Pope John Paul II

 Pope John Paul II

"In order to set man free from every manifestation of a servile fear... it is necessary to pray fervently that He will cultivate in his heart the true fear of GOD, which is the beginning of wisdom."- Crossing the Threshold of Hope (page 228)

Pope John Paul II described the importance of worshiping GOD Almighty with zeal and fidelity. We learn that he was able to be a priest and then was able to be pope in 1978. Pope John Paul II described the importance of obedience to GOD Almighty and also genuine empathy to mankind. We learn that Pope John Paul II preached about the importance of responsibility. While Pope John Paul II preached about the importance of King Jesus Christ and obedience to the commandments, there was opposition from communism and socialism.

"This fear of GOD is the saving power of the Gospel. It is a constructive, never destructive fear."

Pope John Paul II kept preaching and speaking truth even when there was opposition seen in communism. We learn from his book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, about the opposition that existed in the socialists and communists that did not want him to preach at universities. We learn that even when they attempted to prevent him from preaching and speaking truth, Pope John Paul II persevered preaching Christianity. We learn that Pope John Paul II decided to honor the Creator, GOD Almighty, instead of listening to the discouragements and envy of the communists. We learn that Pope John Paul II was led by the worship of GOD Almighty and not by fear. We learn that instead Pope John Paul II chose to worship GOD Almighty than listen to the discouragements of a flawed communist false belief.

"The fear of GOD creates people who allow themselves to be led by responsibility, by responsible love."

We learn that Pope John Paul II had an assassination attempt in 1981 in Moscow when a sniper rifle bullet hit Pope John Paul II. We learn that Pope John Paul II was able to recover from the assassination attempt and was able to keep preaching truth. We learn that Pope John Paul II even visited the individual that attempted to take his life. Pope John Paul II visited the individual in prison in Moscow. We learn that Pope John Paul II forgave the individual and described the power of forgiveness, genuine empathy, and preaching King Jesus Christ Eternal LORD and Savior. We learn that Pope John Paul II was able to persevere describing that there is no need for negative emotions describing hate, envy, resentments, and bitterness. 

"Responsibility and responsible love creates set apart men and women-true Christians- to whom the future of the world ultimately belongs."

Pope John Paul II kept preaching even after the assassination attempt, and we learned that the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s. We learn that while there are multiple reasons describing why the Soviet Union collapsed, one of the main reasons included the positive example of Pope John Paul II being able to preach the filial love and genuine empathy of Christianity amidst the bitterness and hate that attempted to prevent Pope John Paul II from preaching. We were able to see that love conquers hate and that GOD Almighty is very active in the lives of human beings that are righteous. We learn that Pope John Paul II was able to keep preaching decades later and describes the importance of having zeal, humility, responsibility, and most important of all fidelity to GOD Almighty.