ABOVE: Just this morning, 7:15 AM, in the Basilica of St. Peter, we celebrated Mass at the altar containing the body of Saint John Paul II. Assisting deacons were Rev. Mr. Michael Daly and Doug Leibsch.
HOMILY: We are all beggars before God, in need of His mercy.
Rev. Mr. Michael Daly preached at the morning Mass. He recounted a remarkable story in which a priest had come to Rome to meet with the then Holy Father, John Paul II. Just prior to greeting the Holy Father with a number of others, he recognized a beggar on the streets of Rome as a former seminary classmate. He stopped and discovered the man indeed to be his former classmate and brother priest.
He went on to discover that the mans life had fallen to pieces and hence, he was now living on the streets of Rome as a beggar. He promised to pray for him on his way to greet the Holy Father. The dischevelled man shrugged it off as mere sentiment.
The priest went on to greet John Paul II in the audience. As JPII came by to greet and shake his hand, the priest quickly made known his request for the Holy Father to pray for his former classmate who was now begging on the street.
To his suprise, that afternoon, the Holy Father requested that the priest be located and called in order to invite him and the man on the street to a private dinner. So it happened.
All though, weary and dischevelled, the man on the street took up this invitation, and went to have the private dinner with the Pope. At the conclusion of the meal, the Pope requested that the priest leave the room so he could meet privately with the former priest who found himself now begging on the street.
Next, John Paul II, got on his knees, and requested this man to hear his confession. Dismayed, the man said, "I can't hear your confession, I am not longer a priest, I am a beggar on the street."
John Paul II replied, "You must hear my confession, I am the Pope, but above all, I am a beggar just like you, before God, in need of His mercy."
Saint John Paul II, PRAY FOR US!
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