Mulling over LEE LOFASO to STEVE ASHER 02 Apr 2005

G'day Lee,

>LL>According to CNN, aides have given Pope John Paul II the Last
>LL>Rites, his medical condition continuing to worsen.  It looks as if
>LL>the end is near...and a new beginning.

SA>Well, I won't be surprised if the end has come by the time you read this.

 LL> The end?  Or a new beginning?

Both. The end of John Paul II's earthly life, and whatever awaits him
in the life to come, and a new beginning for his successor after the
"interregnum" of 2 or 3 weeks. 

SA>He has certainly lived a remarkable life, and as far as I know has done
SA>nothing out of malice either to the authorities who oppressed him, or
SA>those who sought to kill him, and was not afraid to put his views to
SA>the civil authorities of any political stripes.

 LL> "If I am not ready to die, I am not worthy to live."
 LL> - Pope John Paul II

From memory, he had a deep desire to remain alive to see in the
new millennium, and of course went on to survive well into the
current decade, despite his obvious and increasing ill health
in later years.

 LL> JPII has often said those words, and seems to have lived those
 LL> words his entire life, from the moment he was born to this very
 LL> day. His mother was frail when giving birth, and died young as a
 LL> result. Certainly that affected him greatly, and shaped his future
 LL> way of thought.  As a young man, while Nazis controlled Poland, and
 LL> later when the Communists were in control, is another example.  Now
 LL> at the end of his remarkable life, he chose to remain at the
 LL> Vatican rather than return to the hospital.  To him, death is part
 LL> of life.  To reject that part of life would be to reject one's own
 LL> self, or sense of humanity.  And of course, there is the Christian
 LL> belief of a new beginning, when one passes from one world to the
 LL> next... 

I'll leave that as part of the reflection on his life that has been
on local TV and radio this evening ... I am listening and reflecting
as I type.

Cheers, Steve..

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