&8220;One of us, one of many

crossed all passing currents,

changed the direction of field where everyone passes,

solidary grandeur in all

creation

unrepeatable.&8221;

&045; &8220;Mysterium Paschale,&8221; from &8220;The Place Within,&8221; by Pope John Paul II.

Even without the title, he would have been an extraordinary man.

Karol Joseph Wojtyla: actor, athlete, poet, priest.

Pope.

My generation, like the majority of Catholics worldwide today, has known only this pope, John Paul II.

He has been both modern man and traditionalist, a pope who snow skied and welcomed pop singers but held fast to the traditions of the church.

I have been thinking in recent days how to explain to non-Catholic friends the impact that Pope John Paul II has had not only on the church but on the world.

History will certainly record his contributions to world events &045; his part in stopping the spread of communism, as he promoted the Solidarity movement in his native Poland.

He reached out to Jews and Muslims; he even visited Castro in Cuba and was able to get state television there to broadcast Catholic Masses live.

Pope John Paul promoted a &8220;culture of life&8221; in all cases &045; not just the issues of abortion and euthanasia.

He also insisted on the care for the poor and prisoners and was firmly against the death penalty.

His faith was constant on these issues, and he was never shy about speaking out, as when he admonished President Bush about the war in Iraq.

He was brilliant. Father David O’Connor, pastor of St. Mary Basilica, recalled on Saturday what an amazing mind the pope had. He had a working knowledge of more than a dozen languages.

&8220;When you put that into your own life, think of how much energy that would take,&8221; O’Connor said.

He was an extraordinary Renaissance man, but he had a common touch. He was truly a pope of the people, especially encouraging the youth as the future of the church.

But perhaps what speaks to all of us, Catholic or not, is the amazing example of faith and prayer that Pope John Paul leaves us with. Even in the face of his great suffering in recent months and years, he has been a faithful servant of God, and he has shown each of us how to bear that suffering and to die with dignity.

It is hard not to be sad at the thought that he is no longer with us, but this is a time to celebrate his life on earth and now his life everlasting.

Karol Wojtyla, writing under pseudonyms in Poland before he was ever elected to his position in Rome, wrote himself about the rebirth in heaven he has surely now experienced:

&8220;In each he planted a place of birth,

in each he unveiled a place of life

which grows beyond the passing current,

grows, beyond death.

This place in the midst of a surging world

resists death: it also receives the resurrection

as simplest ignorance, the fullness of faith

as ferment

which gives the lie to the surging world.&8221;

&045; Pope John Paul II

Kerry Whipple

is editor of The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached at 601-445-3541 or by email at

kerry.whipple@natchezdemocrat.com

.