John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father

This book is not only a biography, it was an introduction to faith for me. Great/Easy read. I was gifted from an RCIA instructor and It’s now a book I would recommend to anyone beginning in their faith or stale. It’s full of little Easter eggs of things/moments/people I knew nothing about. I will read again.

There is a moment in the Mass - just before you go up to receive `Communion'. . . when you say an ancient phrase (20 centuries old?) "Lord, I am not worthy to receive You . . . but only `say the Word' - and I shall be healed." As a former journalist (who once interviewed Mother Teresa in 1984 -- same year Peggy Noonan met Mother on a walkway outside the Reagan White House) I was struck by the fact that this tiny, but `tough-as-wire' woman - this saint! - could say those same words with genuine humility: The idea that, ` I'm not good enough' to be here . . . "but only say the word, and I shall be healed." ----- Almost 20 years later (in 2003) Peggy Noonan -- author of this unique biography -- was selected to speak at the Vatican, at the ceremony for the beatification of Mother Teresa - an event which coincided with the twenty-fifth anniversary of John Paul's papacy. Feeling a little overwhelmed at the magnitude of the occasion (on the eve of a Papal Mass attended by half a million pilgrims) Peggy Noonan asked fellow-members of the American delegation to the ceremony for their thoughts. Then, following the open-air Mass in St. Peter's Square, Peggy Noonan, took the podium in "the audience hall at St. Peter's . . . and became the first woman ever to make a speech from the papal throne." For two days leading up to the occasion, Noonan was unable "to think of ANYTHING about Mother Teresa that seemed good enough to say - (that was) original, or worthy of a saint." So when her moment came before the microphones, she quoted fellow members of the American delegation: "As I experienced today's Mass (in St. Peter's Square) I felt we were all loving TWO saints . . . Mother Teresa and John Paul II. And as I watched it all, another member of (our) delegation leaned over and said, `I am not good enough to be here.' She felt she wasn't a good enough Catholic to be here. "When she said it, I thought - Mother Teresa would like that. She would like my friend's humility . . . because it speaks of our sometimes messy but authentic and God-given humanity." Noonan recalled words spoken to her by several women members of the American delegation, "including Mother Agnes of the Sisters of Life" who put it most simply: Mother Teresa in her own way "let God take over completely . . . she was a fine instrument of God -- she touched millions of lives, as only God can." At that very moment, Noonan says, "Mother Agnes, who had been called to meetings near the Vatican, was hurriedly crossing St. Peter's Square . . . where, for the pilgrims, they had set up huge `Jumbotrons' "And just as Mother Agnes was walking along, the wind blowing her habit, wondering how I'd done in my speech, she heard my voice . . . "She looked up and saw my face on the Jumbotron as I said these words: "As a wonderful member of our delegation, Mother Agnes of the Sisters of Life pointed out, humility is something we associate with Mother Teresa." She and Mother Agnes soon became g

If I could fashion myself as the perfect writer, I think I would like the imagination of Tolkien, the depth of C.S. Lewis, the vocabulary of William Buckley, and humor of Wodehouse, the edge of Ann Coulter, and the grace of Peggy Noonan. I have never read a word of hers that didn't shine a gentle, warm light on whatever it was to be lucky enough to have her writing about it. Her book, John Paul the Great, is no exception. With her customary, grace, and respect she writes with love, affection, and candor about John Paul II and the faith he inspired in Catholics, in Christians, and most especially, in her. She made me smile with her story of coffee and the rosary. ("I don't have a cup of coffee in the morning -- I have a glass of coffee, because it's bigger.") And stand in stunned awe of Mother Teresa who experienced a perdio of spiritual darkness that began shortly after she left her convent to serve the poor until her death. She then deftly turned to admiration of John Paul II who accelerated Mother Teresa's canonization process because he knew that he spiritual heroism was greater, much greater, than any of us suspected. John Paul II knew that the canonization process would force into the public arena what Mother Teresa had kept so privately and that his flock would be instructed and inspired. "Great men lift us up. They tell us by their presence that everything is possible, that as children of God we are part of God, and as part of God we can, with him, accomplish anything. Anything." And great writers tell us about great men. Thank you Ms. Noonan. I enjoyed your telling and your willingness to share your own journey.

I am a Mormon, but I thought Pope John Paul II was chosen by God at this particular time to accomplish the great things that he did. Peggy Noonan's short but majestic contemplation of the late and great pope is probably the best summation of his life and appeal that I have come across. She writes like a dream, as usual. I especially liked her personal story of how John Paul led her to again to feel the Spirit and return to a religious way of life. This book rings very true for me, and I would urge anyone with an interested in spirituality and Christianity to read it.

I have always been interested in the life of Pope John Paul and also admire Peggy Noonan; but I was MOST pleasently surprised at how inspirational this turned out to be! Peggy Noonan has a style of deep emotion so one can "feel" her work. She a master at writing and the bonus was to hear her voice, reading her own work.

Peggy Noonan, a weekly columnist for the Wall Street Journal, does a splendid job of presenting an unforgettable spiritual father-figure in her life, the late Pope John Paul II. She also makes a case that everyone longs for such a person and that John Paul met the challenge of serving as pastor for the entire world. Coming from a humble and trying early life under both Nazi and Soviet aggression, Karol Wojtyla sought and met the God whom he presented so beautifully to all. His first pilgrimage to Poland as a new pope still resounds today through the history-making words "We want God!" John Paul showed us that living the heavenly life is not mere wishful thinking, but a reality enlivened through faith. Even his dying and funeral were sublime, and his legacy will only grow with time. I especially liked Ms. Noonan's vignette of the pope with Jim Caviezel, the actor who portrayed Jesus in the Mel Gibson film "The Passion of the Christ." Artistic himself and a former actor, John Paul uplifted Caviezel and his family and helped Jim to understand that the suffering he endured in the shooting of the film was worth it after all. As John Paul himself said of "The Passion," "It is as it was." Also, there is a vignette of the young Fr. Wojtyla with the Italian mystic Padre Pio (Forgione). "John Paul the Great" can be read as a marvelous complement to George Weigel's standard reference "Witness to Hope," a source it draws from often. In addition, Ms. Noonan brings us up to date as she openly shares her insights on the clergy sexual abuse scandal. Neither candy-coating it nor dehumanizing the offenders, she instead zeroes in on the crux of the problem. "The actions of the abusers and their excusers reflect a profound immaturity." So much so that John Paul, with all the hardships and pain that he endured, found such pampered recklessness difficult to fathom. Kudos and thanks to Peggy Noonan for raising our consciousness in this wonderful and inspiring book! Rev. Dennis J. Mercieri (Add: 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:)