April 30, 2005

There was a time in my life when I had just discovered what an encyclical was. I think it was Evangelium Vitae that first initiated me to the wide world of Church documents. I thought, in my zeal, that it would be good to read every new thing that the Pope published. I figured that if I couldn’t read everything that had been put out thus far, I could at least stay on top of the newest releases. Needless to say, that lasted all of two paragraphs of the first encyclical. It was partly due to my poverty of theological vocabulary and partly due to the profundity of John Paul II. Some brothers have said that there will be doctoral dissertations on his work for centuries to come, and I do not doubt that.

Recently I stumbled onto our late pope’s text given to the youth of the world in Toronto in 2002, and I realized that this is where the word has such power. I was there in Toronto, but I couldn’t really hear much since I was too busy getting soaked (wouldn’t trade those experiences for the world). The text was so potent with meaning for the world today and one’s role as a Catholic. Today is a different story. We have a wonderful, holiness-seeking, brilliant Pope. What a gift. I decided to resurrect that old desire to read all that the Pope puts out. I figure that I have grown at least a little in this area. I returned to the text like the karate kid after a couple of karate lesson facing the one who made quick work of him. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that Pope Benedict’s words would have been intelligible to me years ago. Now, I am happy to say that I am 3 for 4 in reading papal sermons (I still haven’t gotten to his Wednesday audience), and I could read each one over and over again. If you are reading this on the internet then you have all of our Pope’s words at your fingertips at www.vatican.va. You owe it to yourself to read and be nourished by our Holy Father. He has been asking everyone to pray for him—guess what, after reading his words I can say that those prayers are working.

Br. Agostino Miguel Torres, CFR
St. Leopold Friary, Yonkers, New York

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