+ John Paul II +

Today the Holy Father, John Paul II, died. This is NOT a joke! He was the our leader of the Catholic Church for 27 years. I was in college when he first became pope. Actually I was working at Camp Don Bosco when Paul VI died, and at first we thought it was a sick joke when we heard the news. Then John Paul I was elected pope and 30 days later he died. Again, we thought this was an even sicker joke. And then we heard days/weeks later that a new pope was elected and he was Polish. Again NOT a joke!
But today we mourn the loss of a great man and spiritual leader. We cannot begin to measure the effect he has had on our world. No matter what your opinion is of the clergy sexual abuse scandal here in the United States, you must respect his courage and strength of personal integrity. Yes he was conservative, but he spoke out against injustice and spoke for those who are less fortunate and have no voice.
When I was in the seminary. we went up to Chicago to see the Holy Father and somewhere I still have a "pope button" I bought outside the mass area. I remember how outraged we were when we realized that HareKrishna followers had put on wigs and were selling souvenirs. Ok we laughed at the wigs and we bought the pins anyway. I didn't bring a camera because I thought we would be so far away. It was actually the opposite. We got to the park so early in the morning we were able to stand in the grass fairly close to the main altar area. Not that we could touch him but we could clearly see him as he celebrated mass.
The next time I saw him in person was when he came here to St. Louis. I watched the papal parade on TV and on a webcast on the internet, as well as the Youth Rally downtown. I got up early in the morning in January and went to the mass downtown. I remember how dark it was and how long we were down there and how late we got back to the arena. This time we were far away and up in the "nose-bleed" section, but that was okay. Mom got to see him at mass and that made her very happy.
In Chicago I saw the pope as church leader. In St. Louis I saw as a human servant of God.
He will be missed. He did touch our lives. He did touch my life. He now shares in the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Eternal life grant unto him O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace, Amen.