Reminders

Interest in the Catholic church has been growing in recent years with the death of Pope John Paul II, the publication of Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" and the recent release of a translation of some portions of "The Gospel of Judas."

I've been attempting to refresh whatever little knowledge I have of church history by digging into the boxes of books I acquired during my seminary days. One of the books I found was "In God's Name," an investigation into the death (murder?) of Pope John Paul I. The book was published in 1984.

I still remember reading the book in 1986 in Himlayang Filipino, where I used to spend Saturday afternoons meditating about my "missionary vocation" and the state of Philippine politics. It was a time then for difficult choices.

As I re-read the book this week I came across this quote from "The Imitation of Christ" which was quoted by the author of "In God's Name."

"My son, try to do another's will rather than your own. Always choose to have less rather than more. Always choose the lowest place and to be less than everyone else. Always long and pray that the Will of God may be fully realized in your life. You will find that the man who does all this walks in the land of peace and quietness."

Some reminder in a time of challenges.