Slaves of righteousness

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Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 22 October 2025
Wednesday, Memorial of St. John Paul II, Pope
Romans 6:12-18     <*{{{{><  + ><}}}}*>     Luke 12:39-48

God our loving Father,
thank you for the unique grace
of having lived during the
pontificate of St. John Paul II:
what a tremendous blessing 
from you to grace us with St. John Paul II
as our Pope who had overcome 
so many difficulties and struggles 
in life personally by being orphaned 
at a very young age from his mother 
then from his father and later 
from his only beloved brother, 
not to mention his coming from Poland, 
a country exploited by foreign powers 
and subjected to communism 
for the longest time.

In his entire life, Lord, 
you have always shown 
your loving presence in him 
and destined him to be your sign 
in this most difficult period in history 
when men and women gravely challenged you 
with so many evil and sins, 
including by some priests you have called to serve.

St. John Paul II
showed us in his life
consistent with his teachings
and writings the need for us to be
your slave of righteousness,
a slave of love and goodness,
a slave of Christ:

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted. Freed from sin, you have becomes slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:16-18).

Let us grow in obedience
to you, Jesus like your great Pope,
St. John Paul II who lived and 
served us with great examples of
his life waging war against 
the many evils of our time, 
standing for what is true and good,
your voice in this wilderness, 
telling us to "be not afraid" to love 
and serve the weakest among us
while awaiting your return like 
in your parable today.
Amen.