Kitabı oku: «In God’s Hands: The Spiritual Diaries of Pope St John Paul II», sayfa 4
17–20 [August] 1965 Retreat in Tyniec Topic: Justification, theological virtues
17 August
Holy Mass read on the Memorial of St Hyacinth of Poland (OP). After the arrival in Tyniec: Vespers; Adoration; Compline
18 August
Morning prayers [illegible]; (Rosary); Lauds; Holy Mass; Thanksgiving; Matins; Prime; Act of Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Meditation: Referring back to the retreat of 1963, I wish to expand on the topic of ‘justification’. I find this topic academically (theologically) appealing and at the same time internally, personally important. The topic develops into a reflection on theological virtues, i.e. divine virtues.
Faith. The catechism’s definition: ‘to accept as true all that God has revealed to us and that holy Church proposes for our belief’1 can be interpreted and even experienced in different ways. The intellectualist (ideological) interpretation is different from the personalist (charitological) interpretation. It is not only about the sum of truths (propositions) which the mind accepts through the authority of ‘God who reveals them’ – and more directly: Christ, the Church (cf. motiva credibilitatis [compare motives of credibility]).2 It is about the specific supernatural relationship of man – a person – with the personal God (Trinitas SS [the Holy Trinity]). The nearer foundation of this relationship is the mind (reason). The proper subject matter of this human faculty is truth. Faith is a readiness, indeed, it is an act of reason which is ready to accept God’s truth as its own truth. Communicatio in veritate cum Deo [Communion with God in truth]. It is probably the highest act – one of the highest acts – in a relationship of a person to a person. This readiness to communicate in truth becomes, in a particular way, renewed through revelation, and in general with its help (in its extension lies theology). Faith consists in the acceptance of revelation, but it is possible thanks to the readiness of the mind mentioned above, which revelation takes for granted and simultaneously makes fully possible.
The Way of the Cross: main theme ‘viator – comprehensor’ [‘wayfarer – comprehensor’];3 The Little Hours; Reading the schemas; Vespers for Wednesday
Adoration: it somehow provides me with topics for the afternoon meditation
Meditation on practical issues: dialogue, the Church of dialogue, others separately
Matins; Spiritual reading; Compline
19 August
Lauds; Prime (communal); Holy Mass with petitionary prayers before and after; Writing pastoral texts
Meditation: To continue yesterday’s topic, it must be first observed that faith would require a much broader analysis, including the issue of atheism (unbelief) and the attitude to it. (The Church of dialogue is in fact the object of the virtue of hope.) Hope itself is a very rich and complex virtue. It is not possible to conduct its multidimensional analysis right now. Just some dimensions. In hope there is something of faith and something of charity. Fundamentally, it is the wish for what God offers us in revelation, which we mentally accept through faith. It is then our wish for and choice of God and the entire world of supernatural goods. There is a certain personalist dimension in this; hope turns us towards God as the aim, hope is the wish for or even the desire of ‘the everlasting hills’.4 But it is here that its second dimension is revealed, and it could be called the ‘dimension of strength’. Will I manage? A certain evaluation of one’s own strength in relation to the aim. And after this evaluation, trust: God Himself will give me strength for that. ‘Deus adiuvabit’ [‘God will help’]. So the relationship of a person to the Person in hope has two dimensions: first, the readiness to wish for that which God wishes for (through this dimension hope frees us from ideological negativism and the senselessness of life), and, second, trust (through this dimension hope frees us from despair). The first dimension takes place thanks to the second, and vice versa. And an essential and indispensable element of the justification of man before God is realised through the entire virtue of hope in both its dimensions. Hope is an attitude of the human being towards God (a person towards the Person) in which one is ‘just’, i.e. in the right position towards the one who is God. This attitude results from grace and simultaneously leads to it. (NB personalist and revealed morality in some way consists of analysing such attitudes.)
Here also ‘timor’ [‘fear’].
The virtue of hope turns towards eternity and temporality at the same time. God, helping us reach eternity in temporality, simultaneously helps us fulfil His plan, which is focused on eternity, in temporality. It is all about making this plan of His ours. Hope does not accept fiction nor ‘substitutes’. However, it permeates our various temporal tasks, which we undertake through God’s will. Without hope – without putting trust in Him and having confidence that He will help – it would definitely be impossible.
The Way of the Cross: Main theme: salvation is linked to hardship – hope takes this into account too.
The Little Hours; Reading schema XIII;5 Vespers for Thursday; Rosary continued
Adoratio SS-mi, ubi Xristus tamquam fons et stabilis mensura vitae humanae praesens adest [Adoration of the Holy Sacrament, in which Christ is present as the fount and permanent measure of human life]
Afternoon meditation on practical issues, on these separately; Anticipated Matins
Reading (on the priesthood of laity by Father Przybylski)
Compline; Holy Hour – priesthood as the main topic – for priests and vocations
20 August: Memorial of St Bernard
Lauds; Prime; Rosary; Prayers (preparation for Holy Mass); Holy Mass; Thanksgiving; Writing texts related to 5 September and the following days
Meditation: Love, the virtue of charity, is an even broader topic than the previous one. First of all, the fact that God is love puts it above everything, and makes it the centre towards which all participation gravitates. Charity is the ‘fulfilment of justification’. It is even more than ‘plenitudo legis’ [‘the fulfilling of the law’].6 Through love the fullest and the most mature contact of a person with the Person can be established – the contact that faith and hope have already foregrounded. It seems that both these virtues share something with charity, they prepare one for it and lead one towards it. It is not surprising that charity cannot exist without them (though they can exist without charity). At the same time, the essence of charity exceeds what faith and hope are by themselves. There is more in charity – and through this ‘more’ it remains incomparable to the other two. It is difficult to grasp this ‘more’. It seems that charity is always responsible for the union with a person that takes place within that which is good, and the union with that which is good that takes place in a person. Its nature is, in a sense, bipolar, being simultaneously ‘personalist’ and ‘axiological’. It has to be love ‘above all’ for God, who is the fullness of good – and for creatures, specifically people, according to the measure of good they represent. Love is not bound to a person in a way that would make it impossible for it to go beyond that person (where it is possible) towards good. At the same time, a proper relation between good and charity makes it always possible to turn love towards other people – not only one specific person, but people in general. Love is characterised by the properties which St Paul wrote about (1 Cor. 13). Its essence is beyond properties and it is such a participation in God that it fills all eternity.
The Way of the Cross: Expanding on these reflections, e.g. Station II: ‘ubi amatur, iam non laboratur, et si laboratur, etiam labor amatur’ [‘in love, there is no hardship; even in hardship, the hardship is loved’]; Station VIII: the strength of love lies also in the identification of that which is not love – even though it appears to be – for what it is.
The Little Hours; Adoration (Words of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross); Rosary; Vespers; Afternoon meditation on practical issues (separately)
Continuation: 26 September, 28 September [probably 1965]
7/8 November: Dies recol. [Reflection days]
Main thoughts: (a) participatio in sacerdotio Christi – in summo sacerdotio [participation in Christ’s priesthood – in the highest priesthood]; (b) priesthood and the days of death (1–2 November) coincide in my life in a significant way; (c) then thoughts ‘de redemptione’ [‘of redemption’] come back (redemptio – redemption = the restoration of full worth to man and creatures in general); (d) a supplement to the meditation on theological virtues: charity is a participation in the very person, and differs from faith and hope in that it leads to a participation in a person, thus, a union; (e) just like at the retreat, also here one feels an eagerness to complete tasks (which at this stage I have put in some order).
[19]64 (65?)
7/8 November
This day was a kind of anticipation of the retreat day (intertwined with other activities). The key thoughts of the day: (1) the reality of the Most Holy Trinity (preface); (2) the issue of ‘meaning – service’.
2 December
Matins; Holy Mass; Lauds; Prime
Meditation 1: The Church as the means to the end, which is God Himself: the union of persons–souls with Him. Simultaneously, the same Church as Sponsa [Bride]: the divine order is the order of love.
Meditation 2: God Himself gives ‘meaning’ to man and his actions. At the same time, there is a drive towards this ‘meaning’ in man. This drive is turned into service when man accepts the meaning given to it by God. This ‘meaning’ is always larger than man. It overwhelms him.
Vespers; The Way of the Cross (associations with Genesis)
Meditation 3: A timely one on the topic of ‘pastor – auctor’ [‘shepherd – creator’]
Conclusion: to order things according to the meaning given to them by God, though the question remains.
Meditation 4: Litany of the Saints. Modus procedendi [how to proceed] in case 1.
Adoration; (Talk for the Felician Sisters)
Spiritual reading (F. Wulf SJ, La vie spirituelle dans le monde d’aujourd’hui)1
Matins; Rosary; Penitential psalms; Compline
31 October – 1 November 1966
[Kalwaria]
(Twentieth anniversary of priestly ordination)
The Little Ways:1 An extraordinary theological fusion of Christ’s way of the cross and His Mother’s way. Christ’s priesthood was planted, sown and deposited in the people of God as their permanent inheritance. My own priesthood was also born out of the people of God’s inheritance.
Holy Mass at the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Talk on current issues; (1 November) the ordination of subdeacons in the cathedral; The Way of the Cross; Prayers for the dead
19–21 December 1966 Retreat at the Albertine Sisters’ Convent Topic: iustificatio – restitutio – (vocatio) [justification – restitution – (vocation)]
19 December
Preparation for Holy Mass: ‘Order – grace’ (Meditation 1);
Holy Mass, Thanksgiving; Lauds, Prime
Meditation 2: Vocation and eschatology. Having to consider some more specific issues related to my vocation, I am looking for the broadest background possible. The human vocation is eschatological, directed at God Himself through participation in His life and eternity. Recently I have connected this eschatological vocation with the idea of ‘restitutio’: the creation’s return to the Creator. Such a return is, so to speak, the primary function of the Son–Word: Christ. At this point the earthly Advent exceeds its historical boundaries. Everything in Christ aims for ‘restitutio’ [a return to the original condition] – for a return to the Father. Man participates in this in a conscious way through faith. Conscious participation in Christ’s ‘restitutio’ coincides with human justification (iustificatio) as the basic conception of being in grace.
The second eschatological element is judgement. We also await Christ from this angle: first, historically, as Word made flesh – Word that is truth: the truth-norm expressed in the Gospels. Then as Word–Judgement (‘The Father judges no one but has given all judgement to the Son’).1 As the consequence of incarnation and redemption, the Word’s judgement will be as if a special ‘self-judgement’ of humankind: a judgement in the light of the Word.
Thus, eschatology takes shape as a particular connection between these two elements: ‘restitutio’ and ‘Verbum–Iudicium’ [‘Word–Judgement’]. Death is a border only from the human perspective.
The Way of the Cross (text by E. Krajewska written in the Pawiak prison);2 The Little Hours
Spiritual reading (Fr Granat, dogmatics: The ultimate destiny of man and the world),3 Steinmann: Paul of Tarsus,4 Burke: on St Paul of the Cross (‘Hunter of Souls’), Rosary (III)
Meditation 3: De quibusdam particularibus in vocatione mea [On particular aspects of my vocation]: a continuation of the topic of ‘meaning given to man by God’ – the grace of state5 is contained within these boundaries, to cooperate with it, to be faithful to it.
Meditation 4: De apostolatu laicorum [On the apostolate of the laity]
Vespers; Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament; Matins of the following day; Litany of the Saints; Compline
20 December
Preparation for Holy Mass
Meditation 1 (short): recapitulatio [summary]; Petition for the development of what was outlined on the first day
Lauds; Holy Mass; Thanksgiving; Prime; Spiritual reading
Meditation 2: Our (all people’s) vocation in Christ. Christ is, above all, a great calling which permeates temporality, but gestures towards eternity. It permeates temporality and attempts to organise it from the angle of ‘restitutio’, that is a return to the Father. The double meaning of the cross is connected to this – and the double ‘elevatio’ [‘elevation’] during the Holy Mass. The cross as the victim – the expiatory destruction. And the cross as the labour of constant search for the correct value (re-evaluation) of everything – the values which were intended and established by the Creator–Father. Jesus is our guide in this search and His cross is the sign of labour connected to it. (This is a side-reflection on St Paul of the Cross – and the constitution Gaudium et spes.)
The vocation is the consequence of the calling, God’s voice in Christ. It has consequences for all people, but for every person [they are] different – special. A glance at my vocation. It has (like every vocation) a social and charismatic sense.
The Way of the Cross according to Bishop Wł. Bandurski;6 The Little Hours; Spiritual reading
Meditation 3 de particularibus [on particular issues]: In relation to the Church, I must strictly follow my own vocation – the vocation which the Lord God gave to me. Not to go beyond this vocation, because the grace of state is strictly linked to it. In such a following of one’s vocation, its proper meaning and boundaries, one finds strength for various ‘inner reactions’. Cooperation with the grace of state will form the basis of the fulfilment of the vocation with love and faithfulness.
Vespers; Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament; Matins for the Feast of St Thomas the Apostle;
Meditation 4: de apostolatu laicorum [on the apostolate of the laity] (hereafter in writing);
Rosary (II); Reading the Holy Scripture (Letter to the Romans)
Meditation 5 ubi quaedam alia particularia assumuntur [where other specific issues are addressed]: ‘The line of fatherhood’ – dialogue – TP – synod – ad ulteriorem considerationem [for further consideration].
Penitential psalms; Compline
21 December: Feast of St Thomas the Apostle
Preparation for Holy Mass
Meditation 1: Yesterday, an accumulation of problems – today, judgement.
Petition for the grace of judgement; Lauds; Holy Mass; Thanksgiving; Prime; Spiritual reading
Meditation 2: A reflection on my own vocation. Its elements (constitution Lumen gentium7): the Father, the shepherd, the teacher–‘sanctifier’ – deserve a separate, contemplative study. The concept of the ‘father’ contains the beginning, the begetting of life and constant care for its maintenance in one’s own children. It is about life in its material and spiritual sense. The latter refers to spiritual fatherhood. The ‘shepherd’ is also the father when it comes to the concern for maintaining life (this is a narrower concept), and he is simultaneously the ‘leader of the sheepfold’ – the one who manages and governs. Teaching (the teacher) and sanctification are contained in the function of the father and shepherd.
We are constantly and repeatedly asked to grow gradually ever deeper roots in our people (crescere in plebem suam [to increase among one’s people]).8 At the same time, this growing of roots offers a fuller entrance into the elements of vocation mentioned above. Their verification. A vocation also points to certain inner and outer forms of life.
The Little Hours; The Way of the Cross according to Fr W. Smereka’s commentary; Spiritual reading
Meditation 3: Thinking of people: ‘W.’ – this relationship is above all religious. This is its specificity. The sense of belonging governs the relation to God: First, it removed the most fundamental obstacle, and then, it has maintained and supported this relationship. (Conclusion: this form of belonging should probably not be done away with or fundamentally changed.) ‘T.’ and ‘M.’: the sense of belonging has above all a moral meaning, it helps to put one’s moral life in order – in a way, on two different poles of life. ‘T.’: it is more of an attachment than belonging; a certain struggle for belonging is taking place, especially for its moral consequences.
Vespers; Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament; Matins of the following day
Meditation 4: De apostolatu laicorum [On the apostolate of the laity]
Afterwards: reading three texts related to the Act of Consecration to the Mother of God9
A visit to the exhibition on Brother Albert10
Meditation 5: Three themes merge into one. The theme of ‘dialogue’ and the theme of ‘TP’ together with the consecration to the Mother of God. This year in a special way ‘I renew and ratify in Thy hands the vows of my Baptism’.11 After all, my vocation and mission of today is contained within these vows. It is a mission of labour, because it has to integrate both defence and dialogue properly. That is why it needs to be – as the consequence of my baptism – entrusted to Mary in the spirit of holy slavery.12 The completion of a difficult mission, which humanly nobody knows how to complete, through this consecration becomes an object of hope.
Rosary (III); Compline; Reading the Holy Scripture
29 February 1968
(in via [on the way])
Day of reflection
Meditation 1 on the topic: (a) ‘dinumerare nos doce dies nostros, ut perveniamus ad sapientiam cordis’ [‘teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart’]1 (Ps. 89); (b) nos confitentes poscimus Te, iuste Iudex cordium [in confession we plead with You, righteous Judge of hearts].2
Meditation 2 on the overall picture of the ‘Roman’ matters
Penitential psalms; Litany of the Saints; Holy Hour; (Yesterday: the Way of the Cross)
11–14 September 1968 Retreat in Tyniec Topic: Union and rejection
Further preparation: Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: 9 and 10 July:
(a) (The question of how to put the Council into practice in Poland.)
(b) The Little Ways, petition for God’s blessing, ‘not to do harm’.
11 September
The end of the visit of the icon of the Mother of God to the Myślenice Deanery (Głogoczów) and the beginning of the visit to the Bolechowice Deanery (Zielonki): presence, the Word of God.1
Studying notes from previous retreats – preparing the subject matter
12 September: Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary
Lauds; Prime; Private Mass; Thanksgiving; ‘In me omnis spes vitae et virtutis’ [‘In me is all hope of life and of virtue’]2 – as a Marian motto for the retreat
Meditation 1: Ten years have passed since my episcopal ordination and the retreat in Tyniec that preceded it. Time draws me away from this central fact in my life very quickly. The fact that will be of decisive significance for my death and for eternity.
Time and eternity – not as an abstract idea, but as a share of one and the same person. The perspective of participation in eternity, that is in God. This perspective is grounded in the reality of the Person – ‘on the side’ of God and on the human side.
The reality of the human person as a unity endowed with a certain transcendence and immortality of the soul (this matter awaits an in-depth consideration): Experience reveals to me not only the unity of existence, but also its complexity. Transcendent = spiritual; the basis of transcendence is the spirit. An awareness of the essential indestructibility of that which is spiritual and transcendent in a person (= its essence is such that it cannot be destroyed), e.g. moral or intellectual value. Hence the conclusion about the existence of an immanent cause in the human being, which is also indestructible. At the same time, the obvious evidence for the destructibility of the body: our ‘I’ as the body – destructible; as the spirit – indestructible.
The Little Hours; Conversation with Br Aug. on the matters of governance in the Church; Vespers
Adoration: The notion of transsignificatio [a change of meaning] and transfinalisatio [a change of aim] are not enough in themselves – trans-substantiatio [transubstantiation] reflects the depth of the mystery. ‘Beyond’ the reality of the Eucharist is the reality of God–Man, who ‘gives Himself entirely’ to us.
Rosary (III)
Meditation 2: On the matters which play a considerable role in my moral consciousness and conscience. First, their nature ‘in se’ [‘in themselves’]: diversity, the good – does it not include any subjectivity? – then ‘per accidens’ [‘contingently’]: the confessional – similar, but different – a ‘new stage’. A passionate petition for divine grace to help me carry out these matters well.
Matins; Holy Hour: Christ face to face with the Father: Your will – call for vigilance (Humanae vitae) – betrayal or weakness? (of priests).
Compline
13 September
Lauds (communal); Concelebrated Mass; Thanksgiving; Prime (private)
Meditation 1 (potius consideratio [rather a consideration]): On my role in the Council of Bishops; on ‘complementarity’ – which is important now because of the preparation for the implementation of the Council in Poland. Also here, at the retreat, I collect and put in order my thoughts which relate to this and I begin writing.
Rosary (I); Prayer for the gifts of the Holy Spirit; Rosary (II)
Meditation 2: Further reflection on the last things. Man is called to a union with God. This final union is a mystery of faith: heaven as well as hell and purgatory. Excedit intelligentiam [it exceeds our understanding]. If an analogy of any kind can be evoked here, it is the relationship of persons. In this light, the union is, firstly, ‘personal’, which means that it is a union in truth and love founded in mutual knowledge (seeing) and will; and it is, secondly, a union of persons: the union of the human person with the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity: with the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.
Rejection, that is, a non-union due to the lack of ‘personal’ foundation in truth and love, may be followed by a rejection of a person.
Finally: reaching maturity necessary for the union in contrast to the lack of maturity.
The Way of the Cross: The reflections on the Stations of the Cross partly followed the previous theme. The cross is, on the one hand, a tragedy of the rejection of God by the chosen people, yet at the same time, the cross rises above the tragedy of this rejection through the power of the redemptive, atoning and uplifting sacrifice – cf. the triple fall and the rising from weakness and mistake – from error and fault – from lies and hatred. Mary takes part in this, and She also helps us overcome that which causes our downfall.
The Little Hours; Conversation with Br Michaёle (as if [illegible] an ascetic talk) on the topic: ‘the apostolate fundamentally grounded in prayer and sacrifice’; Vespers
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Marked by the revival of faith in the presence of the very same Christ who suffered on the cross: ‘transubstantiation’ – the beginning of this presence and its permanent foundation. He is present to give Himself to people. Here again the understanding of the ‘personal’ order helps a lot.
Meditation (consideration): A continuation of the morning’s questions. Then the topic of the love of the enemy. Testimony to the truth given in a courageous and tenacious way is necessary. Defence of the Church and righteousness is necessary. What remains is the attitude to people: one needs to pray all the more.
Message du S. Père aux prêtres [The Holy Father’s letter to all priests] (to mark the end of the year of faith).
Other signs of the ‘negative attitude’: When I greatly desire the good of e.g. my community, I need to be careful that this ‘great desire’ does not turn into a kind of hostility towards others.
Rosary (III); Penitential psalms; Litany of the Saints; Office prayers; Compline
14 September: Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Lauds; Participation in the concelebrated Mass, and simultaneously:
Meditation 1: (Consideration): A continuation of yesterday evening’s meditation. One needs to be vigilant because even here I have heard of some breakdowns. There needs to be a deep wish for the good, and a courageous defence of the Church, righteousness and truth – but one needs to be vigilant so that it does not become an ordinary ‘vehemence’. This difficult aspect of self-improvement should be entrusted in particular to the Mother of God (Saturday!).
Prime; Participation in the Low Mass, and simultaneously: Rosary (I), Rosary (II)
Meditation 2: In a sense a continuation of yesterday morning’s reflection on the topic of union with God. Today I consider the ‘structure of condemnation’. Condemnation, just like salvation, the union with God, is a mystery of faith. However, if one can per analogiam [by analogy] use personalist structures, various stages are, so to speak, revealed. A failure to meet in truth and love caused by some weakness or mistake is something other than the rejection of God – because He upsets e.g. one’s vanity.
Actually, we only know the figure of the condemned angel (‘… prepared for the devil and his angels’).3
And Christ says: ‘the one who does not believe will be condemned’4 and ‘depart from me into the eternal fire … truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me’.5 One needs to consider these mysteries further:
The structure of rejection is closely linked to the structure of conscience (quod non est ex fide, peccatum est [whatever does not proceed from faith is sin]):6 the question of good and bad faith (bonae et malae fidei). The rejected angel is certainly of bad faith; he hates God, even though he knows that He is the fullness of good, and he does not want to serve Him, even though he knows he ought to.
The problem of ‘conviction’: certain conscience – and doubtful conscience (one must not act in accordance with the latter). The problems ‘ad cautelam’ [‘for caution’].
The Way of the Cross (in unity with the Mother of God); The Little Hours;
Conversation with Br Ludwik (and Marian) – about vocation; Vespers
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Thanksgiving for the wonderful reality of the Eucharist, in which I have been participating for so many years as a priest, and for ten years as a bishop!
Consideratio super sacerdotio et de sacerdotibus [Reflection on priesthood and priests]: During the retreat I read a report on the debates of priests from the Kraków Archdiocese on this topic during deanery and inter-deanery conferences. Regarding the need to appoint a council of priests and clergymen.
I concluded the retreat by taking part in the closing day of the visit of the icon of the Mother of God to Giebułtów and the beginning of its visit to Modlnica. I constantly, and specially, consecrate my ten years of episcopacy and further service, as long as divine providence allows, to the Mother of God. I entrust to Her the matter of the renewal of presbyterium [priesthood] in particular.
Evening Mass for Monika and Jacek on the tenth anniversary of their marriage UIOGD
