I'm not a very religious person, but I am sure that I am not the only one who is saddened by the loss of this great man. For the acts that he carried out being the first pope to try to start a dialogue with the other religions and for going into areas and countries no other pope has gone to. I feel that we have lost a truly spiritual person.
RE: Death of the Pope
Yes Marnie,
He truly was an inspiration to billions of people on the earth! You didn't have to agree with his theology to see that this was a truly loving, good and spiritual man. To me, his greatest contribution to the world was in the way he encouraged his fellow Poles to claim their God-given freedom. Communism fell first in Poland, not many months after his visit and then it was like a domino effect all over the West.
Yesterday I came acrross a tribute to Pope Leo XIII written by a great religious reformer of the 19th Century, and it struck me that her words, just over a hundred years ago have strong relevance today - and are also helpful to everyone who is grieving:
ON THE DEATH OF POPE LEO XIII, JULY 20, 1903
The sad, sudden announcement of the decease of Pope
Leo XIII, touches the heart and will move the pen of
millions. The intellectual, moral, and religious energy
of this illustrious pontiff have animated the Church of
Rome for one quarter of a century. The august ruler
of two hundred and fifty million human beings has now
passed through the shadow of death into the great forever.
The court of the Vatican mourns him; his relatives
shed "the unavailing tear." He is the loved and lost
of many millions. I sympathize with those who mourn,
but rejoice in knowing our dear God comforts such with
the blessed assurance that life is not lost; its influence
remains in the minds of men, and divine Love holds
its substance safe in the certainty of immortality.
"In Him was life; and the life was the light of men."
(John 1 : 4.)
by Mary Baker Eddy
I also read today that John Paul II once described heaven as "the fullness of communion with God....... neither an abstraction nor a physical place in the clouds."
We can know that he, and all can and will find heaven today in that inseparable connection with divine Love, God.
Love and peace,
Judy
RE: Death of the Pope
It is truly a great loss to the world.
Love,
Patsy.
🙁
RE: Death of the Pope
I too feel overwhelmed with emotion when I think about the loss that many, many people all over the world (including myself) are feeling....
Watching the news briefings and reading news articles though, it was clear that there was soooo much love for him, helping him "home".....
Yes, he will be missed by many...
love and blessings
Geraldine x