VATICAN CITY, MARCH 3, 2003 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II offered personal counsel when facing times of difficulty: the invocation “Jesus, I trust in you.”
“It is a simple but profound act of trust and abandonment to the love of God,” the Pope said. “It is a fundamental point of strength for every man, as it is capable of transforming life.”
“In the inevitable trials and difficulties of life, in moments of joy and enthusiasm, entrusting oneself to the Lord infuses the soul with peace, induces us to recognize the primacy of the divine initiative and opens the spirit to humility and trust,” he added.
John Paul II made this recommendation Saturday in Paul VI Hall when he met with students of the major seminary of the Rome Diocese.
“Jesus, I trust in you” is the invocation taught by the Polish mystic Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), messenger of Divine Mercy.
John Paul II entrusted the world to Divine Mercy last Aug. 17, when he dedicated the new shrine in Lagiewniki, a suburb of Krakow, Poland, next to the convent where St. Faustina lived and died.
“In the heart of Jesus, those anguished by life’s sorrows find peace; those afflicted by suffering and illness find relief; those who feel constricted by uncertainty and anguish feel joy, because Christ’s heart is filled to overflowing with consolation and love for those who turn to it with trust,” he said.
The seminarians and the diocesan choir of Rome moved the Pope when they recited an oratorio inspired by the message transmitted by the saint.
Later, in the company of the seminarians, the Holy Father spontaneously recalled his years in the clandestine seminary of Krakow, during the Nazi occupation.
“During my eight-hour shift in the factory, either at night or during the day, I would take some books,” he said. “My fellow workers were somewhat surprised, but not scandalized. What is more, they told me: ‘We will help you, you can rest if you wish, and we will try to supervise for you.'”
“In this way I was able to stand for exams before my professors. Everything in clandestinity: philosophy, metaphysics,” the Holy Father recalled.
“I saw that metaphysics, Christian philosophy, gave me a new vision of the world, a more profound penetration of reality,” he said.
“With metaphysics, with philosophy, I found the key, a key to understanding and penetration of the world — a more profound penetration, I would say, an ultimate” one, John Paul II concluded.
