Pope John Paul the Great

I stayed away from posting since the death of John Paul II (JPII) because I did not know what to write. How do I summerize a man who has touched millions of peoples lives in a positive way. I will keep it brief and simple and look at an area that affected me..... and I hope that his influence will show in future udates.

The following are two quotes by and referencing Pope John Paul II.

" 'Life' is one of the most beautiful titles which the Bible attributes to God"
Pope John Paul message to the Pontifical Acadamy of Sciences, 1996

George Weigel starts off one recent column with this:

For all its diversity of accomplishment and complexity of thought, the pontificate of Pope John Paul II was a series of variations on one great theme: Jesus Christ is the answer to the question that is every human life.

JPII was a Pope that pointed to Life. He pointed to The Life ... as in John 14:6 ....Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me....
He was Christocentic in his message.

JPII Promoted "Culture of Life" and coined the phrase "Culture of Death" to accurately discribe the hedonistic abortion-one-demand and euthanasia (spelled getridoftheuselessbreathers) supporters. I can not think of a single person that promoted all stages of life more than JPII with the exception of the Jesus the Christ.
His encyclical the Gospel of Life , that reflects on the Value and Inviolability of Human Life, has increased my understanding of life at ALL stages to a whole new level. I suggest everyone read it (including non-Catholics), you will be challenged on life issues. JPII lived this to his last hour and is an example to all of us.

He has many other encyclicals that I still want to read. I am in the middle of Splendor of Truth which I am ready to recommend to all....again :-)


UPDATE on the Life issues thing :
TheAnchoress has about mass euthanasia in Britian.

Pope Paul VI was eerily prescient when he wrote Humanae Vitae - he drew the link from birth control to abortion to infanticide to euthanasia. I didn’t believe it for a long time. When I was a teenager, I remember thinking of it as mere Italian prudishness. But only forty years later, we have seen the establishment of the Culture of Death, and we can trace the tread. How quickly it unspooled!

Even in countries which are only recently embracing birth control, as in Ireland, we are seeing the immediate change of priorities, from family and stability, to materialism and worldliness.

And of course, some of this has been helped along by both the exorbitant cost of medical care in long-term facilities (let’s take out Grandma before our inheritance is eaten up by these fees), and on the other side by socialized medicine that has discouraged the best and the brightest from entering medicine. Socialism breeds mediocrity in everything it touches - it does not encourage excellence.

Read the whole thing.