JPII Experience Winding Down (Part I)

Dear Classmates, Friends, Family

What once was only a dream, has now been experienced and lived and is beginning to wind down.

Learning about the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family as an undergrad at Saint Francis Xavier began a journey that has led me to pursue my passion for the fatherwood and wisdom witnessed by John Paul II at World Youth Day in Toronton 2002. I will be forever grateful to my chaplains Fr. Paul MacNeil and Sr. Mille for organizing and leading a pilgrimage to visit the Holy Father.

In Toronto, I experienced the grandeur and unity of the Catholic Church, most notably in the presence of the Holy Father. We were gathered in the name of Jesus Christ, present to the world in and through the Church with the successor of Saint Peter. What all this meant at the time I cannot explain, being in Toronto with a million young adults from around the world around the Holy Father. However, looking back I recognize that an important seed was planted in my life, I experienced the great love of God in the flesh, the presence of God in the world in the Church, in the Holy Father.

A conversion began, which I recount in an earlier post. I fell in love with the Church, with the Person of Christ, and began to seek what it was all about and whether its claims were indeed valid. In this pursuit, I discoverd my humanity by meeting the presence of Christ, and wanted to deepen my understanding of the significance of being born into a family that followed the life of the Church. (I guess Gaudium et Spes 22 is pretty important)

At the same time, my sister was undergoing a similar change of heart and discovery of the meaning and presence of Jesus in the Church. She shifted gears in her studies from chemistry to philosophy to theology -beginning studies at the John Paul II Institute in August 2003.

While finishing up my studies at X, I began to take an interest in what my sister was leaning at the Institute. Learning about the confusion and renewal that began following the Second Vatican Council, and the papacy of John Paul II as a "hermeneutic" (framework and guide of interpretation) to the council excited me very much. Growing up I always thought the Council was out of date, no longer having any significance for contemporary thought (Boy was I ever wrong).

With the advent of my senior year, and not knowing what I was going to do after finising up a bachelor degree in Chemistry I decided to apply to study at the Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family thinking that I could pursue marriage and family preparation work. A few weeks after applying, not thinking that I would be accepted since I had no degree in theology or philosphy, I found out that I was accepted. There was a classmate from X that applied and was accepted, but that is story for another day.

That is enough for today.
Please stay tuned for the next update, part II.

JR