Honoring John Paul II's legacy

By Gina Keating
The Catholic Sun

He graced the cover of Time Magazine, he drew the largest audiences in recorded history and newborn babies were named after him — even in death, Pope John Paul II continues to play a pivotal role in society.

As people around the world gathered April 2 to mark the first anniversary of his death, several hundred people arrived at St. Mary’s Basilica in Phoenix.

The late pope named the church a basilica and stopped to pray there during his nine-city, 10-day American tour nearly 20 years ago.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted celebrated the morning Mass that attracted people from all walks of life, a testament to the pontiff’s charisma and charm.

Early arrivals got to choose from an assortment of free posters and postcards attractively displayed outside the basilica, as the papal chalice, ciborium and kneeler were displayed inside just prior to the start of Mass.

Bishop Olmsted used the imagery from the readings of the fifth Sunday of Lent to reflect on the life and legacy of Pope John Paul II.

Referencing a grain of wheat that dies to sprout new life as a plant, the bishop recalled how “one year ago today we were very conscious of this dying.”

He explained that in death, we become like a grain of wheat “to the degree a person enters into dying of self and into service of others.”

“The most striking thing for me was the way he lived his spiritual fatherhood,” Bishop Olmsted said of the pope. “He had incredible confidence in God. It didn’t come from him, it came from the one he had confidence in. He was a person of prayer… and walked in the presence of Christ his whole day.”

The bishop’s description of the Holy Father appearing on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in 1978 was greeted with laughter, as he compared him to “a fullback that had walked in front of the team.”

“No one could doubt who was the center of Pope John Paul’s life,” Bishop Olmsted said. “Totus tuus, I am totally yours.”

This Latin phrase, totus tuus, became the pope’s apostolic motto.

Brian and Luzinda Chavez of Chandler attended the service with their six children and sat near the front pew.

The family was eager to hear the bishop commemorate their beloved pope, whom they “respected and admired.”

“He was a really great pope that kept the orders of the Church,” said 11-year-old Zackary Chavez. “He was loved by millions of people and it makes me very happy to be here.”

Three-year-old John Paul Chavez was too busy napping for comment.

As the celebration continued inside, a growing memorial of flowers and mementos surrounded a life-size statue of the pontiff outside the Diocesan Pastoral Center.

Henry Armstrong echoed the sentiments of the Chavez family and came out of deep respect for the pope’s lifetime accomplishments.

“Regardless of people’s race, history or background, Pope John Paul was equally respected throughout the world,” he said. “It was a great Mass because it conveyed that.”