Reflections on His Holiness, John Paul II

Pope John Paul II, 1920-2005

My own personal memories of Pope John Paul II are not of individual moments or particular acts during his pontificate. Rather, I reflect on a man who was a personal hero of mine for 2 decades before the thought of entering the Catholic Church ever crossed my mind.

As I said, I don't have any one specific memory of him that stands out above all the rest. I do, however, remember countless times over the years seeing and hearing the Pope on television - recognizing the spiritual, moral, and political leadership he brought to bear on the world in the last quarter of the 20th Century and beginning of the 21st Century - and thinking to myself: "I love this man. Sometimes I wish I were Catholic."

Well, here I am, and in no small part because of the hopeful witness of Pope John Paul II. Thank you, Holy Father, for helping to light my way home.

UPDATE:

Memorial reflections on John Paul II are posted:

at Amy Welborn's blog;

at a new online John Paul II memorial;

and in The Washington Times.

See also the reflection on the Holy Father in the American Spectator titled "Everyone's Pope".

See also Charles Krauthammer's excellent piece, "The Power of Faith".

See also "The 20th Century Ends" on National Review Online.

And no Papal tribute could be complete without the words of Peggy Noonan (who hasn't written on the subject yet - I'll post as soon as she does) and George Weigel: "Mourning and Remembrance".

Wow! The blog Against the Grain pulls together several reflections about Pope John Paul II from what has to be every available source on the web. Great job!