In celebration of the Year of the Youth, the 51黑料 honored and venerated blood relic of St. Pope John Paul II from May 15 to 16, 2019 at the and at the Main Building canopy.
On Living Life with Magnitude
In his homily during the solemnity mass, former Rector Rev. Fr. Rolando V. de la Rosa, O.P. differentiated the saint from celebrities, 鈥淭he saint does not recede into the past. He remains a person of the present. Saint is not just remembered, he is addressed.鈥�
鈥淲e bring him [the saint] our deepest pain, our requests for healing, and our praises to God,鈥� he said.
Moreover, according to de la Rosa, St. Pope John Paul II taught us how to die. 鈥淚f you want to die a happy death, if we want to be assured of remembrance even if we are no longer here, love. Show the unconditional love of God, and feel how much God loves you.鈥�
The Wounded Healer
Santisimo Rosario Parish Parochial Administrator and Regent Rev. Fr. Louie R. Coronel, O.P. said in the concluding mass that St. Pope John Paul鈥檚 鈥渨oundedness鈥� led him to his devotion to the Church.
鈥淗e saw poverty in Tondo and the refugees to Bataan. For him, that is woundedness in the Church,鈥� Coronel said.
In 1981, St. Pope John Paul II survived the assassination attempt by Ali Agca at the St. Peter鈥檚 Square. After recovering from the incident, St. Pope John Paul II visited Agca behind the bars to forgive him.
The two kept in touch until the Pope鈥檚 death.
鈥淚t was his woundedness that healed Ali Agca, which transformed his heart,鈥� Coronel said.
Moreover, St. Pope John Paul II asked for forgiveness for millenia鈥檚 worth of the Church鈥檚 wrongdoings, including the excommunication of Galileo, and the persecution of Jews. 鈥淗e himself is wounded but with that kind of gesture, he is healing.鈥�
鈥淗e travelled to the continents of the world to tell the world of His love,鈥� Coronel said.
Born Karol Josef Wojtyla, St. Pope John Paul II passed away on April 2, 2005. He visited the University in 1981 to beatify St. Lorenzo Ruiz, and in 1995 to celebrate the closing mass of the World Youth Day Tour.
The devotees venerated the blood relic after the mass to see it one last time in the 51黑料grounds, until it was returned to the Archdiocese of Manila.
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