Today is the feast of Pope St. John Paul II. He was a gifted man who touched the lives of millions. Pray for us, St. John Paul. Show us the way to life.

I had the great privilege of meeting Pope John Paul II nearly 20 years ago, in February 1998. He was old and infirm then, but he had incredible stamina. I was one of more than a hundred people—guests of newly minted Cardinals from different regions of the world—who the Pope personally greeted that day. I was introduced to the Holy Father by Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago and my new boss. The pope shook my hand and asked if I was married. When I said “yes,” he handed me a blessed Rosary and told me it was for my wife, Sharon. 

Sharon and I were engaged to be married the year Karol Wojtya was elected pope. We were as surprised as everyone else when we learned that the new pope was from Poland. What energy and passion he had in those early days! He was an athlete, a poet, a philosopher and a shrewd diplomat. Above all, he was a holy man with a deep devotion to Jesus and his Blessed Mother. 

St. John Paul’s Letter to the Elderly has special significance, I think, because the whole world watched as this vigorous young pope aged and became feeble in body but not in mind. When he tells us that "Elderly people help us to see human affairs with greater wisdom," we know that he personally experienced aging "with knowledge and maturity." For all his suffering, he never gave up. And he never ceased to be a "privileged interpreter" of the principles and values that "guide and support life in society."

I also had the privilege of attending the funeral Mass of Pope John Paul II 12 years ago, in April 2005, in the piazza outside St. Peter's Basilica. Millions of people were there--from the piazza all the way to the Tiber River. We came to pay our respects and, above all, to say "thank you" to this great saint.