My best friend's halo

As the Holy Week begins tomorrow, the issue of sacrifice enters our lives. The thought of sacrifice during this time sparks images of Kapampangan farmers beating and bleeding themselves to death for a good harvest. Yet, as I read A Life with Karol: My Forty-Year Friendship with the Man Who Became Pope by Krakow’s Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz in Poland, the true meaning of sacrifice is not in sowing and reaping rewards patiently for yourself but for others. This is essentially found in friendship. Echoing the gospel of John that says “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends,” Stanislaw depicts the late Pope John Paul II or Karol Woityla as not just as his personal friend but a genuine friend of humanity. The biography implicitly details Karol as a buddy that you have to share with others because of his innate talent and passion for people. From the purest of children to Mehmet Ali Aca who attempted to shoot him dead, Karol Woityla embraces them all.

For the author, he experienced this first in 1957 as a seminarian in Poland. Nearly a decade later in 1966, he became Karol Woityla’s secretary until his death. The biography offers intimate details such as how Dziwisz would arrange secret ski trips for the Roman Pontiff by using the back streets of Rome to shooing away kids who just saw their Pope carving the hills at good speed. His account also offers a bit more personal details in events such as JPII’s assassination attempt in which the Pope could not believe that someone wanted to shoot him in front of a crowd in broad daylight.

Yet, the book doesn’t reveal more as expected because there have been heftier and more examined looks at Karol’s life such as George Weigel’s Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II. At best, A Life with Karol is a read to remind us of just what a good friend JPII was in various levels from his one-on-one dealings with young couples and an entire country without his involved commitment shifting at all.

As much as this can be seen in Karol’s influence in wiping away communism in Europe by using the gospel verse “Do not be afraid” to rally people to peacefully fight this unjust system, Karol’s deep interest in people is distinctly highlighted in his trip to war-stricken areas. The late Pope is said to bravely traverse to these countries with his whole soul to give hope. However, he would cancel these tours if these meetings would pose a threat to people that would meet him. 

Also, as a true friend, JPII teaches us to ask pardon for errors committed by Catholics such as the trial of Galilelo Galilei to the inactivity of Catholics during the holocaust.

True Bromance

Through JPII’s life, we learn that sacrifice entails giving not just blood but our whole selves in friendship. Sometimes, it is simply going out of our way to give hope to our friends when they are tired or having terrible day. And JPII didn’t invent this practice, he was just following Christ who died for all of us because He called us his friends.

By getting to know Pope John Paul II, we know that we have a true friend watching over us in heaven.

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A Life with Karol: My Forty-Year Friendship with the Man Who Became Pope by Cardinal of Krakow Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz is available at National Book Store and Powerbbooks.

Learn more about Pope John Paul II at http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/index.htm.

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Send me friendly messages at readnow@supreme.ph.