The Feast of the Blessed John Paul II: October 23, 2011
Bishop Sheridan established October 23rd, 2011, the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time and the day following John Paul’s feast day, as the day for the liturgical celebration in this diocese. We also continue in our thoughts on Stewardship, and look at commitment and love in this context. Certainly, there is no greater example of a human being who lived out these virtues of commitment and love in front of the world than in the Blessed John Paul II. He visited 116 countries, promoting church teaching on personal behavior and public morality and condemning what he said was a decline of spiritual values brought about by the rising materialism of the twentieth century. The most traveled pope in history was also the first non-Italian to lead the church in more than four and a-half centuries. Born in Poland, he secretly trained for the priesthood under Nazi occupation, lived under Communism, and was recognized by secular historians, along with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, as hav