Last week out of the blue I had he urge to learn about Saint Pope John XXIII, who was pope between 1958-1963. So, I downloaded the movie “Pope XXIII: the Pope of Peace” and I watched it on the way to CA. It’s not a documentary, but a movie with actors playing him at various stages of his life. I got teary-eyed a few times watching how the Holy Spirit worked through his life. From having a strong desire to be a priest at young age, having the blessing of working for a Bishop that role-modeled what it was like to fight for justice and equity, and through his selfless work during assignments to Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and France. These assignments offered him opportunities to faithfully serve God through difficult challenges. All these experiences shaped his growth as a person, which eventually impacted millions of people world-wide.

It is beautiful to look back at his life and see God’s hand in what seemed at a time to be unimportant events, but that impacted his life tremendously. When we look back at our lives we can see so many ordinary events that had extraordinary impact in our lives. We may be living through some right now that will critically impact who we become in the future, and how well we are allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us. Saint Pope John XXIII was a man of prayer who always did his best to listen to and follow God’s will.

Very importantly for many of us, the Holy Spirit worked through him to launch the Second Vatican Council, which transformed and renewed the Catholic Church and made it more inclusive. He emphasized the pastoral aspect of the church, strengthened relationships with Eastern Orthodox churches, actively worked to bring peace among nations, he expanded the College of Cardinals to include cardinals from Japan, Philippines, and Africa, better representing the population of Catholics at the time. I found him inspiring in his approach of leading the church through his constant surrender to the Holy Spirit, his humility, deep devotion to prayer, and his endless joy. He was truly a servant leader.