From Chris Beneteau.

The past two weeks have been a very trying time for devout Christians. First we watched in horror as a country put a non-terminally ill person to death by starvation and then a few days later His Holiness Pope John Paul II returned to his Father.

Pope John Paul II changed my life. He was the only Pope I remember during my 36 years and I have always thought of him as another father figure in my life. But many fathers and sons don't always see eye to eye. For in my teen years and early into adulthood, I disagreed with many things the Pope taught. I mistakenly assumed that the Pope must be wrong because so many Catholics were rebelling against the teachings of the Catholic Church. Additionally I believed that the highest ideal of mankind was democracy. Therefore I believed that one day the Church would come around and change its teachings in regard to the more controversial issues of the day (e.g., contraception, abortion, divorce, married priests, the role of women etc.).

As the years went on however, I was having a hard time reconciling my personal beliefs with those of my Church. I felt like I was being hypocritical and like many 'cafeteria' Catholics I was picking and choosing what I wanted to believe. There were only two choices available to me; leave the Church altogether or try to find out why the Church teaches what it does. At this point in my life I knew what my Church taught but I didn't know why it taught it. This led to a period of study and exploration that culminated in my decision to fully embrace the Church's teaching and to remain a member of Christ's mystical body.

Many family members and friends were partially responsible for my conversion or 'reversion.' However the biggest influence was Pope John Paul II specifically his encyclical The Gospel of Life. In it he clearly outlined the reasons why the Church has always taught that there some teachings that will never change with the times.

Before I came back to the Church I was looking for the Church to lower its standards and I was asking the wrong question. Instead of asking when the Church was going to change I should have asked myself how I had wrongly reasoned or erred. I placed the onus of change on the Pope when I should have placed it on myself.

Throughout my rebellious period I never once felt that I was being condemned or judged by the Pope. As a father, I now understand that the Holy Father wasn't correcting me to be mean or cruel, he was correcting me because he loved me. His desire was for me to attempt to live my life with the highest possible standard. Am I now perfect because I have conformed my will to the Church? Far from it. I do however try to live as closely as I can to the Gospel message that has been preserved, protected, and taught by the popes for thousands of years. The teachings are unwavering because the truth cannot be twisted in order to accommodate the adolescent rantings of its children.

Finally, I would just like to add that without Pope John Paul II's influence in my life there would not be six little souls running around my house. May he rest in peace with the angels and saints in heaven.

Odessa, ON