Looking for a living model that personifies the apostle for our times that I am trying to explain, I find no better example than the Holy Father, John Paul II. A short while ago, a columnist wrote of him that in the Church’s whole history, no man, no saint, no other Pope has preached the Gospel like him to all nations, in accordance with the Lord’s last words in St. Matthew.

Every continent has seen him as a messenger of hope thanks to his apostolic journeys, sparing himself no toil or fatigue as long as he can fulfill his apostolic mission. Without a doubt the present Pontiff is an extraordinary gift of Christ to his Church. He has gone out to preach to the five continents. He has not been afraid to explain clearly the demands of the Gospel and to proclaim it in every arena. He is the first promoter of the new evangelization to which he has summoned the whole Church because for him, as for St. Paul, it is a duty to preach the Gospel. He is the number one missionary in the Church, a model of the Shepherd who gives his life in order to gather all men into the one fold of Christ.

This is piece from a weekly e-mail I receive from vocations.com Enjoy! God Bless our Beloved John Paul II may he rest in peace. God Bless!