Did you ever see Pope John Paul II pray? Each morning, he celebrated Mass in his private chapel with about twenty guests. Perhaps you know someone who was fortunate enough to attend. Or perhaps you saw television footage of one of those Masses.

When this man knelt down to pray after Communion, he would close his eyes and go to a place deep within himself. Once he was there, nothing and no one could distract him from communing

with God. What does it mean to commune with God? It means to share your intimate thoughts and feelings. Pope John Paul II would go to that place deep within himself, and from that place he brought forth the fruit of his life: wisdom, compassion, generosity, understanding, patience, courage, insight, forgiveness, humility, inspiration, and a love so apparent you could almost touch it.

In those moments after Communion, he allowed nothing to distract him from his prayer. He let nothing draw his attention away from his Divine Visitor in those precious moments after receiving the Blessed Sacrament.

The amazing thing is, if you put the same man in a football stadium with a hundred thousand people and a million more distractions, he would still kneel down after Communion, close his

eyes, and go to that place deep within him where he connected with God. And he lived his life from that place.

Find that place within you. Find that place deep, deep within yourself, the place where you can connect with God and your truest self. If you do nothing else with your life, find that place, spend

more and more time in that place, and begin to live your life from that deep place.

How do you find the deep place within you? There is one way that is guaranteed to work. Befriend silence. Drop by a church during the day when it is empty and quiet. Find a quiet

corner and a comfortable chair at home. Leave the music off in the car on the way to work. Have a television-free evening once a week. Try it. It works. If you want to live from the deep place within you, visit the classroom of silence each day for a few minutes.

Pope John Paul II wrote, “The Eucharist is the secret of my day. It gives strength and meaning to all my activities of service to the Church and to the whole world. . . Let Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament speak to your hearts. It is He who is the true answer to life that you seek. He stays here with us: He is God with us. Seek Him without tiring, welcome Him without reserve, love Him without interruption: today, tomorrow, forever.”

What is the secret of your day?



Feast Day: October 22 

Feast Day Shared By: Saint Philip of Heraclea

Patron Saint of: Poland, World Youth Day, Young Catholics, and Families

Also Known As: John Paul the Great

Symbols: Saint John Paul II Coat of Arms

Canonized: April 27, 2014

Canonized By: Pope Francis