Pope John Paul II will be beatified May 1 in part because his
intercession brought the healing of a French nun from Parkinson's
Disease.
But the Polish Pontiff has brought about many more miracles --
living miracles, according to Legionary of Christ Brother Randall
Meissen.
Brother Meissen has written a book called "Living Miracles: The Spiritual Sons of John Paul the Great" about priests who trace their vocation back to the influence of this Pope.
The
book explains what these "JP2 revolution" priests have in common and
how God chose to plant and nourish the seed of their vocations through
the witness of the Bishop of Rome.
ZENIT: Why do you call these
priests "living miracles?" Would they not have become priests had it not
been for John Paul II? How does one man -- even if he is the Pope --
have such a profound effect on people as to influence their choice for a
state in life?
Brother Meissen: In the broad sense, a miracle is
an event which is supernatural in origin, something which defies
explanation on the natural plane. Such is the vocation in the lives of
these priests. They experienced a call, supernatural in origin, which
drove them to follow a path radically at odds with everything naturally
apparent to mainstream culture.
But, more specifically, the title
of the book expresses my own reaction to the testimonies contained
therein. Some of the stories have eerie moments where you can see the
hand of God reaching down from the heavens. Father Mark White was still a
Lutheran when he entered a Catholic chapel at his college and was awash
in mysterious awareness of the presence of God. He says that moment was
"the turning point of my whole life."
Then, there is Juan Carlos
Vasquez, a seminarian and John Paul enthusiast, whose father recovered
from Crohn's disease (supposedly incurable) following prayers to John
Paul II.
But with those cases aside, throughout the text, the
sheer multitude of "coincidences," the number of twists and turns that
these individuals experienced stretches belief. Their priestly calling
and their zealous ministry to the Church is a living miracle.
Furthermore, the whole "JP2 revolution," the effect it has had on the
Church, the way it captivated and invigorated a generation of Catholics
makes me think that we are still living out John Paul's greatest
miracle.
ZENIT: What do the priests influenced by John Paul II have in common?
Brother
Meissen: There is great diversity among the priests featured in my
book. However, above all, each of them self-identifies with some core
aspect of John Paul II's teaching and style of ministry. As I was
conducting interviews, I asked scores of priests if they personally
considered John Paul II to be a spiritual father. The contrast in
reactions was striking. Many priests expressed admiration for John Paul
II, but a smaller subset replied with enthusiastic affirmation,
"Absolutely!"
I think this point is extremely important when one
is talking about John Paul's continued influence on Church culture. A
cornerstone of the "JP2 revolution" concerns the culture of optimism and
enthusiasm that he created, largely though his own authenticity in
living out the Gospel message.
In recent years, the Catholic priesthood
has gotten its share of bad press.
It is easy for some priests to be
timid or ashamed of their priesthood. But the priests who are living out
the "JP2 revolution" are quite the contrary. They are invigorated and
overflowing with delight in their vocation as priests. Their optimism is
infectious.
ZENIT: How did you come to write this book? How did you find and select the stories of these "living miracles?"
Brother
Meissen: The idea for the book came on a whim. I was speaking with some
priests about the existence of a "JP2 generation," and the suggestion
came that someone should write a book on the topic. Since I am a
hopeless John Paul enthusiast, I couldn't resist the idea.
In a
way, the book wrote itself. I sent a few e-mails around to the priests I
knew, and they in turn referred me to other priests with stories. I
have the impression that these "JP2 generation" priests are like grapes
and come in bunches. They generally seemed to be networked with others
who share the John Paul spirit.
ZENIT: Which profile in the book struck you the most?
Brother
Meissen: The profile of Father Peter Mitchell stands out for several
reasons. As a 19-year-old, he decided to tag along with his parish youth
group on the trip to the 1993 World Youth Day in Denver.
He had two
motivations: He wanted to see the mountains and there were some good
looking girls signed up for the trip. However, seeing Pope John Paul II
was a turning point in Peter's life. He was transformed from living his
faith in an ashamed and sheepish kind of way and left with a bold desire
to proclaim the Gospel.
Father Mitchell says the experience of
the welcoming ceremony for the Pope in Mile High stadium blew him away.
The ceremony had been accompanied by torrential rain, but when John Paul
started to pray the Our Father, a huge rainbow arched over the stadium.
A
day and a half later, during the closing Mass held in Cherry Creek
State Park, Father Mitchell decided to accept whatever path God wanted
him to follow. He says that he knelt down in the dirt there and started
crying as a wall of interior resistance crumbled away.
There, he
accepted the inspiration of a vocation and resolved to do whatever the
Lord wanted.
Now, Father Mitchell teaches at St. Gregory the Great
Seminary in Nebraska, passing on his spiritual verve to a new
generation of seminarians. He also serves a parish, where he sees youth
work as a ministry of presence. He is an avid runner, and in the past
has lent a hand coaching track at the local public school.
Father
Mitchell said he wants to show the young people that being a priest is
"being fully a man, being fully alive, and fully involved in life."
ZENIT: How did John Paul II influence your own vocation?
Brother
Meissen: Back in the year 2000, I was a pre-med student buried in
biology and chemistry studies, and I was spiritually adrift. However, as
part of the Great Jubilee, I went on a pilgrimage to Rome.
Unknown to
me, my trip coincided with the annual Corpus Christi celebration when
the Pope takes part in a Eucharistic procession through the streets of
Rome. I was along the road, craning my neck to see the Pope as he passed
by.
The Pope was kneeling in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament,
carried on a flatbed truck with a canopy overtop -- when he had been in
better health, the Pope had walked the procession route.
In that
moment, as the Pope passed a few meters from where I stood, he looked up
at the Blessed Sacrament, and then quickly turned his head and with a
piercing gaze looked directly at me.
Truth be told, it was a strange
sensation to feel that John Paul was looking for me and looking at me.
In his deep eyes, filled with purity and peace, I saw reflected the kind
of person I wanted to be.
After that day, I really began to wrestle
with the idea of the priestly vocation.
And I also returned home with a
consuming curiosity in John Paul II, in his life and his writing.
Within
a month, I had chewed my way through George Weigel's mammoth biography
of the Pope and I started reading John Paul's writings: "Crossing the
Threshold of Hope," "Gift and Mystery," and especially his encyclical
"The Splendor of Truth."
The more I read, the more I wanted to imitate
his example. He had something that I wanted. What I had seen in his eyes
in Rome arose from a profound union with God.
I was enamored by
the Pope's life of prayer, a deeply mystical mixture of Polish piety
flavored with the Carmelite spirituality of St. John of the Cross.
I
wanted to pray like the Pope prayed, and I started sneaking out of my
college dorm late at night to pray in the chapel across the street.
In
the dead of night, in that chapel, dimly lit by a votive candle and the
red glow of an exit sign, I grew firm in the certitude of God's call.