Personal Reflections on the Passing of the Holy Father
It's been about twelve hours since the Pope left this world. My wife woke me up at 5:30, shortly after she had been woken by our son and she had learned the sad news.
I arose, said a prayer, and absorbed the news on CNN, the BBC, YTN and the Internet. At 6:00, I offered the Angelus, the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary (it was already Sunday here), and the Divine Mercy Chaplet on behalf of our departed shepherd.
Although like everyone I knew it was coming, it was still unreal to think of a world without Pope John Paul II, who ascended to the Throne of Saint Peter when I was a seven-year-old Lutheran boy. I had been preparing myself for some time, and more intensely so after learning that the Holy Father had been administered Last Rites the morning after Terro Schiavo passed away.
I appreciated this great man long before becoming a Catholic. I found myself agreeing with every stance he and his Church took. I shared the same disgreements with both "conservatives" and "liberals" on the exact same points.
He denounced the dialectical materialism of communism as well as the crass materialism of capitalism. He respected the uniqueness and importance of individual cultures without falling into the anti-culturalism of multi-culturalism. He maintained orthodoxy while dialoging with other religions.
Russell Kirk observed "that modern people are dwarfs on the shoulders of giants." We have been blessed for 27 years with having a giant among us, leading our Church.
Good-bye, Holy Father.
[image from World Photos - AP]
It's been about twelve hours since the Pope left this world. My wife woke me up at 5:30, shortly after she had been woken by our son and she had learned the sad news.
I arose, said a prayer, and absorbed the news on CNN, the BBC, YTN and the Internet. At 6:00, I offered the Angelus, the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary (it was already Sunday here), and the Divine Mercy Chaplet on behalf of our departed shepherd.
Although like everyone I knew it was coming, it was still unreal to think of a world without Pope John Paul II, who ascended to the Throne of Saint Peter when I was a seven-year-old Lutheran boy. I had been preparing myself for some time, and more intensely so after learning that the Holy Father had been administered Last Rites the morning after Terro Schiavo passed away.
I appreciated this great man long before becoming a Catholic. I found myself agreeing with every stance he and his Church took. I shared the same disgreements with both "conservatives" and "liberals" on the exact same points.
He denounced the dialectical materialism of communism as well as the crass materialism of capitalism. He respected the uniqueness and importance of individual cultures without falling into the anti-culturalism of multi-culturalism. He maintained orthodoxy while dialoging with other religions.
Russell Kirk observed "that modern people are dwarfs on the shoulders of giants." We have been blessed for 27 years with having a giant among us, leading our Church.
Good-bye, Holy Father.
Pray for us.
[image from World Photos - AP]
Redeemed by Our Savior, I work out my salvation with fear and trembling in Pohang, South Korea, where I live with my wife, daughter, and son and teach English at a science and technology university. Baptized a Methodist and raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, I spent six years as a guest of the Anglican Communion before being received by the Grace of God into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on the Feast of Saint Andrew, my patron, anno domini 2002.
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