I'm new here and I've been reading up past discussions to get a feel of how things were progressing. I take it that it has been some time since anybody posed a new question to revive the discussion and start a new thread(?).

I'm very happy to start a discussion on any topics, and since the latest news has been on the sad loss of Pope John Paul II, who courageously fought his illness till his very last breath, and gracefully stood by and blessed all fellow Christians till the end of his physical life, I'd like to pay tribute and pose a question surrounding his papacy.

Does anyone think that the Pope and his papacy had helped to prepare and pave way for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ that Christians have been so patiently waiting for the last 2000 odd years?

I hope this would be an interesting topic to talk about. Look forward to contributing.

I'm not Catholic either, and until recently, I knew very little about the Pope except for his kind face and the loving blessings, kisses and laying of hands seen on TV, which all too often just seemed like an act.

His ill health had drawn my attention to him because of his perseverance in continuing his work while being mentally unfit. I started to see the God's driving force through this man. And so I started to look deeper into who he actually was, what kind of a character and personality he was, and what kind of purpose God was instilling into this world figure.

Surely, there is a great deal to learn from this man's life, I thought. Surely, there is great significance to what this man's deeds had to do with Jesus's teachings. And I embarked on this journey to study his life, hoping to further shine a light on how the Lord had (or had not) intended for us to live by the Pope's example.

I've started with Beliefnet's Pope page, which was entitled "His Impact". An article first caught my attention: "The pope who loved too much" by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. In this article, the Rabbi talked how the Pope had failed to condemn the threat of terrorism towards the end of his pontificate, and he felt "the great failing of John Paul II’s life was that he loved too much. Like a parent who cannot see the failings of a child, he refused to accept that real evil lurks in the heart of men".

I had personally pondered over the question of the Iraq war for a long, long time, especially around last year's election time. At the time, I felt my own opinion sided very much with the Rabbi's. And yet, I've also posed the question about loving our enemies as our Lord had taught us, that: "if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself." (Galatians 6:1)

Voltaire said, "Love truth, but pardon error."

Don, you've brought out a very interesting point indeed! Does it take a world figure to be 'radical' in order to serve the greater purpose of the Lord?

As we know, world figures such as the nation leaders, monarchies, the Pope, etc. are observed by us as role models on a daily basis. The sheer fact that they are celebrities, apparently, makes it more important to contemplate and consider their every move before acting, reacting, or saying anything, as each of their deeds would be scrutinized by critics. This self-consciousness no doubt has often made these persons of fame unable to act spontaneously according to their own free will. And yet, I see something quite remarkable about John Paul II in the last 5 years. He put aside personal ego, pride and dignity, and continued to serve and still be watched in the limelight when obviously he was physically and mentally unable to cope with the many demands of the world expected of him. This is significant, for I see that it wasn't about "what" his deeds were in these years, but that he "did" do, and he "lasted" to do, whatever he had to accomplish. That courage and determination, in essence, spells out a radical at heart.

Our journey as followers of Jesus is a road that does not end from the moment we receive the Lord as our saviour till we leave to be with Him again. We will never be rid of our sins while we're in our physical bodies, and also will never be able to fully satisfy another person's needs, expectations and requirements. But we serve the Lord, and only to Him, and so we can be free from the chains and torments of other people’s opinions, judgments and convictions if we simply feel we can answer to the Lord.

I remember I had a discussion with my brother about Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, and at one point, my brother was trying to analyse whether that decision would have been a decision that Christ would make. And I remember I commented at the time that I believed our President had prayed long and hard for wisdom to make such a choice. We, as Christians, pray perpetually to hear God’s voice so as to make our own daily decisions. That connection itself is as holy and unique as each of us is. If such a world figure was to feel that he could answer to the Lord and the nation by making such a brave and provocative decision, who are we to judge if that choice was “okayed” by the Lord or not?

Oh Don, thank you so much for sharing such an intimate but beautiful story from your family!! I’ll have to remember this acronym and do something with my kids like you did.

Yes Don, I also hope that some more people will join in our discussion. I guess we'll get them if we sincerely pray for them to appear. But in the meanwhile, I’m enjoying this conversation with you just as it is! It is God’s plan that we meet here. As a mom slightly older than half your age, and a bit of a simpleton busying with 2 young toddlers and still planning to have more (!!), I have a lot to learn from you. You at your golden age but still “plugging along”, as you’ve put it, IS the prime example of the “driving force” that I look for in another person to ruminate over with. And as we continue to learn from each other and minister to each other, it doesn’t just help with our own spiritual journeys, but also those whose paths will cross ours or will get to read a piece of our minds in time to come. Just as we’re talking now, God could be completely turning a person’s life around by using our exchange of inspiration! For this sheer reason, I’m willing to take my time and make this meaningful.

Now, you’ve raised another very interesting point for me to write about in this section.

“Sainthood” has a lot of meanings to me probably due to my background. We Chinese venerate a number of human beings while they were alive, and continue to do so when they “transcend” to the spiritual realm. This practice of paying tribute has deep roots from ancient Chinese history and mythology. Anyone as close to us as our deceased ancestors, to learned scholars/philosophers such as Confucius, to immortal beings such as Guan Yin (Goddess of Mercy), would be remembered, praised, and worshipped in prayers and offered incense or sacrifices by some. From ancient time, Chinese culture and traditions were influenced by the “Mandate of Heaven” whereby the emperor was seen as the “son of heaven”, Toaism with the belief of “yin and yang” forces, Buddhism whereby one is enlightened by the realization of the absence of self, and a number of other myths on spirits, energies, gods and goddesses.

Amongst all these different stimuli, I grew up attending a Christian school my entire childhood and youth. Now if that doesn’t spell out confusion for a kid, I don’t know what does!

But each day as I walk my adulthood, I understand more what my heritage does for me as a Christian. I see that instead of denouncing all that the Christian religion had taught me as Satanism, I should embrace it knowing that it is a part of who I am that I can never separate from. I am as unique as God had made each one of us, and so my whole belief system as a self will serve a greater purpose in this world. It is through the love of the uniqueness of my origin that I choose to continue in associating with a number of the elements, practices and rituals of my own culture despite my Christian beliefs.

Catholicism is also a man-made, organized belief system. Saints is one element of the uniqueness of this particular system. I wasn’t able to comprehend the significance of the veneration of Virgin Mary until I experienced great pain and loss in my own life, and feeling the pain of Mother Mary when she lost Jesus on the cross, but still remained in full faithfulness to God. And Don, you’re right, praying to Mary does not bring about salvation. True salvation is through Jesus Christ. And so I want to clarify and inform about this here.

In a recent attempt to clear some doubts in my head, I had to thank the Lord in pointing me to read an excerpt from a book whereby Pastor Jack Hayford talked about how we not only need to grow vertically with Jesus, but horizontally with people. And when I meditated on the notion, reflections told me, also, that our horizontal growth should include the spirits of those on the other side who love us. It could be our deceased loved ones, it could be the Saints. But each one of us is a soul that carries an energy that is unique, and so through the association with that energy in another soul, we get to experience a part of the other entity that is also connected to God from within. And as the old saying goes, “All roads lead to Rome”. Recognizing the loving energy in people or spirits gives us a connection with the Divine light and love. This is an important process of enlightenment and healing.

The same goes for JPII, I suppose. In the same sense, JPII represents the kind of hero who appeals to a great number of people. And what is intriguing, I feel in particular, is the number of young people he’s able to connect to. One just has to take 1 look at the TV broadcast of his funeral to feel the power of the overwhelming turnout in Rome, and the outpouring of emotion worldwide, especially among young people. Whatever qualities of his had appealed to the crowd, he had served an important purpose of pulling people closer to God. That, as I see, isn’t idolatry, far from it.