" IT IS NOT DIFFICULT TO BE A SAINT"
These words inspired Jan.
Jan inspired Karol.
Karol became Pope John Paul II.
Pope John Paul II became a Saint.
The concept of small group discipleship isn't a new invention.
Back in the 1930’s, Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany. An incredibly important part of the Nazi tactics was starting clubs of sorts for young people called “Nazi Youth.” This wasn’t a side project for them. The Nazi’s knew that revolutions happen amongst the young. They could invade a country by force, but they also needed to win the hearts and minds of the youth in order to be really successful in the long run.
Knowing the power of young people, they also targeted other groups who served youth. Particularly religious groups. If a religious organization had a strong youth outreach, it was much harder to promote Nazi propaganda. One such place was a parish called St. Stanislaw in Krakow, Poland. It was run by Salesian priests who focused a lot of their ministry on young people.
The priests could see the writing on the wall and were aware that they would likely be arrested. So, they approached a man in the parish, Jan Tyranowski [pronounced “Yah-n”] and asked him to look after the young people of the parish in their absence. Sure enough, the priests were arrested and sent to the concentration camp at Dachau where almost all of them were executed.
Jan stepped up. He was a regular guy, a tailor who loved science and photography. He also was a man devoted to his faith. He reached out to 15 young men in the parish and started a group where they could pray and study and talk about their faith. He then trained those 15 young men to start groups of their own.
One of those original 15 was a young man who had recently lost his father. His name was Karol Wojtyła [pronounced “Voy-tee-ah”]. This young man went on to become a priest, then a bishop, then a cardinal, and yes, Pope. This young man became Pope John Paul II who is now a Saint!
John Paul II said of Jan, “He was one of those unknown saints…. In his words, in his spirituality and in the example of a life given to God alone, he represented a new world that I did not yet know. I saw the beauty of a soul opened up by grace.”
A mentor like Jan made a saint like John Paul II.
