In the name of the father and of the son and of the only spirit a man. Lord. May we be inspired by the example of the saints, especially Saint John Paul II. May we learn to proclaim what they believe and put their teaching into actions? And may our offering bring honor to your name? We ask this through Christ, our Lord amen in the name of the father and of the son and of the only spirit. So it is a pleasure and an honor for me to be in Charlotte describing and including you in a journey of what happened to me as a young uh as a younger son of immigrants that left Switzerland and arrived in Italy where I was born. But before I'll clue you in, in my life, I would like to introduce you to the saint that I served the saint that I had the honor and the privilege to spend daily time with him, the saint, the man that at a certain point in my journey, whatever he had I had to have as well. So his name was Carol Joseph Voi. He was born on May 18th, 1920 in a small village in Poland called Vow. He was baptized on June 20 and uh his early life unfortunately was marked by great losses. His mother, you probably already know this, but it's always good to repeat it. His mother died when Carol was nine years old and his older brother, Edmund died when Carol was 12. He also had a sister named Olga, but she had died before Carol was born. And Carol's father died when Carol was 21 years old. So by the age of 21 he was alone on her as a young student. He was thrilled by literature by the theater and by the poetry working in a chemical plant surrounded and threaded by the Nazi terror. He heard the voice of the Lord telling him, follow me in this extraordinary setting. He began guess what to read books of philosophy and theology. And then he entered the clandestine seminary established by Cardinal Saha. And after the war, he was able to complete his studies in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Krakow. How often in his letters to priest to the youth, he has spoken about his priesthood to which he was ordained on November 1st 1946. In this text, Carol interprets his priesthood with particular reference to three saints of the Lord, the first one. And I quote, you did not choose me, but I chose you the second one. And I quote again, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep and the third one. And I quote again, as the father has loved me. So I have loved you in these three ss. We see the heart and the soul of our only father. He really went everywhere, my dear friends entirely in order to bear fruit fruit that lasts. The only father was a priest to the last because he's offered his life to God for his flock and for the entire human family in a daily self oblation for the service of the church, especially especially amid the sufferings and his final months. And in this way, he became one with Christ, the good shepherd who loves his sheeps. In July 1958 the young priest, Carol began a new stage in his journey. Carol had gone to the Missouri Lakes for his usual vacation along with a group of young people who loved canoeing. But he brought with him a letter, invited him to call on the Primate of Poland Cardinal Wys. He could guess the purpose of the meeting. He was to be appointed as the auxiliary bishop of Krakow at the age of 38 leaving the academic world, leaving this challenging engagement with young people, leaving the great intellectual endeavor of striving to understand and interpret the mystery of that creature which is man and of communicating to today's worlds, the Christian interpretation of our being. All this must have seemed to him like losing his very self losing what had become the very human identity of these young men, this young priest. But guess what? He chose to serve the Lord, he accepted the appointment for he heard in the church call the voice of Christ. In October 1978 Carol Voita, once again, heard the voice of the Lord Carol. Do you love me and the archbishop of Krakow at that time? Answer from the depths of his heart, Lord, you know everything you know that I love you. The love of Christ was the dominant force in the life of our beloved only father Saint John Paul. The second anyone who ever saw him pray in real life or on a TV screen, whoever heard in preach knows about that love Saint John. The second was a man of prayer. The center of his life was founded on the Eucharist. That's why it belongs here with you. Today is deep faith is confidence in God's help in the crucial events of life as well as the total surrender in the help of the in the maternal help of the blessed Virgin Mary, which manifested itself with the particular intensity in moment of obscurity as that of the tragic attack of 1981. All of those manifestation show his confidence in God's health. He always gave thanks and attributed to God. Every me and every good gift received my dear friends being a Pope is not your average job. It's actually not technically a job. It's a vocation. You don't just decide to become a pope. You don't go around putting your name in people's yard. Vote for me. You are called to do it. Nor, and you have to believe me in this being. Pope is an easy position. No cardinal that I know, buys a one way ticket before a conclave. The world think about that. The world closely watches and analyzes every move. The pope makes every word the pope speaks. Everyone judges the pope based on his or her own perspective and agenda standing in the fisherman shoes. My dear friends is all consuming my sense, my personal sense for having lived in the Vatican and of the cardinals who I met is that no one of them actually wants to become Pope. No one. It is certainly much easier to be a cardinal than it is to be a Pope. A friend while I was in service. Explained to me as a young Swiss guard. That one of the reason why Pope changes their name when assuming their ministry is that their previous life is over as Jesus told Peter in John chapter 21st verses 18 and I quote will be taken where he does not wish to go. End of the quote. My experience of the pontificate of Saint John Paul, the second reinforces that insight. But let me tell you how you ended up joining the Swiss Guards. Yes. First and foremost, you have to be Swiss. Otherwise you, there could be Swiss Guards as well. And uh my dad is Swiss. My mom is Italian and my dad was living in Italy when met this wonderful woman in the early sixties, fell in love got married and I was born, I was born in a little village in the northern part of Italy. The name of the little village is Soto. Il Monte, guess who was born in Soto El Monte. Saint Pope John the 23rd, same village as I was. So growing up, my dear friends, I went to the Papa Giovanni school. I lived on the Papa Giovanni street. My favorite sandwich was Papa Giovanni Panino. Everything was Papa Giovanni. I even dated one of his niece for crying out loud. But guess my joy in 2014 when Saint John, when Pope Francis canonized on the same day, the men that I serve and the men that came from my village, Saint John, Paul the second and Saint John the 23rd on the same day. Well, I was an only child. I was an only child. And definitely if you ask my mother, she will tell you that I was not a phlegmatic melancholic kind of guy, rather a color and sanguine kind of guy. I was always constantly in trouble and having the Swiss citizenship. But Italian blood, I felt that I was invincible because the Swiss are so precise and the Italian are so creative that I have the two main component to be successful, precision and creativity. But uh when I finish graduate school, when I finished the university, I had only one goal in life at that time. And that goal was to live at home until I was 38 because that's what you do in Italy. Why should you leave home for crying out loud? Your mom does the laundry, cooks the meal. Your dad allows you to drive his car. He pays for the gals, the insurance, they don't ask for any contribution on utilities. Why do you wanna leave? That's the paradise. But my dad Swiss didn't really agree with me. And so he comes to me at the end of graduate school without even 20 minutes after the celebration. And he says, I'm gonna give you a couple of weeks to make up your mind what you want to do in life. And if you don't know what you're gonna do, I am going to tell you what you're gonna do. And so I decided, you know, as a young Italian dude of those times, OK, living in Milano, surrounded by beauty by any kind of vices. I was an handsome man, long hair, I was thinner. I was a killer. As we will say, I decided to challenge my father and wait two weeks at the end of which my father precisely comes and says 50 so 57 weeks, no, 54 weeks, military boot camps with the Italian army. 17 weeks, military boot camp with the Swiss army. Keep in mind whichever army you choose, you lose the citizenship. Opposite. So I thought for a second 54 weeks, Italian army, I grow up in Italy, I think as an Italian, I wear clothes as an Italian. I eat as an Italian. 17 weeks in the Switzerland. I only have a passport. I have a watch. I love chocolate. I'm going to go with the 17 weeks that I am going to join the Swiss Army. When I said that I noticed and that's the picture in my soul. I know that the corner of my father's mouth go up a little like that smile. I got you. And guess what? The Swiss army as a navy for crying out loud. There is no ocean in Switzerland and they have a navy. So I arrived in Switzerland. They put me in a bunker inside a mountain on a room that was 12 by 1436 men in that room on triple bank beds. I basically spent 17 weeks in an MRI. I couldn't turn left or right. But when I was at the army and I started losing weight, I needed a way out. I needed a lay out. I was born Catholic, baptized Catholic. I was a lukewarm Catholic, but I needed a way out. And so I went back to my lukewarm Catholic and I said to my lieutenant, I have to go to mass. I've missed Sunday mass for the past six weeks. If my mom finds out she's gonna come up here, we are all gonna be in trouble. And the lieutenant says, well, this Sunday seven o'clock at your uniform to go outside, clean propped, somebody will be here to take you to mass. We were in the Swiss Alps. I knew that the closest church was going to be about an hour away. So I prepare myself and I had the most important thing, a $20 bill, a 20 Swiss franc bill to give to the driver so that he will drop me where I want it. But with much surprise in the morning, I am there, I'm waiting for a soldier to arrive and a major shows up and my brain right away said this to me, this is gonna cost you more than 20 bucks. And on my way down to the church, I was trying to find a way to get out of that situation. And instead this major drove me to a church ST Martin. The tour asked me to follow him into the sacristy. And all of a sudden he started taking his uniform off and he started dressing as a priest. And I thought, who the heck is this guy? Well, it was the chaplain. I didn't read the things correctly. It was a major but also a chaplain. And so instead of being in the city drinking beer and trying to have a nice time. I ended up being the lecturer, being the altar server. They had 40 hour devotion a duration started after mess. I had to sing the salutary Sotia in Latin. I had the incense. I did it all on my way back. No beer. Nothing. This major says to me, Mario. I surely think you need to join the Swiss Guards and I said join the Swiss guard. I don't really see myself standing still without moving, dressed in a funny costume under the sun. My back is gonna hurt. My feet are gonna hurt. I don't think I can do that. But the major says, well, you know what Mario, I think that you should pray, you should pray because I do believe that you belong there. And I did and at the end of the 17 weeks boot camps, I went back home and when my father came and said, I'm gonna give you two weeks to figure out. I said time out, dad, time out, I know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna join the Swiss Guards. And so my mom who was in the kitchen making the Talia, ok? She came out from the kitchen and said to me, oh, really? You are gonna go and work in the Vatican. Can you tell me the name of the current Pope? So I arrived at the Vatican as a young Swiss guard with a largely secular understanding of Catholicism, which by now you understand, was my parents' fate but not truly my own. This outsider view was both helpful and deceiving. In fact, I was able to meet Saint John Paul the second, without any preconceived notion, his impression on me was not filtered through my perception of his office, but purely based on a human level. The first time I met Saint John Paul the second, I was about a month into the service. I had seen him from far away, but never had the chance to exchange a few words with him. And usually the colonel introduces the new recruits to the only father. But because that was around Christmas and a lot of what was going on, we did not have that opportunity yet. And so there, I was outside of the uh the Pope apartment and the cardinal arrives, we start talking and I introduced myself and all of a sudden truck, truck, the door of the apartment open. The only father is right there I go in my attention and the cardinal says to the only Father Santita, this is a new guard. And so the only father came out, you know, passed through the door, came to me and I knew because I was trained, I had to get off my attention and go and shake his hand and I shook his hand and he looked me straight in my eyes and he says, thank you for giving up your life for the church. And then he left and I stood there and I thought, wait a second, maybe here I chose the wrong job. Here. They already shot the guy once they are gonna wait a second, giving up my life for the church. What does this mean? Well, in the Vatican, my dear friends, the Swiss Guard, guess what are a symbol of fidelity for more than 500 years to be precise since 1506. Ok. The son of Switzerland have served the church by protecting the Supreme Pontiff in good times and in bad times under the blood of 100 and 47 guards who sacrificed their lives, protecting Pope Julius the second from the invading Lanne barbarians during the sack of Rome. In 1527 this military corps continues the noble of service as defensor libertas Ecclesia protectors of the freedom of the church. Saint John Paul. The second told once to his secretary in front of me that he had been inspired by God to change the way he led the church. He said I must lead the church with suffering, the Pope must suffer so that every family in the world should see that there is a higher gospel, the gospel of suffering with which one must prepare the future. And let me tell you with an anecdote, how I knew that what I had heard was exactly what he meant. He had just received surgery from a benign cancer he had in his colon and he was coming back from the hospital and I was with my uniform where the elevator was and he arrived. And the, the only father had this antique Mercedes. And uh when the, the driver stopped right 3 ft from where I was next to the elevator, the butler, the personal aid that every Pope has came out of the car and opened the door so that the only father would step out, he was really pale. He had lost weight, he looked weak. And so the only father puts his right foot out, puts his left foot out and he pushes himself out of the car. Then he moves. And because he shook for a moment, he put his left hand now on the side of the car, at the same time that the butler closed the door of the Mercedes, causing the little pinky of the only father to be closed into the door right in front of me. And when that happened, the only father only made a sound, he didn't say a word in Polish or in Latin or in any of the languages that he spoke. He only made a sound, the butler realized reopened the door, but he kept that suffering in his heart. He didn't judge, he didn't blame, he didn't accuse he didn't pay attention. His pinky was definitely messed up because he was bleeding. And the next day I called my mom and I said, look at de Angelo on the TV. Because the only father left pinky will have a huge bandage on for a little accident that occurred. So e at the same time, demonstrated to us, Swiss Guard is gratitude for our Petri service that is the service to the successor of Peter. And uh despite being in many situations where you don't talk, you don't move. You are just in his presence. Sometimes even showed his gratitude to the point of joking around with us. Well, the Pope butler, whose name was Angelo had two girls, two daughters, Emmanuela and Raphaela and Angelo really wanted me to go out with either or but I wasn't interested in either or and so there was this little joke between me and Angelo. OK. So who, who do you wanna go out? I don't wanna go. I, I, you know there was that little um game going on. Well, the game went a little bit too long because here we are Wednesday general audience, Aula Paulo Seo. If you look at the basilica on the left side, at the end of the general audience, when I hear I was outside, you know, at that point to do the military was gonna pass, I was controlling, making sure that nobody was right there. I hear the organ, I hear the walk, I hear the noise. So I see it, I go in my military position and all of a sudden from the corner of my eyes, I see Angelo arriving which means the only father is about 3 to 5 ft behind him and Angelo sees me. And so what does Angelo do to Maria? He elbows me with all of his strength, with his left elbow pump right under my sternum that caused me to go down. Exactly at the same time that the only father was in my line and then I came up and I was definitely blue blowing up trying to contain a cough. The only father stops turns sees me immediately recognizes me and says, Mario, there is no need to bow during his pontificate, my dear friend, we had an extraordinary example of human greatness first with his apostolic vigor and then through his weakness of faithfulness, even in his suffering and sickness, he pointed the way for me to an authentic human growth, fully human a growth which was not only cultural but also economic growth nourished by spiritual food. He was a very special person gifted with an enormous ability to communicate and with a brilliant intellect. Those of us who had daily contact with him were always struck by the richness of his intuition, the depth of his spirituality, the example of his fulness and his immense humility, which was rooted in his intimate union with Christ. It was his humility which permitted him to continue to guide the church and to give an eloquent message even when his physical strength was failing him. One day, I was alone in the Apostolic palace. I was tired. I had no break for many, many days. I was looking for free time and all of a sudden they call me and they say the only father is coming close, secure the floor. And so you do, you close all the doors, you make sure that you tell the employees don't come out. The only father is walking by and the only father shuffled, the only father shuffled, he didn't move. Clack. Clack, Clack, he moved sh sh sh sh sh we learned later that that's a sign of Parkinson. Ok, who has Parkinson's have trouble lifting their feet. Ok? And so for us as Swiss guard, the intensity of the sound corresponded to how far he was, how close he was arriving to. Ok. So that specific day because I was tired. I was hot. I was sad. I wanted him to make me present feel alive. I wanted him to touch me. I wanted him to just stop and wink at me. I just wanted him to say cow come die. And so here the noise comes, everything is secure. I go into my position and all of a sudden the noise increases. I'm up there, the only father passes. He had two priests with him and the only father goes away, he didn't stop. And I felt nausea. I felt so sad that I remained in my position. I closed my eyes and when I opened my eyes, the only father was right in front of me. I didn't hear any nothing. He was in front of me and he caught me off guard because I was coming down. So I went back up there and he put his hand into his pocket and he pulled this rosary out of his pocket. And he said, Mario, the rosary is my favorite prayer marvelous in its simplicity and authenticity, make this your most powerful weapon. And he gave it to me and I put it in my pocket. And since that day, I carry it with me because guess what? This is my most powerful weapon, even though I was carrying weapon as a Swiss guard. This is my most powerful weapon. Call on Mary many times, Saint John Paul, the second would say call on Mary. She's the queen of peace. So when your soul or your family are trouble or things go wrong at work, cry out to her without seizing. Have you at least tried it? My dear friends? When you have lost your calm, you will be surprised as its immediate effect, be daring in your praying. And the Lord will turn you from a pessimist into an optimist, from being timid to being daring from being feeble spirited to being a man of faith. The long Saint John Paul, the second prayed, the more absorbed in prayer it became until he seemed completely taken up in it as if nothing and no one in the room could pull him back from the place he had gone Castel Gando for summer residence. I am there. It's the afternoon the doors are closed. Everything is taking the siesta very important in Rome, like in south of central America, the siesta. And so all of a sudden they knock at the door and I go and there was this ups guy with this envelope and I said, OK, and uh nobody was around, all the workers were doing the siesta because as Pope John the 23rd, once he was asked how many people work in the Vatican. And he answered about us. So I was there, I had that package and even though it was not my responsibility to take it upstairs was three in the afternoon. And I said, you know what, the only father is probably out in the garden, reading nobody's in the apartment. I'm just gonna go up and it was for his secretary, Monsignor at that time, Stanislao JVI. And so there I am with my uniform, the shore thinking that nobody is in the apartment. Ok? I walked down the hallway very narrow and every morning we had mess with the only father. So I knew exactly where the chapel was on my left. And so naturally, when I arrived in the proximity of the chapel, I slowed down because I wanted to bow. And when I slow down and I turn, guess what? I saw the only father kneeling on the floor next to the kneeler with the wonderful red velvet pillow. He was kneeling next to it and his right hand was grabbing the altar, the granite of the altar and his forehead was against the back of his right hand. When I saw that I felt the bone marrow go up and down my spine. I took two steps back. I went into the office, put down that package that I had and I went back downstairs to guard the entrance. That scene really confused me. There were no camera for three in the afternoon. It's hot. There's no air condition. It's July, it's humid. What is it doing that same day in the evening? I was in service somewhere else. It's a more friendly service being in Castel Gandolfo because there is no protocol. It's very intimate. Ok? And the only father walks by seize me comes to me looks me in the eyes, by the way, Saint John Paul, the second blue eyes. It's a color I did not find yet in any person. He looked me in the eyes and said to me, why don't you join me next time? I was completely blown away. I didn't really understand what yet meant to me up until that time. But because because he told me once to not let my life be burn, but he told myself to be useful to make yourself felt because he told me that to shine forth with the torch of my fate. And of my love. I realize that to do all of that, it demands sacrifice, it demands self denials. But that moment when I saw that, I realized how pleasant that sacrifice can turn out to be. And so here I am telling all of you, my dear friends persevere in your fate. Do not be afraid ever to show your fate. A number of time, as I said, I personally witnessed the only father demonstrate that true joy is not a mere passing emotions, but comes from e met Jesus who is true joy and true love. It was through Saint John Paul, the second witness that I was continually exhorted to serve others as Christ did he who himself came not to be served but to serve as a Swiss guard. I had the pleasure to meet also another Saint Mother Teresa. And let me tell you a couple of episodes so that you can understand how saints are. The first time I met mother. She was in a group of 20. And you have to know even though some of them are here and they know exactly what I'm talking about. When the nuns move. They're like bees, they move in fluck, ok? They, they're all together and they can be mean against the streets guard because they want to get to the front of the line. They gonna get to the front of the line. They always have the umbrella, they're all 4 ft tall pump pump pump and all of a sudden they are in the front of the line. So I was always very intimidated by the sister, especially by the sister of Mother Teresa because they all look alike. You cannot identify them. Sorry, sisters. So the first time I met Mother Teresa, she had arrived, they went in and then all of them came out except mother and mother stayed in for another hour or so. But one of the sister came and gave me a plastic bag and she said, can you please give this to mother when she comes out? And absolutely, that's what I'm there for, right? Ok. So I grabbed the bag, I put it on the floor. About an hour later, mother comes out and uh she comes, she walks away and I remembered about the bag and so I went to her and I said, uh mother, mother and she stopped and said they left this bag for you. She grabbed the bag, she immediately put the bag on the floor and then she moved her sari, her hat, you know where the blue stripes are? She moved it and she had a pin there and on that pin, she had a miracle medal pinned on. So she opened the pin, she took the miracle medal. She closed the pin. Re put the sari down, grabbed my right hand and put the metal in my a a and close that bend down, picked up the bag and left. I lost that medal. I put it in my pocket, lost it six months later, almost to the clock. This time, she was in a small group, one was sister Nirmala, which was her successor and a few others. So they all come at this time, the meeting is much shorter. They all go in. They all come out. I'm just in the corner. I don't have to do the military salute because they're not priest. So I'm just right there. They walk away and all of a sudden one of them stops turns around and comes to me. And sure enough, that was Mother Teresa. And I am looking at mother, mother looks at me smiles. She moves the rabbit, there was a pin there. She opened it. She took that miracle medal. She closed, she refix the rabbit. She grabbed my right hand, she put the medal in my right hand. She closed my right hand and then she looked up and in English, she said to me this time, don't lose it. Talking about saints an expression in conclusion because I have a big clock here that is telling me that I have to stop even though I know you would like me to keep going. But an expression. Two more thoughts, an expression. I have many times seen John Paul the second. Be more. He never said get more, do more. He always said be more. What I Mario Enzler, what I took from his teaching was to rediscover the beauty and the power of my own chari. Remembering that no gift given is meant for oneself, but it is given for the good of the church and for the good of the church's mission in taking up the call to a new evangelization, a call near and dear to jump all the second's heart. We all, we all here at the Eucharistic Congress, we all must receive this condition of self giving as absolutely essential so that we don't fall into the error of using the truth with which the only spirit leaves the church. You know, one day I had to bring something to the only father. So I enter a room and the only father was riding and he was riding with this beautiful Mont Blanc. I love Mont Blanc wives. When is your husband's birthday? Buy him an A B Mont Blanc. He deserves one. He wants to hold one in his hands. And Mont Blanc is the queen of the pans. OK? And Saint John Paul the second love this. He carry it everywhere. An old one, the one that you still had to suck up the ink. OK? And he was writing and he had a beautiful calligraphy like a third grade elementary teacher. He was amazing. And there I am waiting for him to pay attention to me, but he wasn't. And all of a sudden I realized that he had under his left hand. He has a book. And so I did one plus one is writing something regarding that book that he has under his left hand. And since I'm trying to learn on the job, since I'm trying to take everything that he has so that I can become like him, I need to know what book is writing about. And so there I am, you know, you not that you can go excuse me, what is the book? You know, you have to be discreet. OK? And so you become like a little ostrich, you know your neck goes long and you, you, you try to look, OK, so you go on, you go to Tolstoy and I'm thinking Tolstoy for crying out loud Tolstoy book are all these big. How is it possible that that's a book of wait a second does the only father read Spark Notes? That's awesome. Is he reading Spark Notes? I don't think so. So let me just go again. And so I went again and this time I realized the depth of Ivan Ilich 76 page, my dear friends, 499 on Amazon. You should all get it tonight. It's the last masterpiece of Tolstoy. It's the coming into the fate of Tolstoy The Crossing The Tiber, as I say. And so I didn't have Amazon at that time, I ended up going to the Library of Vatican and I bought that book and I read that book and because it was a little bit hard for me to understand. I kept it with me so that I will pick it up and read a few passages here and there. And one day, obviously, I had the book with me when I was called that the only father was coming by and I put the book on the main solar where the window is and the only father came by and he stopped. As I said, oh, Mario, how are you did the soccer team that you like win or not one blow? And then he saw that book and he picked up the book and obviously didn't think to connect the dots that I had bought that book because I saw that book. But when he grabbed the book in his hands, he said, Mario, this book is about many things is about the terrible weak spots of our human heart. It's about the primacy of death. But more than anything is about the consequences of living without truth, without truth and without an abiding connections with one's life, be always for the whole truth, Mario, even when it hurts. And then he put the book down and I still have that book. So in conclusion, John Paul, the second Saint John Paul, the second impacted my young life in profound ways. Laying the ground word for my becoming a husband, a father, a businessman, a professor, but most important, a practicing Catholic. It was his example that inspired me is words that gave me hope and his ideas that provided direction to my life. So my dear friends, the next time you feel lost, the next time you are lost, do not be afraid, go to him and he will show you the way. Thank you very much and God bless you.