You may have heard the statement we have lost ‘one of the greatest men of the last century’, well the throngs of people at the Pope’s funeral would attest to that fact that he was indeed a remarkable man.
As I watch and listen to all the events surrounding the Pope’s funeral and the event itself, several impressions have come to mind.
The first impression is the grandeur of the event. It is obvious much time and effort has been put into this event. I have mixed feelings with this. In a way I feel like Judas saying "couldn’t you have used this money for the poor". I know, it is crazy to think like that, but I am being honest, that is what I thought. My other thought on this matter is that this Pope is obviously a very great man and the sum total of his life work has been to improve the church. Sure he has made some mistakes with the handling of the priest scandals, but we all make mistakes. So a man that has run such a huge organization for so long with such overall strong results deserves a "presidential level" funeral like a Ronald Regan or Margaret Thatcher funeral. And what a great event it was.
My second impression is the overall sense of holiness that many Catholics and much of the church leadership seem to have. If you know me, you know I was raised Catholic and now am practicing and worshiping in the evangelical tradition. This is one thing that evangelicals seem to be missing, a true sense of the Holy. As I live between the two worlds of Catholic and evangelicals I will continue to encourage evangelicals to take on the sense of the holiness of God and the recognition of the sacred. Evangelicals need allot of work in this area.
My third realization is the general lack of sadness of many of the people participating in the event. There seems to be a sense that the Pope is in a better place and that is common in the Christian world. There can be sadness for those that remain here and we will mourn for our loss, but at the same time there can be great celebration. We can celebrate that our lost one is in a much better place.
I encourage you to partake in this event no matter what you denomination may be. This event can prove to be helpful for all of us.
