And Justice For All

I take one week off from my blog to prepare for some intense job interviews and all hell breaks loose! There's a royal wedding, more theatrics from The Donald, a strike on Gadhafi's compound that kills his son and grandchildren, all followed by two once-in-a-lifetime events that occurred on the same day. Mr. Trump will have to wait, for there are far more important things to talk about now.

Yesterday in Rome, over one million Catholics gathered to celebrate the beatification of Pope John Paul II. Blessed Pope John Paul II is now but one step away from sainthood. If the Vatican is able to confirm one more miracle attributed to him, then he will be canonized. Several claims have already been made, and I would wager that at least one will be confirmed. It's only a matter of time, most likely five or six years, before we start referring to our great pontiff as Pope Saint John Paul II.

I had the incredible honor of meeting him at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark during his visit to America in October of 1995. It was without question the most memorable day of my life, as I can still recall being screened by Secret Service agents as I walked into the cathedral at noon for a 5:30 evening prayer service. Several celebrities were there, including Bob Hope and Joe Piscopo, and eventually President Bill Clinton and the first lady arrived as well.

I can't even begin to describe the aura of the cathedral as the pope made his entrance. You knew something special was happening. You felt it in the air. One simply can't put it into words; it has to be experienced firsthand. I can tell you this much. That same feeling did not surface when the president strolled into his pew. It was as if the most powerful man on the planet was any other citizen on that day. His presence paled in comparison to that of the Holy Father, and by a wide margin at that.

I will always remember meeting the man to face to face, shaking his hand, and looking into his eyes. Those eyes were full of life, and they served to divert attention away from his failing health, which was already becoming somewhat apparent. He gave me a rosary which he blessed, and thankfully a photographer from the Vatican was there to snap a picture of my encounter with him. To this day, it remains the greatest moment of my life. Perhaps one day I can say that I held the hand of a saint.

But just as one thought this momentous occasion would dominate the news coverage throughout the day and well into the next, the unthinkable happened. President Obama announced late last night that U.S. special forces killed Osama bin Laden in a raid on his compound. Celebrations broke out throughout the country, from Washington to New York to the Mets-Phillies game in Philadelphia. All of a sudden, one of the rarest and most monumental of events in history was forced to take a backseat to the story of how America finally brought justice to the most reviled terrorist in the world.

Today, I can't stop thinking about how the most evil of men was killed on the same day that the most holy of men was elevated. Is it a coincidence? Note that when I pose this question, I do not mean to infer that Blessed Pope John Paul II had anything to do with the killing of bin Laden. What I am saying is that maybe there is a message hidden in there somewhere.

Perhaps it's God's way of telling us that in the end, there will be justice for all. How many times has it been said in the Scriptures that the wicked shall perish, while the just will prosper? When I first realized the magnitude of what occurred yesterday, it sent a shiver down my spine. I firmly do believe that God meant to send us all a message, and we'd be wise to heed it.

Today, we thank God for the gift of the legacy of Blessed Pope John Paul II, and for the justice administered to Osama bin Laden. Both are reasons to be grateful, and both are lessons we can learn from. For those of us who lived it, we'll never forget the date of May 1, 2011. Hopefully we'll always remember the message behind it as well.