CBB Review – Saint John Paul The Great: His Five Loves

“They try to understand me from outside. But I can only be understood from inside.” These words were spoken by Saint John Paul II in regards to the multiple attempts made to write his biography. In his book Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves, Jason Evert attempts to take a look inside this beloved Pope….and pulls it off quite well. As Jason states in the introduction “the aim of this work is to paint a portrait of the Holy Father by examining his five loves”.

The book starts off with a biography of Pope John Paul titled “From Wadowice to the Vatican”. In 80 pages Jason provides an intimate look into the life of our beloved Pope. Though brief, I found this section to be one of the more, well written biographies on him that I have read. There are much deeper ones to read but the purpose of this part of the book was to serve as a brief overview of the life of John Paul and it serves that purpose well. Jason includes a number of stories in this section that I have not heard before. However in the introduction he states this. “Unfortunately, there are extraordinary stories I did not include in the book because I was unable to locate the primary sources to substantiate them. Regardless of how inspiring they may have been, I knew it wouldn’t bring any honor to John Paul to disseminate legends about him.”

As you read about his time working in the quarry in Nazi occupied Poland, you get a feeling for just how terrible it was. One example is walking two miles in wooden shoes in bitter cold temperatures with petroleum jelly coating his face to avoid frostbite. Eventually he left the quarry to work at a chemical plant. There his coworkers afforded him opportunities to go off in prayer. In reading about this period of his life It seemed almost a given to those around him that Karol Wotyla would become a priest. Jason continues the biography from his years of study for the priesthood, to his years as priest, Cardinal and eventually his election as Pope. Another remarkable tale is the comments made by Pope John Paul I when he stated his time would be short and that the one to come after him had been sitting in front of him at the conclave that elected him Pope. Looking at that seating chart it was none other than the Cardinal from Poland Karol Wotyla.

The second part of the book is where Jason delivers an intimate look into John Paul. In this part he writes on what he has coined John Paul’s five loves. These are in fact five areas of focus for John Paul during his pontificate. Below are each with a brief synopsis.

Young People – John Paul had a deep love for youth as evidenced by World Youth Day events he initiated.

Human Love – John Paul had a deep understanding of the nature of love and wished to bring people to that same understanding via his Theology of the Body.

The Blessed Sacrament – John Paul spent hours in prayer and hours before the Blessed Sacrament praying for his flock.

The Virgin Mary – John Paul had a deep love for our Holy Mother and attributed his survival from an assassination attempt to her intercession.

The Cross – John Paul picked up his cross through his visible suffering from Parkinson’s, a witness to us all.

I found this book to be an enjoyable and fascinating insight into the life of Saint John Paul II. Jason provides the reader with a book that truly does look into the inner person of John Paul. If you are looking for a solid book on this beloved Pope and now saint look no further than this one.
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I received a copy of the book for this review from the publisher, Lighthouse Catholic Media.