a great man died yesterday...
and the catholic church no longer has john paul II as a pope. :(
i watched the news yesterday and became teary-eyed at the news. i, along with my family, got to be part of one of his weekly Wednesday audiences at the Vatican. this was only about three years ago, and he was so weak already then. Despite that though, he still pushed to read his message in about five different languages to accommodate the number of nationalities that were there. His charisma is unbelievable, looking at him makes you want to cry... only because of that immense feeling, knowing that he was the pope. If my soul could have jumped for joy, it was doing that right then. I can't explain it... somehow if you could, you'd almost expect to see a bright, shining light coming from behind him. He just exuded with love and care, and you knew he meant it sincerely. Looking at him then, I was sure, he was definitely God's direct representative on earth (term lifted directly from yan :)).
Nothing I can say will paint that experience as exactly as it was. I only know what I felt. When i heard that he was gone, called back to be with his Boss, I was saddened... as if i knew him personally. A lot of people felt the same - mass yesterday was somber. He was just that - he was everywhere and everyone's friend. I didn't know him, I only saw him from afar and all i have is a zoomed digital picture of him sitting in his chair at that wednesday audience, no contact at all.
But I am still sad.
I hope the next pope will be as great as him.
i watched the news yesterday and became teary-eyed at the news. i, along with my family, got to be part of one of his weekly Wednesday audiences at the Vatican. this was only about three years ago, and he was so weak already then. Despite that though, he still pushed to read his message in about five different languages to accommodate the number of nationalities that were there. His charisma is unbelievable, looking at him makes you want to cry... only because of that immense feeling, knowing that he was the pope. If my soul could have jumped for joy, it was doing that right then. I can't explain it... somehow if you could, you'd almost expect to see a bright, shining light coming from behind him. He just exuded with love and care, and you knew he meant it sincerely. Looking at him then, I was sure, he was definitely God's direct representative on earth (term lifted directly from yan :)).
Nothing I can say will paint that experience as exactly as it was. I only know what I felt. When i heard that he was gone, called back to be with his Boss, I was saddened... as if i knew him personally. A lot of people felt the same - mass yesterday was somber. He was just that - he was everywhere and everyone's friend. I didn't know him, I only saw him from afar and all i have is a zoomed digital picture of him sitting in his chair at that wednesday audience, no contact at all.
But I am still sad.
I hope the next pope will be as great as him.
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