Blessed John Paul II – I Love You!

This week, the only Pope I knew for my almost 25 years will be beatified by his successor. I am sure everyone will be giving him tributes this week but I want add my personal experience. For me he was always an example of a true priest. I could even say, “through him I discovered my vocation, twice.”

When I wondered about a vocation, I always knew that if I had a vocation, it would be close to the Pope, a kind of 6th sense, you might say. I remember I sent in an anonymous question to the vocation Q&A on EWTN.com asking if there was a seminary in the Vatican – figuring that if I had a vocation, that is where I would go.

Throughout college I had the idea of a possible vocation in my mind but I don’t give it much thought. Then one Sunday, after mass at the University of Calgary, a lady from the diocese came in to give a presentation on World Youth Day 2000. Her hope was that we would all go to World Youth Day 2003 in Toronto, but her presentation is the reason I didn’t go. When I saw the words of the Pope, “Be not afraid to be the saints of the new millennium,” my vague ideas crystallized into a certainty that I was called.

Although not a member of Regnum Christi, some friends who were members were an example of Christian life to me. Their example led me to consider the Legion as a place to live out my priestly vocation and a month or two later I visited our novitiate in Cheshire. I fell in love with it immediately but I needed at least some confirmation beyond a generally feeling, something to let my intellect rest with this decision.

Saturday night we watched a video the Legion had recently produced, In the Heart of the Pope. Some of you have probably seen it but for those who haven’t, it is a highlight reel of all the times the Legionaries or Regnum Christi members were at audiences with the Pope and our name was called as one of the special groups. For me, they evident love that John Paul had for this group confirmed me in this path.

I will be at the Beatification this Sunday with a group of pilgrims from the Midwest. I love Benedict XVI, but there is only one Pope I can say helped me find my vocation. J-P-2,-I-love-you.

About Fr Matthew P. Schneider, LC

In 2001, I traveled from Calgary, Canada to join the Legion. Since then I’ve been all over North America and spent some time in Rome. I currently reside in Washington doing a bunch of writing and taking care of the community while studying my Licentiate in Theology (between Masters and Doctorate). I’m most well-known on Instagram and Twitter where I have about 6,500 and 40,000 followers respectively.
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