Love

Some people at my job have a picture of themselves meeting Pope John Paul II. Today, as I was dropping by another co-worker's office, I noticed her picture with JPII from about 19 years ago. I was in awe at how fortunate she was and she told me the story of how she met him. She was in a line of people from her charismatic group and he went to each person to greet them. He had an assistant with him who whispered to him the name of each person he was meeting. She recalled that she was a new Catholic and wasn't sure what to do; whether she was supposed to kiss his ring or anything like that. She stood there looking down and then the white figure of JPII appeared in the corner of her eye. She could see his shoes and immediately thought "hmmm...those are very nice shoes...I wonder if he has a special shopper for his shoes...." She couldn't believe she was thinking that as she was about to meet the Pope.

Then, my co-worker stood in front of me to demonstrate how JPII greeted her. She said that at the time she saw JPII, it was before he was shot and before he was in a wheelchair. It was about 10 years into his pontificate and he was not an aging, frail figure. He was a tall, powerful presence. So after the assistant whispered in his ear, my co-worker re-enacted the meeting by swooping up my hands with a loving smile, looking into my eyes and saying something like "My dear (co-worker's name), from (her hometown), God's blessing be upon you and your family!" I could almost see his eyes and hear his voice...her impression of him obviously was burned into her memory. Tears came to her eyes and I felt as if I was there. She said that she didn't know what to say after that. I completely understood.

I may not be well-traveled and I may never become as worldly as I once dreamed I would be...but the Lord always surprises me with these personal keepsakes of immeasurable value. God has blessed me with family and friends who share with me...who trust me with their thoughts and memories...and who will pray for me and ask me to pray for them. This, to me, is love the way God intended...the spiritual magnet between souls...the stuff money could never buy. May God's blessing be upon all of us and our families...