Family background

Jerome's native language was Illyrian, and he may be considered an Italian since he came from that wedge of Italy which on the old maps seems to be driven between Dalmatia and Pannonia. Jerome however did not like his birthplace, due to the influence of the pagans. Also, his parents may have been only mildly Christian due to the mix between pagan and Christian practices in their town. When Jerome and his two other siblings embraced the ascetical life and disdained a worldly career, their parents became much disconcerted since their family belonged among the rich in the town.

Education

St. Jerome was an ardent scholar, eager and ambitious for learning and its triumphs. At twelve years of age, his parents sent him to Rome where he stayed until he was twenty. He was in grammar school under the famous Donatus, and afterwards as "a student of the rhetoricians". St. Jerome learned the Greek and Latin Classics, the elements of the sciences, and a little music. He was baptized by Pope Liborius in 360 A.D.

Conversion

After further study at Treves and travel in Gaul, Jerome became an ascetic in Aquileia in 370 A.D., joining a group of scholars under the bishop, St. Valerian. When a quarrel broke up the group, Jerome traveled in the East and in 374 A.D. settled at Antioch, where he heard Apollinarius of Laodicea lecture. In Antioch, two of his companions died, and Jerome became ill. During his delirium, caused by a high fever, he saw himself standing before the judgment seat of Christ. This vision of Jesus caused Jerome to go to Chalcis in the Syrian desert, and he lived as a hermit for four years, praying and fasting, learning Hebrew, and writing a life of St. Paul of Thebes.

Hermit, priest, and secretary of Pope Damasus

After spending a few years as a hermit in the Syrian desert, he was ordained a priest by St. Paulinus in 380 A.D.. Then he was called to Rome in 382 A.D. with Paulinus to attend a Council. He remained there as a secretary of Pope Damasus. While at Rome, at the suggestion of Pope Damasus, he revised the Latin version of the four gospels, including St. Paul's epistles, and the Psalms. In his spare time, St. Jerome also fostered a new movement of asceticism among some of Rome's noble ladies, several of whom were later canonized. Chief among these ladies were Paula and her daughter Blesilla and Eustochium, to whom Jerome later was to address many of his famous letters.

It was also during this period that St. Jerome made numerous enemies by his fiery attacks on pagan life and on certain influential Romans. Following the death of Pope Damasus in 384 A.D., Jerome's enemies drove him out of Rome and he settled then in Bethlehem. In 386 A.D. at Bethlehem, he headed a monastery (together with St. Paula who headed three convents for women) and continued his writings, but remained involved in many controversies. In one case, he even attacked St. Augustine who questioned Jerome's exegesis of the second chapter of St. Paul's letter to the Romans.

Greatest achievements

St. Jerome's greatest achievements were his translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew and his revision of the Latin version of the New Testament. This version, known as the Vulgate, became the official Latin version, and almost all English translations of the Bible came from it until the middle of the twentieth century, after which scholars began to use the original sources.

From 405 A.D. until his death, St. Jerome produced a series of biblical commentaries notable for the range of linguistic and topographical material he brought to bear on his interpretations.

New conflict and death

In 415 A.D., St. Jerome wrote Dialogi contra Pelagianos, a denunciation of Pelagianism. This caused a new furor, and in 416 A.D., groups of armed Pelagian monks burned the monasteries at Bethlehem. Though Jerome escaped unharmed, this conflict left him and his companions poverty-stricken.

St. Jerome died at Bethlehem after a lingering illness on September 30. He is venerated as a Doctor of the Church. As one of the four original Doctors of the Church (together with St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and St. Gregory the Great), St. Jerome is noted for his contributions to Christian thought, particularly in the area of biblical scholarship.

References of this article

• Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney
• Saints for Our Time, by Ed Ransom
• The Doctors of the Church vol 1, by John F. Fink
• A Year With the Saints, by Don Bosco Press, Inc.
• Saints Who Made History, Chapter X

A Key Passage to Understand the Gospel of Matthew

Understanding the Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 28:16-20 - The Key Passage to Understand Matthew's Gospel

Backgrounder on the gospel of Matthew

The gospel of Matthew is composed of 28 chapters. It is one of the synoptic gospels, together with Mark and Luke. Synoptic gospels mean that these gospels have a common source and tradition from which they obtained their present content. This is why if the three gospels were examined in more detail, one will discover passages in one gospel that are also found in the other two gospels. There are slight differences in presentation and some are placed in different contexts.

The key passage to understand the gospel of Matthew


The key passage to understand the gospel of Matthew can be found in the last chapter and passage of the gospel: Matthew 28:16-20. This is the Ascension scene where Jesus calls His apostles, and gives them His missionary mandate. He says in Mt 28:16-20, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." It is from this key passage that many bible scholars say the christological and ecclesiological affirmations of the gospel are expressed. By christological, it means all that refers to the study of the nature and person of Christ. And by ecclesiological, it means all that refers to the study of the nature and mission of the Catholic Church. Christological and Ecclesiological are theology terms (and theology subjects in themselves) but when simplified in everyday language, it can be easy to understand.

The Christological affirmation of the gospel of Matthew


If you place your attention to the temptation of Jesus in the beginning of Matthew, you can read the Evil One tempting Jesus to receive the power and authority of the kingdoms of the earth - which the Evil One would give, if Jesus would worship him. Knowing this as diabolical, Jesus said No. It was the faithfulness of Jesus to His mission and His obedience to the will of the Father, that granted Him the authority to give a missionary mandate to His apostles and disciples on the mountain of the Ascension. The Father has given Jesus authority in both heaven and on earth. The Evil One tempted Him with earthly authority, but Jesus obeyed God's will, underwent His passion and death on the Cross, and received the divine authority for both heaven and earth. The Christological affirmation therefore that can be gained from the key passage of Matthew 28:16-20 is: Jesus is the glorious Son of Man to whom the Father has turned over all power and authority throughout all the universe. Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Savior of mankind, who has authority over all.

The Ecclesiological affirmation of the gospel of Matthew

The ecclesiological affirmation of the gospel of Matthew simply means that the Church was commissioned by Jesus to go out into the whole world and evangelize peoples with the message of the Gospel - baptizing all in the name of the Blessed Trinity. For the evangelist Matthew, it was important that the readers of his gospel know that the Church is basically a community of disciples making disciples. The emphasis in the community of disciples making disciples is in the value of service above power and authority. This truth is well expressed in Matthew chapter 18 which speaks in terms of brotherhood, and also in Matthew 24:45-51, which speaks of servants in charge of fellow servants. Thus, when this nascent Church at the mount of Ascension is given her commission to preach and teach the nations the Good News, she is to do so in the spirit of service and brotherhood. And the authority by which members of the community of disciples evangelize, is to be seen as flowing not only from a hierarchical structure of leadership but primarily from the Spirit of authority and power which was in Jesus. Jesus now gives the mandate to the community of disciples to make disciples.

A servant-Church following the servant-Christ

Another way of seeing the christological affirmation and the ecclesiological affirmation in the gospel of Matthew is in terms of Christ's teaching as regards service. Although Jesus was given all authority by the Father, He remains a servant-Christ. He proved this teaching by the example of giving His life on the Cross for the salvation of all people. It was clear to Jesus that He is to be obedient to the Father even if it means dying on the Cross. From this servant-Christ identity, the vocation and mission of Jesus flows also into the servant-Church identity and each of the faithful's vocation and mission as His disciples - who by each one's baptism, commit themselves to follow Jesus. So, just as Jesus said NO to the Evil One and shunned earthly authority and power, so are all the faithful called to say NO to the Evil One and his temptations to opt for an earthly power just self-serving interests. Just as Jesus performed His public ministry in a spirit of service and charity, so each of the baptized, within their respective communities, are also called to evangelize all peoples in the same spirit of service and charity as Jesus. The servant-Christ commissions a servant-Church: a community of Christ's disciples, making disciples for Christ.