Dear Friends

It was a wonderful week away at the beach......glad to get a bit of a suntan and enjoy the surf. We built a monster sand castle for the kids and when the tide came in it crashed to pieces.........kids had a blast. The picture at the left is my son working on the sand castle.

Anyway, last Sunday morning as you probably already know, the Pope passed away. Even though I'm not a Roman Catholic I wanted to say a few words to honour and respect this man who I believe has done a lot of good for Jesus and for Christianity. Many non Catholics are unable to appreciate a lot of good that comes out of Catholicism and so at this time I'd like to email a few paragraphs of praise for them and perhaps we can learn a little from them which will encourage and help our faith to be stronger and better.

Firstly, no denomination is perfect, and so we realise that within Catholicism is a lot of excessive tradition which is not scriptural, but if we look past these things we see a deeply spiritual love for Jesus. This was very true of the Pope as the head of their denomination. As I have read news articles and media reports the last week about this man's life I have developed a very deep appreciation for what he has achieved in his life in the position that God placed him. In fact people who commented on the Pope's life frequently referred to him as a 'mystic'. This name might not make much sense to many Christians, but to a Catholic this name describes someone who had a deep and personal devotion to Christ and would often spend hours in prayer and silence wanting to know God better.

Over the course of the Popes leadership he was also instrumental in apologising to Jews, Protestants, Muslims, Hindus and many other groups for the sins of the Catholic Church through the Crusades, World War II and other times. John Paul II was a genuine peacemaker and someone who followed the teachings of Christ. This man was an example to us and an ecouragment to do the right thing, to live at peace with God and with our fellow humans, but most of all a great example of the power that comes from a prayerful life.

Most of the people on this list are not Roman Catholic, but some are. To you all whether Catholic or not, let us honour and respect this man and be thankful that at just the right time he was able to influence the world for good.

God bless you All
Cheers
David