Remembering John Paul the Great - April 2

[Terry_Fenwick]

Remembering John Paul the Great - My Hero - April 2, 2006

We remember our Dear Pope John Paul II but this weekend we will be reminded that it has been one full year, April 2, that he left us to go be with the Father. Imagine the times he has spent with his precious Blessed Mother, Mary

I remember him all the time, don’t you? When something is on TV about him, even if I have seen it before, I stop and sit down to watch it again. He was such a hero to me. My first Pope!

All my life I wanted a hero. I guess we always do, don’t we? We seek for a hero as a child and from disappointment to disappointment we look for another. We find them in books and in the Bible but we keep searching for one with skin on–one we can see and touch. I had no idea what a hero would be like but I knew I would know one when I found him–and I did find one! Pope John Paul II.

How did it happen that this man from Poland became a Pope living in Italy and could touch lives of people all over the world and make such a difference. He brought everyone together, didn’t he? How did he do that? He brought Catholics, Protestant Christians, even unbelievers from country to country together - he just did it. He brought the countries together like never before. He did it well. He was equal to the task!

We needed a hero with slip-on shoes, didn’t we? We needed a hero who would work until the moment he died. We needed a hero who would stand for Jesus Christ even when he could no longer stand. We needed a hero who would speak for the Savior, while wiping saliva from his drooling mouth, even when he could no longer speak.

And I? I keep saying at 73 that I am so tired. I move too slowly and forget that God can make me equal to a task, if I want to serve HIM. If we learn nothing more from this man of God, this Holy Father, this Papa, our Papa than finishing the race, let’s all encourage each other to do just that! Fight the good fight, without swords, and finish the race! Let’s hold each other to it!

We praise you, Lord, for the quarter of a century with a Hero like this one. Don’t let us forget these past 27 years and don’t let us forget this past year without him. Let us not stop being grateful to You, Lord, for this man from Poland who became a Pope for the whole world.

I am so grateful! I love being Catholic! Terry Fenwick

 

[Georgess]

yes… the Mercy Pope …

Have heard of him being prophesied as the ‘labor of the sun’ - and the tremendous world events that have played out …and coninue to …in his God given role …the whole Fatima mystery ( and the connection with the sun … bringing light to nations that were under the darkness of communism …)

Bringing dignityand hope , to those laboring under the falsehood of modernism and relativism and its attendant plagues of sexual immorality and the holocaust of abortion…

Arousing the yearning , in the hearts of many of the faithful, for alleviation of misundersatndings in the area of painful church relations…

May his prayers , help us all to - “be not afraid …”

In the depths of our hearts, may we be able to say " O Jesus, I trust in thee’ …and in Your Bride - the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, in Her Sacraments … and teachings

and may those who try to spread error and darkness in these areas , see The Light … be freed of their utter confusion and hardness of hearts …

 

[AquinasXVI]

AMEN! Let’s pray for him that he has entered the Kingdom.

Of all his legacies, the best one is the people–US. I know I’ve been helped by his holiness.

in XT.

 

[Fergal]

A year on and I still fill up and choke on hearing his voice or seeing a movie…

I really still miss him greatly…

Thank you JP for the wonderful example. Your memory, your words and your example will never go silent as long as I have breath.

Heartfelt thanks.

 

[Terry_Fenwick]

Fergal:

A year on and I still fill up and choke on hearing his voice or seeing a movie…

I really still miss him greatly…

Thank you JP for the wonderful example. Your memory, your words and your example will never go silent as long as I have breath.

Heartfelt thanks.

I am watching his funeral from the Vatican a year ago as I type now. It is on EWTN and it is so glorious when the Bible on his box blows with the Spirit of God. It was so beautiful. The simple box with M for Mary at the foot of the simple cross. What a wonderful thing it is to have been a part of his time. I am so glad you love him! Terry

 

[a_clare]

Terry Fenwick:

I am watching his funeral from the Vatican a year ago as I type now. It is on EWTN and it is so glorious when the Bible on his box blows with the Spirit of God. It was so beautiful. The simple box with M for Mary at the foot of the simple cross. What a wonderful thing it is to have been a part of his time. I am so glad you love him! Terry

I also watched the replaying of his funeral on EWTN.

 

[Runner1]

I always ask Pope John Paul II to intercede for me…I know he asks Our Lady to pray for me, especially for my fears about my running and my feet!

When I fractured my foot I prayed he would intercede for me and I can tell you that my foot has been healing and I’ve able to walk, jog, and bike.

Thanks be to God and all His Holy Angels and Saints!!!

Please continue to pray for John Paul II! We love you!

 

[_SunShine]

a_clare:

I also watched the replaying of his funeral on EWTN.

I did too, it brought back so much.:crying:

 

[Jeanette_L]

I think it was John Paul’s funeral that was pretty much the clincher for me. I had just started seriously studying the Church Fathers. I had been watching EWTN for awhile and my curiosity was peaked. Then John Paul became very ill. I was glued to the news in his last days. I felt like someone in my family was passing, and I wasn’t even Catholic, nor had I been seriously pursuing it at that point.

But, when he passed, I cried and cried. I was seriously grieving and couldn’t figure out why, except I knew someone very special was departing our world. I was drawn like a moth to flame. And when Benedict XVI was elected, I cheered like I was Catholic. That’s when I knew that I was, in fact, Catholic; it was just a matter of admitting it to myself and then finding the courage to follow through.

So, come Easter Vigil, I will joyfully take my place in the Church and thank God and all his Saints for getting me here.

I saw John Paul’s funeral today on EWTN also. I couldn’t believe it had been a year already. But I wasn’t sad this time around. I knew he had gone to be with the One he loved more than everything, and I was happy for him.

God Bless you John Paul the Great!

 

[Terry_Fenwick]

Jeanette L:

I think it was John Paul’s funeral that was pretty much the clincher for me. I had just started seriously studying the Church Fathers. I had been watching EWTN for awhile and my curiosity was peaked. Then John Paul became very ill. I was glued to the news in his last days. I felt like someone in my family was passing, and I wasn’t even Catholic, nor had I been seriously pursuing it at that point.

But, when he passed, I cried and cried. I was seriously grieving and couldn’t figure out why, except I knew someone very special was departing our world. I was drawn like a moth to flame. And when Benedict XVI was elected, I cheered like I was Catholic. That’s when I knew that I was, in fact, Catholic; it was just a matter of admitting it to myself and then finding the courage to follow through.

So, come Easter Vigil, I will joyfully take my place in the Church and thank God and all his Saints for getting me here.

I saw John Paul’s funeral today on EWTN also. I couldn’t believe it had been a year already. But I wasn’t sad this time around. I knew he had gone to be with the One he loved more than everything, and I was happy for him.

God Bless you John Paul the Great!

If I could needlepoint I would put this on a pillow and carry your letter close to my heart all the days of my life. I had the same thing happen but in a different way. I loved your email. Of course, somewhere in that story you loved the Lord and the Spirit of God was grieving in you at the illness and leaving of this wonderful Saint - John Paul the Great !!! Aren’t we blessed that he was our Pope? I am 73 and did not become a Catholic until February 3, 2004 (2/3/4) and I love being Catholic. My husband and I had been strong believers - Protestant - Bible teachers for years but when this happened - no one was more surprised that we were that we became Catholic.

You will have new friends in High Places! The Saints and the Blessed Mother Mary and you will love them all!!! You will not believe the TRUTHS you will discover in your new life. I am so happy for you. Have you made your first Confession yet? You will love it. Check out my ‘threads’ because I have things about confession and loving being a Catholic. I do!! You will! Terry

 

[waostewart]

It is so good to see the amount of joy people have gained from this great servent of our loving Father in heaven.
I seem always to go back to just after I lost my oldest daughter who was killed. It may seem sad but to me it is not, for I know that our children and other people we come in contact with are lent to us to love, to learn from and to help.

I was given the time of 10 days before my daughter left us, but in that time the most refreshing words were given me by her. She said “Dad I remember the words you haver told me and I know they are true, I believe”. A father could have no other reassurance that their daughter is in heaven and for that reason I find that there are no tears, but joy. I love my daughter and know that her prayers in Heaven are stronger than mine, for they are not faulty like those of us on earth. Our prayers are covered by Gods love and mecy, where as those in heaven see God face to face.

St Paul said "what I see now is a dim image but then…I will see all things as they are. This is the reassurance I have in my God who is LOVE, who can never lie to me, who can never not have time for me, wno can never say that He does not love me, for the love I have , I have for He gave it to me.
He is my Lord I offer Him all that I am and all that I have for I have nothing for He gave it to me in the first place.
He is LOVE the most Holy trinity of God devine.
When all seems lost He stands next to me So I give Him all that I am.
What better person could I feel secure with?