farewell...

this has been a sad period in catholic church history...and in fact, the whole world. pope john paul 2 went to heaven at around 3:30 am last april 3. before that day, the whole world was already expecting the inevitable.

when I dropped my playstation2 controller after a lengthy session at around 1 am, aprl 2, and tuned in to foxnews, the impression was that this could be the pope's final hours. every news channel was covering in detail and in length the event. other news programs were cancelled and suddenly the whole world was focused on the ailing pontiff.

it was a sad moment..i myself am not a person who sheds tears easily, but in moments like this wherein an effect on the most important facet of my life - my religion, my faith - is close at hand, then my emotions were just stirred into tears. i stayed awake until about 4 in the morning all the while cycling only through foxnews, cnn, bloomberg, and other news networks. when I awoke I quickly clicked on the tv and to my surprise and happiness, the pope was still alive...and even more of the world came to know the pope's struggle.

and then a press conference was shown..the pope's aides delivering the words that the pope wanted to convey to the world.

"I have looked for you, now you have come for me..."

once again I couldnt hold back my tears. this was a great man with a great legacy and now God is taking him back to a place where he could rest easily, knowing that he made an invaluable service to God and mankind.

we will miss him..and his passing have made my faith even stronger...religion is not something very fashionable to the youth nowadays, and its sad...i hope that the next pope would continue on the legacy of Pope john paul II in clinging to the traditional values and morals that for 2000 years have been preserved. they need not be changed, and God does not want them to change.

I pray that this event would mark a change of heart for our disenchanted youth, most of whom have removed God and his teachings away from their lives..

farewell our Pope. may you have a safe trip to heaven...