"Every bishop enjoys the privilege of maintaining a chapel in his own home, so close that he can reach out and touch it, but this privilege also brings with it great responsibility. The reason for having a chapel so close is so that everything in the bishop's life--his teaching, his decisions, his pastoral care--might begin from the feet of Christ, concealed in the Blessed Sacrament.
"I witnessed firsthand the habitual practice of Cardinal Adam Sapieha in this regard. In his homily at Cardinal Sapieha's funeral, Cardinal Wyszynski said: 'One aspect of this man's life, one among many others, has caused me to reflect. At the end of a long and exhausting working day during the meetings of the Episcopal Conference, the rest of us were all tired and would hurry back home. He, however, seemingly indefatigable, would go to his cold chapel and stay there in the presence of God until late at night. For how long? I don't know. I never heard the footsteps of the Cardinal coming back from the chapel, while I was workiing late nights at the archbishop's residence. One thing I do know: at his advanced age he was entitled to some rest. I think the Cardinal needed to conclude his daily labours with the golden lock of sleep and instead he closed them with the diamond of prayer. This was truly a man of prayer!'
"I tried to imitate his unparalleled example by not only praying in the house chapel but also sitting, writing my books there. That's where I wrote Person and Action, among others. I have always been convinced that the chapel is a place of special inspiration. What a great privilege to be able to live and work in the shadow of His Presence, such a powerfully magnetic Presence! ...
"It is not always necessary to enter physically into the chapel in order to enter spiritually into the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. I have always sensed that Christ was the real owner of my episcopal residence, and that we bishops were just short-term tenants. That's how it was in Franciszkanska Street for almost twenty years, and that's how it is here in the Vatican."
(John Paul II, Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way, pp 145-147)
