Happiness Comes From Giving

 

This story is about a beautiful, expensively dressed lady who complained to her psychiatrist that she felt that her whole life was empty; it had no meaning.

 

So the counselor called over the old lady who cleaned the office floors, and then said to the rich lady, "I'm going to ask Mary here to tell you how she found happiness. All I want you to do is listen."

 

So the old lady put down her broom and sat on a chair and told her story: "Well, my husband died of malaria and three months later my only son was killed by a car. I had nobody... I had nothing left. I couldn't sleep; I couldn't eat; I never smiled at anyone, I even thought of taking my own life. Then one evening a little kitten followed me home from work. Somehow I felt sorry for that kitten. It was cold outside, so I decided to let the kitten in. I got it some milk, and it licked the plate clean. Then it purred and rubbed against my leg, and for the first time in months, I smiled. Then I stopped to think; if helping a little kitten could make me smile, maybe doing something for people could make me happy. So the next day I baked some biscuits and took them to a neighbor who was sick in bed. Every day I tried to do something nice for someone. It made me so happy to see them happy. Today, I don't know of anybody who sleeps and eats better than I do. I've found happiness, by giving it to others."

 

When she heard that, the rich lady cried. She had everything that money could buy, but she had lost the things which money cannot buy.

 

Happiness is when you want everything you have, not when you have everything you want.

 

  

Rome’s exorcist finding Bl. John Paul II effective against Satan

By David Kerr

Fr. Gabriele Amorth poses next to a statue of the Virgin Mary in his office.

Rome, Italy, May 17, 2011 / 03:27 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The chief exorcist of Rome is seeing a rising number of young people coming under the influence of evil, but he has found in recent years that Blessed John Paul II is a powerful intercessor in the battle for souls.

A small, unassuming office in south-west Rome seems a rather ordinary setting in which to play out a grand battle between good and evil. It is here, though, that Father Gabriele Amorth has carried out most of his 70,000 exorcisms over the past 26 years.

“The world must know that Satan exists,” he told CNA recently. “The devil and demons are many and they have two powers, the ordinary and the extraordinary.”

The 86-year-old Italian priest of the Society of St. Paul and official exorcist for the Diocese of Rome explained the difference.

“The so-called ordinary power is that of tempting man to distance himself from God and take him to Hell. This action is exercised against all men and women of all places and religions.”

As for the extraordinary powers used by Satan, Fr. Amorth explained it as how the Devil acts when he focuses his attention more specifically on a person. He categorized the expression of that attention into four types: diabolical possession; diabolical vexation like in the case of Padre Pio, who was beaten by the Devil; obsessions which are able to lead a person to desperation and infestation, and when the Devil occupies a space, an animal or even an object.” 

Fr. Amorth says such extraordinary occurrences are rare but on the rise. He's particularly worried by the number of young people being affected by Satan through sects, séances and drugs. He never despairs though.

“With Jesus Christ and Mary, God has promised us that he will never allow temptations greater than our strengths.”

Hence he gives a very matter-of-fact guide that everybody can use in the fight against Satan.

“The temptations of the Devil are defeated first of all by avoiding occasions (of temptation), because the Devil always seeks out our weakest points. And, then, with prayer. We Christians have an advantage because we have the Word of Jesus, we have the sacraments, prayer to God.”

Not surprisingly, ‘Jesus Christ’ is the name Fr. Amorth most often calls upon to expel demons. But he also turns to saintly men and women for their heavenly assistance. Interestingly, he said that in recent years one man – Blessed Pope John Paul II – has proved to be a particularly powerful intercessor. 

“I have asked the demon more than once, ‘Why are you so scared of John Paul II and I have had two different responses, both interesting. One, ‘because he disrupted my plans.’ And, I think that he is referring to the fall of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe. The collapse of communism.”

“Another response that he gave me, ‘because he pulled so many young people from my hands.’ There are so many young people who, thanks to John Paul II, were converted. Perhaps some were already Christian but not practicing, but then with John Paul II they came back to the practice. ‘He pulled so many young people out of my hands.’”

And the most powerful intercessor of all?

“Of course, the Madonna is even more effective. Ah, when you invoke Mary!”

“And, once I also asked Satan, ‘but why are you more scared when I invoke Our Lady than when I invoke Jesus Christ?’ He answered me, ‘Because I am more humiliated to be defeated by a human creature than being defeated by him.” 

The intercession of the living is also important, though, says Fr. Amorth. He reminds people that exorcism is a prayer and, as such, Christians can pray to liberate a soul or place from the Devil. However, three things are needed.

“The Lord gave them (the Apostles) an answer that also for us exorcists is very important. He said that overcoming this type of demon, you need much faith, much prayer and much fasting. Faith, prayer and fasting.”

“Especially faith, you need so much faith. Many times also in the healings, Jesus does not say in the Gospel it is me who has healed you. He says, you are healed thanks to your faith. He wants faith in the people, a strong and absolute faith. Without faith you can do nothing.”

Christian Church Burnings Are Happening All Over The World And The U.S. Media Is Deadly Silent About It

Did you know that hundreds of church burnings have taken place all over the globe so far in 2011?  For a large percentage of those of you that are reading this article, this is the first that you have heard of it.  And do you want to know why?  News stories about church burnings and the persecution of Christians around the world are not "politically correct" enough to get into the mainstream media most of the time.  Have you ever noticed that an overwhelming percentage of news stories about Christianity in the mainstream media are negative?  There seems to be an unspoken rule that you should never report on anything that would portray the Christian faith in a positive light - even if it is reporting on how churches are being mercilessly burned to the ground.  Others fear that reporting on church burnings would somehow justify the endless wars in the Middle East.  But the truth is that many of the regimes that the U.S. government has put in place or is propping up are actively involved in the persecution of Christians.  Whatever religion you belong to, and whatever your political philosophy is, we should all be able to agree that church burnings are evil.  If you cannot agree that there is something wrong with burning churches to the ground then something is wrong.

In the United States, our founding fathers established "freedom of religion" as one of our fundamental rights.  Many of our founding fathers had escaped horrific religious persecution in Europe and many of them knew firsthand how insidious it can be.

Today, hundreds of churches around the world are being torched.  I am a Christian and I am not going to be ashamed to shed light on these great crimes.  If you don't like that, then maybe you should ask yourself why that is the case.

The following are just a few examples of the widespread church burnings that we have seen so far this year....

Egypt

In the aftermath of the U.S.-backed "Egyptian revolution", church burnings have become a regular thing all over Egypt.  The recent burning of a Coptic church right in the middle of Cairo has plunged the provisional government in Egypt into crisis mode as a recent article in The Telegraph noted....

Egypt's caretaker government has held crisis talks after attacks by Muslim mobs on Coptic Christian churches in Cairo left at least 12 people dead and drove the country's growing religious tensions to the brink.

The following is the kind of video footage that is very rare to see on U.S. news programs.  This footage is of Saint Mary Church in Cairo burning wildly after it was firebombed by Egyptian radicals on Saturday....

Can everyone agree that this is wrong?

I hope so.

Unfortunately, this is not just an isolated incident.  Christians in Egypt now must watch out for attacks every single day.  This latest round of violence against Christians really got going back on New Year's Eve when 21 people were killed and 43 people were injured when a massive bomb went off outside a Coptic church in the city of Alexandria, Egypt.

That attack was so horrific that it actually did get a little bit of attention in the U.S. press.

Egypt is spinning out of control and the horrific persecution of the Coptic Christian minority (about 10 percent of the Egyptian population) is rising to frightening levels.

Earlier this year there was an attack during which an estimated 4,000 Muslims violently assaulted Christian homes and burned a church in the Egyptian town of Soul which is about 18 miles from Cairo.

What would you do if there was a mob of 4,000 people rampaging down your street looking for Christian homes to burn?

Egypt used to be a fairly stable place, but unfortunately that is now no longer true.

Pakistan

It has become incredibly difficult to be a Christian in the nation of Pakistan.  Church burnings and physical attacks on Christians have become commonplace.

The following is how an article posted on Asia News described the recent problems in one particular province....

Tensions are running high in Gujranwala, a town in the Pakistani province of Punjab, recent scene of repeated attacks by Muslim extremists against the Christian minority. Yesterday, a mob attacked Christian homes and places of worship, setting fire to a number of churches. Only the action of police prevented any loss of life and injuries.

For some Christians in Pakistan, the persecution goes far beyond just having a church burned down.

For example, one Pakistani Christian named Arshed Masih died after radical Muslim leaders, backed by police, burned him alive for refusing to convert to Islam while his wife was raped by police officers.  This incident, which took place on March 19th, 2010 is just another example of how horrible things have become for Christians in Pakistan.

Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, dozens of churches are being burned.  The international media is reporting that 69 churches in a single Ethiopian city were burned just in the month of March alone.

How would you like it if an angry horde came into your town and burned down all the churches?

The following is how Radio Netherlands describes what has been going on in Ethiopia ....

Evangelical churches and homes of Christians in Asendabo, about 300 kilometers southwest of capital Addis Ababa, and other towns in the Jimma region were torched earlier this month. Thousands of them have fled their hometowns to safer areas.
More than 46 churches belonging to the Pentecostal Kale Hiwot (Word of Life) Church and 23 belonging to other Christian groups have been burnt down, says Temesgen Wolde, coordinator of the Kale Hiwot department in Jimma City. His church shelters eighty refugee Christians in a tent.

Nigeria

In Nigeria, hundreds of church burnings have been reported so far this year.  Many of them took place after the Christian candidate for president defeated the Islamic candidate for president back in April.  Thousands of Christian homes and businesses were destroyed and nobody is sure how many Christians were actually slaughtered.  The following is how an article posted on FRONTPAGEMAG describes what went down....

Angry that Christian President Goodluck Jonathan defeated Muslim candidate Muhammadu Buhari, Islamists in the Shariah-ruled north began rioting on Monday, April 18, 2011, after preliminary results of the April 16 election were announced. Soon newspapers featured grisly photos of charred bodies lining the streets. Hundreds of churches were burned and thousands of Christian-owned businesses destroyed, according to the Christian human rights group, Open Doors. And International Christian Concern reported that the Kaduna-based Civil Rights Congress was still "discovering more details of massacres that have been carried out in the hinterland." Upwards of 40,000 Christians have been displaced in the past few weeks.

But did you hear about any of this in the U.S. media?

Perhaps there was a "blip" or two about the "election violence".

Instead of focusing on real issues, our media at the time was absolutely obsessed with promoting U.S. military action in Libya.

The truth is that the U.S. government and the U.S. media have never really shown much concern for the good people living in places like Nigeria, Ethiopia and Sudan.  For years and years, countless thousands of Christians in Sudan were being slaughtered by government-backed forces and countless thousands of Christians were actually being sold into slavery, and yet our government did nothing.

But then a handful of people died in a revolt against the government in Libya and our government "was forced" to act for "humanitarian" reasons.

What a joke.

The U.S. government does not really care for the people of Africa but the truth is that those people are just as valuable as anyone else.

When we see churches around the world being burned down we should care just as much as if churches in the United States were being burned down.

And you know what?

Persecution of Christians in the United States is growing too.

In California, one high school student named Kenneth Dominguez was suspended for talking about Jesus Christ with his fellow students.  According to The Christian Post, Dominguez "didn't shout or preach out loud and he limited his talk to lunch breaks and the hallways, and not the classroom."

Not only that, there is no record of anyone ever complaining about it.

But he got suspended anyway.

You see, the truth is that the word "Jesus" has become a dirty word in the United States today.

Just try saying it (not as a curse word) at school, at work or at a public event some time.

One U.S. Navy chaplain even had to face a court-martial for standing up for the right to pray "in Jesus name" in the U.S. Navy.

So, no, this is not a "politically-correct" article.

But you know what?  Since the founding of this nation a whole host of our countrymen have bled and died to protect our basic freedoms.

One of those freedoms is the freedom of religion.

When there is an attack on the freedom of religion we should all be alarmed because it is an attack on all of us.

If you say that you love liberty and freedom, you should be against the persecution of Christians wherever it is found around the world.

Sources: The American Dream

Why Mothers Cry...  

 

 

 

 

 

"Why are you crying?" he asked his mom.

"Because I'm a mother," she told him.

"I don't understand," he said.

 

His mom just hugged him and said, "You never will!"

Later the little boy asked his father why Mother seemed to cry for no reason.

"All mothers cry for no reason," was all his dad could say.

The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why mothers cry.

So he finally put in a call to God and

When God got on the phone the man said,

"God, why do mothers cry so easily."

God said, "You see son, when I made mothers they had to be special.

I made their shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world,

Yet gentle enough to give comfort.

I gave them an inner strength to endure childbirth

And the rejection that many times come from their children.

"I gave them a hardiness that allows them to keep going

When everyone else gives up, and to take care of their families

Through sickness and fatigue without complaining.

"I gave them the sensitivity to love their children under all circumstances,

Even when their child has hurt them very badly.

This same sensitivity helps them to make a child's boo-boo

Feel better and helps them share a teenager's anxieties and fears.

"I gave them a tear to shed. It's theirs exclusively to use whenever it's needed.

It's their only weakness. It's a tear for mankind."


Best Wishes for Mothers Day!

Nurse Remembers John Paul II's Last Day

Says He Took on the Cross of Everyone Who Suffers

By Mariaelena Finessi

ROME, MAY 1, 2011 (Zenit.org).- “They called me in the late morning. I hurried because I was afraid that I would not arrive in time. Instead he was waiting for me. ‘Good morning, Holiness, it’s sunny today,’ I said to him immediately because it was what he liked to hear when he was in the hospital.”

This is how Rita Megliorin, former head nurse of the recovery ward at Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic, remembers the morning of April 2 when she was called to the papal apartment, to the sickbed of John Paul II, as he was dying.

Megliorin made her remarks Friday to reporters at Rome's University of the Holy Cross.

“I didn’t think that he would recognize me. He looked at me. It wasn’t that inquiring look that he used to have when he wanted to know immediately how his health was. It was a sweet gaze, which touched me,” she recounted. “I felt the need to put my head on his hand, I allowed myself the luxury of receiving his last caress, laying his powerless hand on my face while he fixed his eyes upon the picture of the suffering Christ that hung on the wall in front of his bed.”

Hearing the increasing volume of the singing, prayers, and acclamations of the young people in St. Peter’s Square the nurse asked the Pope's secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, if the noise didn’t bother the Pope. “But he, taking me to the window, said: ‘Rita, those are the children who have come to greet the father.'”

Light

Megliorin first met the Pope at Gemelli in January 2005. Coming to work one day, and not thinking about the Pope being there, she said that she was told to make haste to the 10th floor because there was “an important patient.” 

“Think,” she said, “of a place where there is no space and where there is no time, and think only of a lot of light.” This is what it was like being with John Paul II.

“During those months, every morning I came into the room to find him already awake because he had already been praying since 3. I would open the blinds and say ‘Good morning, Holiness, it’s sunny today.’ He would turn to me and bless me. I would kneel and he would touch my face.” This was the ritual that started the Holy Father's days. “Beyond that I was an inflexible nurse and he was an inflexible patient. He wanted to be updated on everything, the sickness, its gravity. If he didn’t understand, he would give me a look that suggested a request for a better explanation.”

“He never ceased to study man’s problems. I remember the books on genetics, for example, that he consulted and studied attentively, even in the condition that he was in.” “Every day,” she explained, “he told us [that] ‘every problem has a solution.'”

“And like every father he had a love for the weakest. For example, at WYD in Rome at Tor Vergata, he greeted the kids who were in the back, thinking that they weren’t able to see much. In the hospital, too, he occupied himself with unimportant people and not with the great professors, he asked about their families, if they had children at home.”

“The Pope endured what were perhaps the most difficult moments at the Polyclinic,” she observed, but added that “helping the sick is a gift, at least for those who believe in God. But it is a singular experience for non-believers too.”

Better today

Asked whether any particular film about the life of Wojtyla corresponded to what really went on in his dying moments, she responded with the question of whether anyone in the room had held a dying parent in their arms. “I can’t answer,” she said reluctantly. “Whoever hasn’t experienced it can’t understand.”

Another reporter asked whether death was a relief. “Death is never a relief,” she replied. “As a nurse, I can only say that there is a limit to care beyond which it becomes heroic.”

John Paul II, “in the last moment of his life,” Megliorin concluded, “took up his cross, taking on not just his own [cross] but that of all those who suffer. He did it with the joy that is born of the hope of believing in a better tomorrow. In fact, I think that for him it was already the hope in a better today.”

John Paul II with children

Share you thoughts....Our beloved Pope John Paul II...

The Spirit-Filled Pope

Pope John Paul II has been a very strong influence in my life. I admire him for his moral courage, clear and fearless teaching of how one needs to live the Catholic Faith in today's world and especially his staunch promotion of freedom of speech and the practice of one's faith and every pro-life issue. His simplicity, genuine affection and a friendly ear to the young people and the old have endeared him to all. He is one pope I cannot forget. Through his beatification he is sure to bring many closer to God.

—GuestLeo Jayaraj P

Blessed Pope John Paul II

I am overjoyed with the news of the beatification of Pope John Paul II on May 1, 2011. He was such a saintly pope. I love him; but our Blessed Mother Mary love him more! Blessed Pope John Paul II - pray for us!

—GuestEmmanuel Ologu-Ogbangwo

Pope John Paul Was Inspirational

The humble pope's visit to Zimbabwe in 1988 was marked by kissing the soil of Zimbabwe to indicate his total union with the people of the land and he focused on forgiveness and peace as the core of his homily. The humble pope was exemplary on the issue of forgiveness for he himself forgave the enemy who shot him. He also furthered the will of Jesus Christ by continual preaching and visits to other religions especially the Islamic religion to demonstrate ecumenism/brotherhood among humanity through reconciliation. The Pope's encouragement on fortitude on Christian grounds was very much striking especially in his address to the youth when he said, "Youth of today, do not fear to risk your life for Christ for to be a Christian means to be a candidate for martyrdom." Pope John Paul is a shining example of the witnesses of Christ. I believe very well that his beatification is a true revelation of the predestined will of Jesus Christ our Lord.

—Guestruchivende@gmail.com

Feeling

Every time I saw Pope John Paul 2 in the TV my heart bleeds and I want to cry with no reasons at all. Pope John Paul 2 is not an ordinary person. I love him so much.

—GuestJoan

JPII as Saint

I am at a difficult state of mind when it comes to make JPII a saint. Yes three World Youth Days did make JPII a joy to behold. However, a decision to take the crucifixes out of the church at Assisi to accommodate false religions and to disobey the Blessed Virgin Mary in regards to the Consecration of Russia leaves me wondering why he let the Catholic become equal with these other religions. Also homosexuality and pedophilia ran rampant during his papacy. I will pray for him and hope that my thoughts are wrong.

—GuestMichael2431

Hero of Modern Times

Pope JP II is a hero in every sense of that word; in the secular as well as in the religious worlds. He brought strength, character, openness, honesty, commitment to Jesus and His Church, and spread the Gospel message of Hope to all. I believe God welcomed him home with open arms and now he is no less able to assist the Church and the world he so nobly served in life.

—johndeacon101

A Blessing

Beatification of Pope John Paul ll is a blessing. This is wonderful news to me and an answer to my prayer. Sandy B

—GuestSandra M Boletchek

The Great Pope

I was very happy to hear of the Pope's beatification in May. I live on a 108-square-mile island known as Antigua in the Caribbean. Nineteen years ago I had the privilege to meet Pope John Paul II in person in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. It remains a treasured moment in my life. Moreover, that I will have the opportunity to say I touched the hand of that saint is in itself a blessing. God bless Pope John Paul II.

—GuestNEA

Canonization

Heaven will take care of the matter of JPII's canonization: the second miracle could be centuries away.

—GuestMartha Pavlick

Beloved Pope

It is heartening to hear the news of the beautification of Pope John Paul II. Long live the Church.

—GuestFr.Joseph wales Raja

Chosen by Christ for Divine Mercy Feast

Though I could never visit Rome and see this most holy Pope, God gave me the singular grace to attend his Holy Masses first at the Uhuru Park at our Kenya Capital, Nairobi, had him bless my rosary as I was chosen to minister at the altar set up for the Eucharistic Celebration and then at the Holy Mass later that evening at Resurrection Gardens on this, his 3rd visit to our beloved Kenya. I felt the holiness of this one chosen by Christ to fulfill His wish of establishing the Feast of Divine Mercy when I greeted him by shaking both his hands. At that moment, I experienced the electrifying grace run through my body as I held his hands. Thank You, God for this ultimate grace. Who would have thought a poor widow would be granted the miracle of holding the hands of this holy man, yet millions had only seen him as he blessed them from the Papal Window at the Vatican or from afar as they attended his Holy Masses during the many, many pastoral journeys he made to all those countries.

—GuestMary42

JP II, The Bridge to the Divine Mercy

Jesus' Will was fulfilled when you instituted the Feast of the Divine Mercy and canonized His Secretary of the Divine Mercy, Saint Faustina. Praise to God in Heaven and may the message of His Divine Mercy and its devotion spread throughout the world.

—GuestMary42

PJP 2

Glory to God for the life of such a wonderful man. Thank God I witnessed his pontificate and hopefully will see his beatification. A true saint and a great servant of the Lord.

—GuestKitwe - Zambia

Prayers for My Son

I have prayed to John Paul for 2 years regarding my son's alcoholism. My son is still drunk but John Paul gives me peace and often sends my son walking through the door when I have a hard time letting go. God bless John Paul and his love for God's children.

—GuestM.A.H.

Beatification of Pope John Paul II

Praise God. There is so much goodness and love in this man of God. His works, writings, prayers ... are kept alive in the hearts of people of different religious denominations. PRAY FOR US BLESSED POPE JOHN PAUL, FOR OUR SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL NEEDS.

—Guestgemma josefina perpetua

John Paul II to be beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on the Feast of Divine Mercy

• By Deacon Keith Fournier
• 1/18/2011
• Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Soon we will also affirm what the miracles effected by his continued intercession confirm, John Paul II is a Saint

The sentiment of the faithful "Santo Subito" echoed as the Church discerned the cause of his canonization. Now, he will be raised to the Altar on the Feast of Divine Mercy and the faithful will call him "Blessed John Paul II." We will soon affirm what miracles effected by his intercession confirm, John Paul II is a Saint. 

The Venerable John Paul II who will soon be raised to the Altar

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - On April 2, 2005 at 9:37 p.m. the Venerable Pope John Paul II died. In April of 2009 his beloved successor, Pope Benedict XVI, told Pilgrims gathered in Rome "With you, I pray for the gift of beatification".  That prayer has been answered.  Friday, January 14, 2011 the Holy See released the "Decree for the Beatification of the Servant of God John Paul II." The  full decree is found here on the Vatican Radio site. 
The choice of the Feast of Divine Mercy, May 1, 2011 is not accidental. He had a deep devotion to his fellow Pole Sr. Faustina Kowalska and to the Divine Mercy devotion identified with her. In August 2002, in Lagiewniki, Poland where Sr. Faustina lived and died, John Paul II entrusted the entire world  "to Divine Mercy, to the unlimited trust in God the Merciful."

The Decree of his Beatification notes, "Since the beginning of his pontificate, in 1978, John Paul II often spoke in his homilies of the mercy of God. This became the theme of his second encyclical, Dives in Misericordia, in 1980. He was aware that modern culture and its language do not have a place for mercy, treating it as something strange; they try to inscribe everything in the categories of justice and law. But this does not suffice, for it is not what the reality of God is about."

With millions of the faithful I prayed throughout those final days of his life before he entered the eternal communion of love. What a gift he was - and still is. He showed us how to live and how to love as Jesus, poured out for others. He showed us that suffering joined to the Savior is a sign and vehicle of God's mercy and an occasion of grace. Then, he showed us how to die, not with fear, but with faith.

This Polish Pope was so filled with the love of God it was contagious. A talented and gifted "man of letters", a playwright, a philosopher, an intellectual giant, a poet, and a genuine human being , he had a heart that embraced the whole world like the Heart of the One whom he represented on earth.

He traversed the globe, proclaiming freedom to the captives and truth to the victims of failed false ideologies that had ravaged the people of the twentieth century, the bloodiest in all of human history. He proclaimed the unchanging, Christian message with a prophetic urgency, profound clarity and contemporary relevance.

Many tried to label him but he demonstrated how shallow the labels can be. He was simply a Christian who stood on the shoulders of giants, rooted in the ancient rich tradition of the Church while proclaiming Jesus Christ as "forever young."

Communism, atheism, secularism, and false humanisms, were exposed because he had the courage to stand up to tyrants with the bold message of the God who came among us to make us all new! He taught that Jesus Christ is the path to authentic personal, social and universal freedom!

He authored more encyclical letters, apostolic exhortations, constitutions and letters than any Pope in the two thousand year history of the Christian Church. Once I started reading his writings as a young man I could not stop. I wanted to consume them, and I have done so, over and over.I also hoped to become them and offer them to others. On that front, I have a long way to go.

It was the writings of this great Pope which prompted a later call in life for this lawyer to the Diaconate and then to the pursuit of a Masters Degree at his Institute and later studies for the PhD in Moral Theology at Catholic University, focusing on his contributions. I knew I was to be a part of the "New Evangelization" and "New Springtime" of world missions which he proclaimed. His successor, Pope Benedict the Builder, is now leading the work.

Over many years I have come to understand more deeply the meaning of living in the communion of the Church because Pope John Paul II taught about it and lived it with such beauty. I have tried to practice his version of authentic ecumenism. I have tried to pass on to others his message of authentic freedom. However, the older I get, the more I realize how little I have accomplished.

This giant whose voice changed history was barely able to speak during those final hours. The once physically robust Pope presided over the Church from a wheelchair as a prophetic sign of the dignity of every human life; the message he carried throughout his pontificate. Just before he died he spoke to a friend at his bedside "I am happy. You should be too. Let us pray together with joy." Then, on April 2, 2005 at 9:37 p.m. after asking, "Let me go to my Father's House", he died in peace. The world wept.

I remember his death like it was yesterday. Along with millions, my heart sunk as he was placed in the earth after such a long period of suffering. When the "transitus" (passing to eternal life) of this holy man was completed it seemed as though that earth stood still. History was changed by the witness of one man singularly conformed to the One whom he served, Jesus Christ.

Pope John Paul II became in both life and death a "living letter", as St Paul wrote to the Corinthians. (2 Cor.3) Also, like the master he loved he became a "grain of wheat" fallen to the ground in order to bear much fruit. (John 12: 24-26) Like countless others my life was forever changed by this prophet who occupied Peters' chair for such a brief time. I must admit, my heart still hurts when I think of him. I miss him.

Like millions, I am convinced that history will record him as "John Paul the Great." However, I am also convinced that his message still needs to be unpacked in order to be used as material for the work to be done in this new missionary age.

There is no doubt that we had a saint in our midst. A man so filled with Jesus Christ that, like the Apostle Paul, he no longer lived but "Christ lived in him." (Galatians 2) The sentiment of the faithful expressed on the day on which his body was processed through the streets of Rome, "Santo Subito" has echoed as the Church has discerned the cause of his canonization.

Now, he will be raised to the Altar on the Feast of Divine Mercy and the faithful will call him "Blessed John Paul II." There is little doubt that soon, we will also affirm what the miracles effected by his continued intercession  confirm, John Paul II is a Saint. 

Pope John Paul II in pictures (33Pics)

Karol Jozef Wojtyla was born in the Polish market town of Wadowice on May 18 1920. He was the youngest of the three children of Karol Wojtyla and Emilia Kaczorowska

1932: Karol Wojtyla aged 12 (second row, extreme left) with his classmates at the parish school at Wadowice, before he moved to Krakow

This photo, taken in the 1930s, shows Karol Wojtyla posing with a candle in his hand after receiving First Communion in Krakow

July 1939: A 19-year old Karol Wojtyla, second from right, holds a rifle while performing "present arms". Two months before the outbreak of World War II in Europe, Wojtyla, according to biographers, attended a military training camp in Western Ukraine, then eastern Poland.

A picture taken in Poland in 1948 shows Karol Wojtyla as a young priest

26 June 1967: Karol Wojtyla receives the biretta of Cardinal. Three years earlier he had become Archbishop of Krakow

16 October 1978: Pope John Paul II, former Polish cardinal Karol Wojtyla, smiles at the Vatican after being named as the head of the Catholic Church. Karol Wojtyla became a bishop in Krakow in 1958, and then archbishop in 1963, before ascending to the papacy as John Paul II.

22 October 1978: Pope John Paul II kisses a priest during his coronation ceremony in front of Saint Peter Basilica in Vatican City. Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland became the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI of Holland in 1542. The new Pope, 58, chose the name of John Paul II in honour of his short-lived predecessor who died after only 33 days in office.

7 June 1979: Pope John Paul II visits former Nazi camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim during his first pilgrimage to Poland

21 June 1980: Then US President Jimmy Carter shares a laugh with Pope John Paul II during a meeting in the pontiff's private library at the Vatican

13 May 1981: A hand holding a gun aims from the crowd in St Peter's Square at Pope John Paul II as he stands in the Popemobile. Several bullets hit the pontiff, wounding him in the abdomen and perforating his colon and small intestine multiple times.

13 May 1981: Pope John Paul II is helped by his bodyguards after being shot by Mehmet Ali Agca at St Peter's Square in Rome

19 May 1981: Pope John Paul II sits up in his bed at the Policlinico Gemelli hospital in Rome after he was wounded in St Peter's Square by his would-be assassin Mehemet Ali Agca on 13 May

28 May 1982: Pope John Paul II meets Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace

30 May 1982: Pope John Paul address crowds of Polish expatriates at Crystal Palace, London. This was the first time a reigning Pope had visited Britain

27 December 1983: Pope John Paul II greets Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish man who shot him, at Rebibbia prison in Rome. The two spoke privately for 20 minutes. The Pope said afterwards: "What we talked about will have to remain a secret between him and me. I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust."

April 1985: The Prince and Princess of Wales have an audience with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. Princess Diana adhered to protocol by wearing a black lace veil

30 November 1986: Pope John Paul II reaches out to a baby kangaroo at Victoria Park in Adelaide during a week-long visit to Australia

2 February 1986: Pope John Paul II meets the Dalai Lama in Delhi and reads the Tibetan Buddhists' spiritual leader's latest book entitled "Opening The Eye Of New Awareness", during the Pope's ten-day visit to India

8 June 1991: Polish President Lech Walesa kisses the hand of Pope John Paul II at the Royal Castle in Warsaw while holding the first copy of Poland's constitution

12 August 1993: US President Bill Clinton points out people in the crowd to Pope John Paul II upon the Pope's arrival in Denver, Colorado

15 January 1995: Pope John Paul II's helicopter flies over the huge crowd in Manila's Luneta Park prior to his celebrating an open-air mass to an estimated crowd of over two million people gathered for the 10th World Youth Day congress

27 June 1997: Pope John Paul II blesses Mother Teresa at the Vatican City

18 June 1998: South African President Nelson Mandela talks with Pope John Paul II during their meeting at the Vatican

25 January 1998: Pope John Paul II greets Cuban leader Fidel Castro during a mass celebrated in Havana's Revolution Square

16 October 2000: The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visit Pope John Paul II at the Vatican

19 July 2001: Pope John Paul II sits and rests during his holidays in the mountain resort of Les Combes, northern Italy

22 February 2003: Pope John Paul II talks to British Prime Minister Tony Blair during a private audience at the Vatican

9 April 2004: Pope John Paul II receives the Holy Communion from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) at the Vatican

4 June 2004: US President George W Bush meets with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican

23 February 2005: Pope John Paul II waves to pilgrims and faithful from his private library during a close circuit televised address to those gathering at the Vatican for Wednesday's traditional general audience. The pontiff, still recovering after his hospitalisation three weeks earlier for breathing problems, gave his blessing by video after the Vatican cancelled his appearance at his apartment window.

4 April 2005: The body of the late Pope, who had died two days earlier, lies in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City for public viewing

6 April 2005: Mourners file past the body of Pope John Paul II as he lies in state in St. Peter's Basilica