John Paul the Great - 1920 - 2005

Goodbye, good Father. Pray for us.

What a gift he was to us in this time. It is surreal to see him go. He struggled for so many years, the fact that his earthly tent finally gave out doesn't seem real yet. I got to see him in 2002 at World Youth Day in Toronto. We were wondering beforehand whether he could make it to that event. Yet he labored on for 3 more years.

I wish I could have seen more of him in his younger days. I was aware of him and admired him even in my youth, but there wasn't much occasion to hear him speak. I love seeing footage now of him when he was young.

There has only been 3 popes canonized for sainthood in the last 400 - 500 years. I'm sure this man will be as well. It is an honor to have been alive at the same time as great people like Mother Theresa of Calcutta and Pope John Paul II.

How poignant that he went to be with the Lord on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday. It is the feast for the devotion that began in Poland with St. Faustina, reminding us of the great mercy Jesus has for us. "Jesus, I trust in You." JPII promulgated the Sunday after Easter as the Feast of Divine Mercy and also was the one to approve the canonization of St. Faustina.

I also feel sadness for his friends, his collaboraters, the other bishops and cardinals that worked with him in the Vatican. They are not only co-workers, but friends and family. It was sad to heard of them choking up with emotion when speaking with the press. But, we are all happy for him, now in the arms of the beloved Savior. His last words that he wrote to his bedside companions were "I am happy, be it yourselves as well.... Let us pray together in joy". We are happy for you, Papa.

Jesus, I trust in You.

I'm confident that the Holy Spirit will guide the college of cardinals to elect the pope we need for the next several years, just as JPII was so ideally suited for the last 25 years.

Jesus, I trust in You.

I remember his first words to us: "Be not afraid!"

He leaves us with the feast day where we pray, "Jesus, I trust in You."