How John Paul II Helped Me to Be a Better Man

saint pope john paul ii he doesn't have a beard but still one of my favorite saints [Music] hey everyone this is bobby angel with ascension presents this was the pope i grew up with for over two decades this is the only pope i knew um and his story is amazing using all the different ways of my story to try to give back to god john paul ii is right at the center of it all in really leading the charge of what a man of god looks like so first of all he really taught me to be not afraid one of the the things he says right when he's declared pope he's up in the window and and encouraging the young people around the world be not afraid i remember being you know 20 years old clueless didn't even have a major declared in college i'm in my second year i'm still just knocking out gen eds not having a clue really starting to feel a tug towards the priesthood but really wanting to date and not having a clue professionally what i wanted to do john paul ii was the the constant be not afraid be not afraid don't be afraid to give your youth to christ i had some people say well go live in the world and be successful and then go be a priest later or go you know enjoy life you know live in sin and then you can always come back to god at the end it's like well first of all it's not a guarantee second that's awful advice third i want to give my youth to god i don't want to give him my leftovers i don't want to just give him the scraps like i want to be transformed and go all in and john paul ii was such a again as a young man he just gave me that that reassurance number two this is a big one john paul ii taught me the gift of the body the gift of our sexuality um one of the the works he is most famous for is the theology of the body man and woman he created them a theology of the body this thing is huge this thing is intimidating and he was a philosopher and it's intense but thanks be to god there are so many people that have studied his work and brought it to a more accessible level for the common man i remember a friend of mine in college she was just all about this theology of the body this tob and we had you know 90s to that early 2000s vhs tastic tapes and i'm like i don't get it i i wasn't ready for it john paul ii realized the world needed this and as a young man um and and he's in love with love he's in love with the lord he's in love with being a priest helping other couples and and out of the fruit of that ministry he writes a book love and responsibility and eventually writes the theology of the body which is meant for the poland like it's meant for his polish audiences as he's ordained a bishop and but then the holy spirit moves and he's elected pope and so all of a sudden this this teaching that was supposed to be just for a contained audience as he thought maybe the holy spirit blesses upon the world john paul ii knew that we needed to reframe our sexual ethics not change it not make a new gospel but again with new arter means and expressions evangelize the world anew and and through the theology of the body through the beauty of human love and sexuality john paul ii had a pulse on what was going on in the world and was leading the charge and love is a beautiful thing but we can we can walk away with the distaste of love and human love and just thinking i'm i'm supposed to use other people or i'm no i'm you know just mutual objects to be used it's how we can see human love when it's like no no remember something so much richer and with so much more dignity it will bless your life and i'm so thankful for john paul ii teaching the goodness of the human body pope john paul ii also taught me to respect the body of christ not just like the human body but even the body of christ the eucharist he would spend hours in prayer he would spend hours like prostrate on the floor um in just that deep prayerful state he would groan like the the groans that saint paul talks about our bodies are groaning for redemption like prayer wasn't just this like 30 second before meal like kind of check the box like that was he was immersed in in in god he was uh had a deep love for the eucharist since a young child and he would often be late for scheduled events because he'd be so in prayer and sometimes they would try to you know get the pope from point a to point b and he's got to meet with dignitaries and make these appointments but then he he knows there's a chapel nearby like sometimes his aides wouldn't even tell him there's a chapel in the building or there's a tabernacle nearby and he would just stop and look at a room be like and no like that's how close his connection his relationship with jesus christ was when he was he even even knew without being told like jesus is in that room like you know this is worth getting off schedule for let me go see my beloved the lord jesus christ and lastly john paul ii really taught me how to suffer and and again in a culture where suffering and pain are just these things we're trying to get rid of at all costs to reclaim suffering as a good as something that can be redemptive for ourselves for the church and for the world uh from a young age he lost his mother he lost a brother by age 20 he had lost his other brother he lost his father who was his steadfast example of the faith so you know by 20 he's orphaned and alone and his native poland is being overrun by the nazis and then eventually later on by the communists so he knew hardship he knew oppression he was put in a in a work camp he had to break stone while studying for the priesthood clandestinely underground the whole while there was an assassination attempt on his life on the feast of our lady of fatima he is shot in saint peter's square before the popemobile was all bulletproof and you know high-tech like stark enterprises it's like open air there's an assassination attempt on its life it comes mil the bullets come millimeters from hitting his aorta and the doctors said this is this is a miracle and and john paul just has a deep sense of like yeah mary's hand guided the bullet away um it's not my time he suffered you know he was an athlete he he was loved the outdoors he loved canoeing he loved hiking and so later in his life when he's stricken with parkinson's you know that that's a cross that's a cross when your own body is betraying you john paul ii said listen like no no i'm gonna offer my suffering and it's that it's you know the young fit pope is aging before the eyes of the world and in 2005 he breathes his last after the vigil of divine mercy sunday saint faustina who he himself canonized as an official saint of the church he dies on divine mercy sunday it was it was poetic and again this i never met him um he was just kind of the spiritual grandfather i had on the other side of the world but i remember being a sophomore in college and crying in my dorm room when they said that the pope had died and it was weird after that after again over 20 years if you've had one spiritual father it was eerie in the days afterwards like we didn't have an earthly shepherd until they elected pope benedict mary became his mother from a very young age when he lost his own physical mother a young carol voitiwa later john paul ii entrusted himself into our lady's arms and so let's all do the same to tip our hat to john paul ii pray for his intercession read more about him again he will same thing when you read about an athlete or someone that's just really going after in business you're like you know you're either shamed and just reclining more on the couch and be like i'll never live up to that or it calls you out and be like okay i gotta get to work john paul ii has had that effect on me i pray he has that effect on you that through his intercession we're able to grow closer to christ and get to work for the sake of the gospel from all of us at ascension presents god bless [Music] you

Channel: Ascension Presents

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Keywords: Bobby Angel, Ascension Presents, Jackie and Bobby, Jackie and Bobby Angel, Ascension Press, ascension youtube, universal call to holiness, amazing saints, saints you have to know, life of jp2, saint john paul ii, pope saint john paul ii, saint pope john paul ii, st. Jp2, be not afraid, jpii, redemptive suffering, body of Christ, theology of the body, tob, you program, you life love and the theology of the body, karol wojtyla

Id: 240s7L_X-sc

Length: 8min 18sec (498 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 20 2020