As the pope draws closer to returning to God, I am joining the billion Catholics all over the world who are praying for the peace and serenity of the Holy Father in his journey back to the arms of Christ. As one of the priests said, he is dying the same way he lived - courageously.
It is hard to see the passing of a pope; it isn't something you imagine you will live through. His voice, though distant, has always been one of moral comfort in a disturbed world; a blanket of security that was not extremist and yet would not condone the deadly sins the modern world has blatantly accepted. He dared to speak out. He dared to confront.
And then I ask myself why sometimes it is so hard for me to bravely play the part of a Christian that I should.

For the pope who was a strong Marian supporter, I have only this humble prayer:

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc,
et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen.