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Friday, September 23, 2022
Today is the Feast day of Padre Pio. I have to admit, I don't know as much as I should about this loving Saint. I remember vaguely learning about his stigmata in my youth and being afraid and confused. As a child my ignorance was overcome by my LOVE for God. Children naturally have boundless hearts and sails open to the Holy Spirit. Adolescence brought confusion, arrogance, a closed heart and an unwilling attitude. My father died and I fell away from The Church. I have spent most of my life as a cold to lukewarm and poorly formed Catholic, a barely smoldering spark lacking the fuel needed to ignite spiritually. I was restless and lost. Now here I am, still ignorant but somehow finding myself writing this piece. How did this come to pass? Maybe it is because it is important for us to understand our culture at John Paul the Great Academy and its significance to finding our way and remaining focused on our Mission.
Here I am, having wasted so much time not choosing well and confusing my yes’s and no’s. In my spiritual sloth and ignorance I believed I was “doing the right thing” and “meaning well” but was badly misdirected as to what good was. I was adrift in the dark, empty sea with no real education or ability to read the stars above to guide me. In my myopia I was easily veered off track by shiny and sparkly, but empty, distractions. This is the clincher for me in the question of how do we as a community choose well and how do we help our children choose well? We must continue to “seek an integral knowledge of all things united by our Faith in Christ.” Without this knowledge we are lost.
Padre Pio has said "In the spiritual life he who does not advance goes backward. It happens as with a boat which must always go ahead. If it stands still the wind will blow it back."
We must seek an integral knowledge united by our faith in Christ so we can read and understand the roadmap God has given us. This allows us the capacity to choose well. Without this knowledge we are easily disoriented, blown backward or off course.
Ironically, the "me" culture of our modern society which has cast God aside, this culture of death that preaches self-fulfillment, self-reliance and personal comfort and pleasure above all else, leads to utter emptiness and sorrow. How do we raise our children to be able to rise above the empty lies of the devil even if it means swimming against the relentless current of what is mainstream? How do we keep them from being swept away?
I have called John Paul the Great Academy a beacon of His light in the darkness. It is that, but also so much more. It is not just a beacon but also a Rosetta Stone. John Paul the Great Academy provides the education and understanding we need to be able find our way and the community to support the advance of our families' spiritual lives. JPG chooses and fosters a culture that places Christ as the center of our lives in a relationship filled with filial trust for our Lord.
The culture of JPG is one of radical discipleship. “Following Christ is everything to us.” I am still ignorant and stunted but, by the grace of God, I am coming to a few realizations. One of these is that I am nothing without Christ. I am old and tired. I spent half of my life focusing on distractions, barely treading water enough to keep from drowning because I was afraid of what might make me uncomfortable. Christ does not call us to that kind of comfort. He calls us to something higher and better and more fulfilling… to true joy, and beauty, and love.
Padre Pio said “Always live under the eyes of the Good Shepherd and you will walk unharmed through evil pastures.” In my ignorance before I would have thought unharmed would mean without bodily discomfort or sacrifice. Now I understand that Padre Pio’s stigmata was a gift and an invitation. It was not a punishment or something to fear. Padre Pio is calling us as sons and daughters of our Lord to remain in the gaze of our creator and therefore spiritually unscathed. We must a-fix our eyes to Christ with laser focus and always remain in his light. This takes hard work.
This year at JPG we are called to work on our relationships, most importantly with Jesus. I pray that our JPG community emulates Padre Pio: "I am devoured by the Love for God and Love for the neighbor."
So I pray “Lord Let us be devoured by love. Help secure our commitment to search for an integral knowledge of all things united by our Faith in Christ. I pray our yes’s and no’s radiate a radical discipleship to you and that we remain on the path to holiness each and every day. Padre Pio, pray for us. Jesus I trust in You”
Author: Mary Heimbold, JPG Mom
Mary & Jeff Heimbold with sons Joseph & Matthew