Lenten Campaign 2025
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When reflecting on the inspiring life of St. John Paul II, a variety of words come to mind.
One word in particular that Pope Benedict XVI used to describe him was a spiritual "titan."
He used this word during the homily of St. John Paul II's beatification on Mary 1, 2011:
What the newly-elected Pope asked of everyone, he was himself the first to do: society, culture, political and economic systems he opened up to Christ, turning back with the strength of a titan – a strength which came to him from God – a tide which appeared irreversible.
Many are familiar with the Greek mythological stories of Titans, who were giants with immense physical strength. Atlas is the most famous Titan, as he is often pictured holding up the heavens.
Pope Benedict XVI is quick to acknowledge that St. John Paul II did not possess this type of strength on his own, but relied heavily on the strength of God.
Spiritual titan
One of the primary sources of St. John Paul II's spiritual strength was his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Pope Benedict XVI explained how St. John Paul II saw Mary as the prime example of holiness:
He was fully aware that the Council’s decision to devote the last chapter of its Constitution on the Church to Mary meant that the Mother of the Redeemer is held up as an image and model of holiness for every Christian and for the entire Church. This was the theological vision which Blessed John Paul II discovered as a young man and subsequently maintained and deepened throughout his life. A vision which is expressed in the scriptural image of the crucified Christ with Mary, his Mother, at his side.
Connected to this devotion, St. John Paul II was also deeply devoted to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.
St. John Paul II wrote in his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, "In the humble signs of bread and wine, changed into his body and blood, Christ walks beside us as our strength and our food for the journey, and he enables us to become, for everyone, witnesses of hope."
With Mary and Jesus in the Eucharist, St. John Paul II was able to draw on the strength of God to perform many mighty deeds during his life.
We too can possess this strength, once we recognize our own weakness and inability to do anything worthwhile on our own.
God prefers to use weak instruments to show his strength to the world.
