John Paul II was a Pope who traveled extensively during his pontificate. He made a total of 104 apostolic journeys outside of Italy, covering 1,200,000 kilometers, which is 29 times around the world and more than three times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. This earned him the titles of “the Pilgrim Pope” and “the Traveling Pope.” However, it also caused some criticism.
For example, in a critical tone, a journalist once asked him: “Your Holiness, how much do papal trips cost?” implying that the expense generated by so many trips was disproportionate.
John Paul II immediately replied with another question: “For you, how much is a soul worth?” suggesting that if all that money serves to save even one soul, it is worth spending. The salvation of a soul is worth far more than any earthly good.
If we value things by what they cost, let us remember that while the universe cost God a single word, as Psalm 148 says: God spoke, and everything was created, the salvation of our soul cost Divine Blood: Christ paid with his life for the ransom of mankind.
This lesson has two sides. One side is that of the apostolate and the obligation that all Christians should feel to spare no effort in bringing the message of Christ to mankind, just as St. John Paul II did, who, despite having the enormous weight of governing the Church, did not forget the primary duty of every Christian: to preach the Gospel so that the salvation brought by Christ may reach all men.
The other side of the lesson is regarding the salvation of my own soul, because when we affirm that the salvation of a soul is worth far more than anything else, this also includes my soul. Therefore, it is not worth risking the salvation of my soul for anything in the world: we must not gamble with the salvation of our soul.
Whenever we do something that could put the salvation of our soul at risk, we should remember the words that St. John Bosco said to his young people: “You have nothing more than one soul: if you save it, you have saved everything; if you lose it, you have lost everything forever.”
