Lk. 14: 25-33
St. John Paul II, considered as one of the noblest human being of our time, is one of my greatest inspirations. He lived not merely as a part of history but He made history by his significant contributions that uphold human dignity and value of human life. However, his road to greatness was really tough and challenging. At the age of nine he lost his mother. Later on his university studies was interrupted because of the World War II. At the age of 21, his father passed away. In 1944 he met with a serious road accident. As a priest and later on as the Archbishop of Krakow, he had to deal with a number of challenges from the part of communist regime who was ruling the country. His pontificate was marked with varied physical ailments. On May 13, 1981, he was shot at by Ali Agca, but, was miraculously saved. In 1992, he underwent an operation to remove a tumor from his intestine, in 1993 he dislocated his right shoulder; then in the following year his leg was broken; in 1996 he had an appendicectomy and in 2001 he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s diseases, which plagued him till his death.
We are all called to follow Jesus. Following someone presupposes an absolute trust in the one who guides or goes in front of us. This notion of following someone is very common in our context. It may be an ideology of political-social-religious organization or charisma of a political leader or stardom of a cine artist or skills of a sports star etc. When we introspect deeply, we can realize that one way or the other, we try to achieve a kind of self-fulfillment by following these people. What might have attracted us to these people is what we wish to have as part of our being, like their talents, stardom, etc. By following them we try to make it part of our own being.
What is the peculiarity of being a follower of Jesus? Other people offer a lot of comforts to their followers but Jesus does not promise a cakewalk for his followers. He asks us to take up our cross and follow him. All the other stars take away their followers from encountering the realities of their life. But Jesus has no shortcuts; he clearly tells us to accept it and face it with boldness and courage. Then you may ask, if life is all about accepting it as it comes then what is the need of following Jesus? The simple answer is his presence in our life journey empowers us to carry our cross. But, he promises that he will be there with us to share the burden of our cross as an unfailing companion. Now we may think it may be possible only in imagination. Definitely no; because, on his way to Calvary he carried the burdens of our failures, in order to identify himself with humanity. He accepted His cross that we may be strengthened to continue this journey. He has experienced all the human misery possible and also the challenges of the existential human situations. Therefore, he understands.
Let us come back to the life of John Paul II. At no moment, did he say: Enough Lord! He carried his cross courageously because he knew that the one who called Him all the way from Poland to the Petrine ministry is with him as an unfailing companion and as a dear comrade who would share the burden of his cross. This conviction kept him going in spite of his physical and mental sufferings… Dear friends, our God is not a God who sits in heaven and controls his subjects. Our God is a co-traveler, a beloved companion, Immanuel, God with us…