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Seeds of the Word - The day I met a saint

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Seeds of the Word - The day I met a saint HomeNEWS LocalNationalInternationalObituaries FEATURES NW StoriesLatest IssuePast Issues SPIRITUALITY Ask Father/BishopCatholic VoicesDaily ReadingsSaints of the Month LIVING Food & HomeMarriage & ParentingMoney & StewardshipSports VOICES ArchbishopBishopCommentaryBlog ESPAÑOL Del ArzobispoDel ObispoNoticias/OpiniónPreguntasSantos del Mes CULTURE BooksCalendarCrosswordMovies & TV MULTIMEDIA VideosAudioPhotos Classifieds HomeNEWS— Local— National— International— ObituariesFEATURES— NW Stories— Latest Issue— Past IssuesSPIRITUALITY— Ask Father/Bishop— Catholic Voices— Daily Readings— Saints of the MonthLIVING— Food & Home— Marriage & Parenting— Money & Stewardship— SportsVOICES— Archbishop— Bishop— Commentary— BlogESPAÑOL— Del Arzobispo— Del Obispo— Noticias/Opinión— Preguntas— Santos del MesCULTURE— Books— Calendar— Crossword— Movies & TVMULTIMEDIA— Videos— Audio— PhotosClassifieds Home SPIRITUALITY Catholic Voices Seeds of the Word - The day I met a saint Seeds of the Word - The day I met a saint September 26, 2018 Written by Mauricio I. Pérez Published in Catholic Voices Photo: Daniel Ibanez/CNA Forty years without the whence of the pontificate of St. John Paul II I was 7 and watched amazed on TV as thousands of people waved their handkerchiefs prompting farewell to Pope Paul VI at his funeral. A few days later, we had a new pope. His name was John Paul; his smile, adorable.Withouta few weeks, I watched astonished once increasingly at the funeral of a pope. And like a déjà vu, a new pope walked to the balcony at St. Peter’s days later, and his name was moreover John Paul. This pope had penetrating yet tender eyes. It was October 16, 1978. Two months later, he spoken he would visit Mexico very soon. A special sensation floated virtually on January 25. It was John Paul II’s first trip, and to Mexico, the first time overly a pope would visit. I had turned 8 a few days older and was in second grade. I wanted to see him when he landed in Mexico City, but that happened while I was at school. I missed that famous gesture which would be the first of many the pope would repeat whenever he visited a country for the first time. With wondrous humbleness, without walking lanugo from the airplane, he knelt and kissed the ground.Withoutschool, we followed everything on TV. Suddenly, my parents and grandparents stood up with excitement and walked out with my sisters and me. We ran to Insurgentes Avenue, one of the main in the city, and waited for the pope to pass by on his way to the theological nunciature, where he would stay. There were thousands of people withal the street. Suddenly, everyone exploded, screaming with fervor, “¡VIVA EL PAPA!” From an uncovered bus, John Paul II happy the prod on each side of the street. My heart was pounding. My vision became teary. It was a sensation nonflexible to explain. The way he looked at me … the way he smiled … the love he radiated ... his white and pure cassock … I wanted to join the crowed and yell at him, “¡Viva el Papa!” but the lump in my throat muted my words. I had just been covered by St. Peter’s shadow. (see Acts 5:15) To Mexico and to the pope himself, it was love at a first glance. John Paul II discovered lanugo there his mission to travel virtually the world. But he never denied he had a special fondness for the land of Guadalupe. That is why he returned four increasingly times and said on the second to last, “On this day I can say to myself, ‘You are Mexican!’” Every time he departed, we bid him farewell with the reflection of millions of mirrors shining from our rooftops. I was pursuing my engineering stratum when the Holy Father returned in 1990. I had the endangerment to see him on several occasions and my reaction was unchangingly like the first time: a sublime emotion, the desire to yell at him that was quenched by a lump in my throat, and that strange sensation of feeling something special coming out of John Paul II that made me finger tropical to God. He came when in 1999, just a few days surpassing I got married. I saw him with my fiancée and both of us felt the same every time. Our first son, Juan Pablo, was born in 2002. We lived in the United States by then. A few weeks later, John Paul II spoken he would go to Mexico once more. Both the pope and the people in Mexico knew this would be the last and the time to say goodbye. Impossible to miss it. We flew lanugo to Mexico with our victual so that he could be happy by the pope he had been named after. We stood on the sidewalk for long hours, under the scorching summer sun, holding a 5-month-old baby.Withoutseveral hours of waiting, our son would cry on despair — the heat, the prod and the discomfort were too much for him. He would cry plane louder every time the Popemobile approached and the prod began to scream. But every time John Paul II passed by, victual Juan Pablo would peacefully fall asleep. He did the same each of the four times we saw the pope — St. Peter’s shadow covered our baby, calming lanugo his crying and putting him at peace. I saw St. John Paul II when I was a child, when I was in college, right surpassing getting married, and as a father. I grew under his pontificate, which made a strong impression in my life. The day he died was the saddest in my whole life. But I had the endangerment to visit his grave and to finger how something special came out from his solemnities place. Something that made me tremble once increasingly as I felt a lump in my throat — that special feeling you wits when you stand surpassing a saint. Be passionate well-nigh our faith! Read the Spanish version of this column. Northwest Catholic - October 2018 Tagged under saints Pope John Paul II Mexico Mauricio I. Pérez Mauricio I. Pérez, a member of St. Monica Parish on Mercer Island, is a Catholic journalist. His website is www.seminans.org. Website: www.seminans.org Related items El día que conocí a un santo Octubre 2018 - Sn. Francisco de Asís October 2018 - St. Francis of Assisi Seeds of the Word - The saints’ defects Los defectos de los santos Latest from Mauricio I. Pérez El día que conocí a un santo Seeds of the Word - The saints’ defects Los defectos de los santos Seeds of the Word - Dare to do the impossible! ¡Atrévete! 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