Dear Friends in Christ,

[RevCheesehead]

I just want you to know that I mourn with you this day. I live in a Catholic culture (Green Bay area), and especially feel the depth of pain, the questions about death, and feelings of uncertainty about the future. My prayers are with you.

Tomorrow, I will remind our congregations that we are called to bear one another's burdens. I want you all to know that I am here for you, in your time of grief, as well.

I have taken great comfort in the words of the Holy Father: "I am happy, and you should be, too." (I realize that you may not be there yet.)

With John Paul II, let us walk in the joy of the resurrection, and the hope of eternal life.

Peace to you all,
Cheese

[merh]

1. Thanks Rev!

Thank you for sharing your love with us. :hug:

I do not mourn him, I rejoice for him, that he has found peace and that he will join the angels in heaven as they live in glory with the Father.

I imagine that the saints and angels are doing the polka with him right about now! :loveya:

"Well done good and faithful servant! . . .
Come and share your Master's happiness!" Matthew 25:21

[RevCheesehead]

2. Hi, merh!

:hug:

I will admit to a twisted sort of acknowledgement on my part. I bought Kielbasa and Kraut for dinner tonight. It was, really, done in respect and love.

I had the good fortune to visit Poland 12 years ago, while I was in Divinity School. I have been in many churches there, including the Church of the Ark, and the Shrine of the Black Madonna. Worship there was extraordinarily powerful, and I was amazed at the level of energy, love, and the movement of the Spirit among the worshippers. It felt, to me, as if I were witnessing the energy of the ancient Church.

Our visit (Duke Chapel Choir) was in the midst of a bitter winter. We sang in cold, unheated churches (with stone, not wooden pews) in temperatures that were about -20 degrees. That's cold, even by Wisconsin standards. When we sang, a huge cloud of steam rose with our anthems. For me, it was very powerful.

[merh]

6. What an appropriate meal.

My parents are deceased. They were both devout Catholics that loved the Church and the Pope. Both were Polish Americans, my father 1st generation and my mother 2nd generation.

Actually, if you look as some of the photos of my father and compare them to photos of the Pope, you would swear they were brothers.

My father was born and raised in Hamtramik Michigan. He used to tell us how wedding receptions would last for days. He said that he wore the bottom of his shoes at his sister's wedding reception. He loved to dance and he taught me the polka (he loved Lawrence Welk, a one and a two).

I can imagine my mother trying to decide what she is going to wear when she meets Karol and I imagine my father having indepth discussions with him in Polish. Of course, I see them all dancing the polka for days, celebrating his life and his union with the Lord in heaven.

The angels are dancing the polka tonight! :loveya:

[RevCheesehead]

7. Indeed they are, mehr!

This area of WI (Kewaunee) is heavily Belgian and Polish. Being half German, I feel right at home.

Before I went to Poland, I told "I'm spending my Christmas break in a country where the only native word I know is Kielbasa."

Somewhere in the Bible it says "our mourning will turn into dancing." (Forgive me for being too tired to look it up.)

[Cuban_Liberal]

3. Thank you, Rev!

We live in a small town that is about 1/2 Catholic and 1/2 Protestant. At this afternoon's Mass, we were overwhelmed by the sheer number of our Protestant brethren who attended, and who shared our grief. I was moved beyond words by this kind gesture, and I will never doubt that, doctrinal differences aside, we are all one family in Christ Jesus.

May God bless you all.

:grouphug:

[elshiva]

4. Thank you Rev! I love your comments!

:loveya: :pals: :toast:

[Princess Turandot]

5. Thanks RC!...nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. May I add my own expressions of sympathy?

Lux perpetua luceat ei.

[DemBones DemBones]

10. Yes, and thank you, Lydia! BUT,

it's been many years since I studied Latin so I'm sure your translation would be much better!

You singers always know neat stuff like this while we Catholics are losing our knowledge of Latin since Mass is now in the local vernacular.

Pax tecum (And a belated Happy Easter since I hadn't seen you this past week or two.)

O8)

[DemBones DemBones]

9. I am happy for him, only sad for our world without him in it,

and I appreciate your kind comments.


As was said 150 years ago about another great leader whose death came in April: (April 14, 1865):


"Now he belongs to the ages"



Yet another great leader -- and, like John Paul, another great man of God -- died on April 4, 1968.

Perhaps "April is the cruelest month" when it comes to depriving humanity of those who strive hardest to redeem it from its erroneous ways. And yet, April is always part of the Easter Season, today being the second Saturday of Easter.