“Be not afraid. Open, I say open wide the doors to Christ”
October 22, 2020
Be not afraid. Open, I say open wide the doors to Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of states, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization, and development. Be not afraid. Christ knows “that which is in man”. He alone knows it.
From a homily of St. John Paul, Pope
For the inauguration of his Pontificate, October 22, 1978
As a woman and an educator of young women, I was drawn into the recent Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett in a way that was quite different from the Brett M. Kavanaugh hearings. I couldn’t help but marvel at this intelligent, articulate, wife, and mother of 7 children, who truly represents what the “feminine genius”, OUR feminine genius, looks like and means. I wasn’t the only one, as it turns out. Mary Hallan FioRito published an article entitled “Pope St. John Paul II and the ‘feminine genius’ of Amy Coney Barrett” in Our Sunday Visitor (for Catholics who love their faith) on Monday, October 19, 2020.
Is it a coincidence that the original confirmation vote was to have been taken on October 22, the feast day of Pope St. John Paul II? It is noteworthy to point out that John Paul II published his “Letter to Women” 25 years ago, on June 29,1995. His writings, as we know, “speak directly to every woman, to reflect with her on the problems and prospects of what it means to be a woman in our time.”
Last year, October 22 was called a day of prayer and passion for the Lord, to celebrate the life and legacy of this modern-day saint. At SCA we celebrate St. Pope John Paul II for the legacy which he left the world in his “Letter to Women” (among other things). At the end of this message, he wrote, “From the heart of the Church there have emerged women of the highest caliber who have left an impressive and beneficial mark on history…the Third Millennium will certainly not be lacking in new and surprising manifestations of ‘the feminine genius.’” Our young women today can take an example from Judge Barrett as she embarks on a new path in her life.
St. Pope John Paul II emphasized a message of putting your love and faith in God above all else. He let that love radiate into his papacy, as well as his daily actions. On his feast day, remember his life and reflect on his words of spiritual conviction:
“What really matters in life is that we are loved by Christ and that we love Him in return. In comparison to the love of Jesus, everything else is secondary. And, without the love of Jesus, everything is useless.”
Let us Pray
O God, rich in mercy,
Who willed that Pope Saint John Paul the Second
should preside over your universal Church,
grant, we pray, that instructed by his teaching,
we may confidently open our hearts to the saving grace of Christ,
the sole Redeemer of the human race,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Pope St. John Paul II and the ‘feminine genius’ of Amy Coney Barrett
