Wednesday, April 06, 2005

THE POPE AND HIS LEGACY 2

There's a thought playing in my mind. It refuses to go away. I guess it is because we are watching the Vatican 24hours a day.

I have been thinking that the church is missing a lot and that it needs to learn a few things from the late Pope John Paul II. I was in a meeting where somebody told me that it is not by works we get to heaven. Those who prescribe to that, will agree wholeheartedly. That is their point of view and they are entitled to it.

Flip that coin and check out how many times the very same people have been accused of not 'feeling' for their communities. When you argue that faith without works is fine aren't you contradicting the very same Bible you believe in? When you say works don't take you to heaven, are you then saying that works are not important? If so, how then are we supposed to know that you are cut out from a different specimen?

To color our world blessed, to color our world with beautiful contributions, our works must actually testify to that. Our works, no matter how unimportant they may seem, affect our neighbors. You can hold whatever view you want. After all it is a free world. But remember the works you display, those you are judged by. It is a life-changing way to live with your works coordinating with your beliefs.

Dr Dennis Anderson once said, "You cannot see faith, but you can see the footprints of the faithful." We must leave behind "faithful footprints" for others to follow. Faithful footprints like those of the Pope and of other remarkable people who walked the earth.