Pastor John Wright

This morning I spent some time while getting ready listening to CNN's coverage of John Paul's funeral (I started the tape at midnight last night to watch and listen to the whole thing). It was interesting to hear the commentators struggle over language. Their only language was one of emotions, subjective response to what went on -- what was most moving, the personal experiences of those who watched. It shows the lack of language of our world to describe events. They knew something profound had happened; they could describe the event, but knew no one of assessing except language of subjectivity.

I would call the events a foretaste of what Christ will bring over all creation. The gathering of the nations before the resurrected Christ, with peace, hospitality, veneration, a call for the saints as models of human life -- it was an event of the end times, breaking remarkably into our world today. We saw true catholicity. We saw the insignificance of the rulers of this age, made small, their temporality for all to see, in light of the voluntary gathering of the nations around a learned Polish philosopher-priest who had spent his life witness to Christ.

That is why it was so moving. That is why the crowds cheered and applauded as the coffin slowly spun towards them one last time before entering the kingdom, the basilica. John Paul's funeral was a time of great hope and anticipation for that day when God's kingdom comes in its fullness on earth as it is in heaven. It was not a memorial of John Paul; it was a sign of that which is to come. It was a Christian funeral in the best sense of the term.

i completely agree. the media's coverage of this event has been unsurprisingly typical, which still manages to surprise me. checking cnn.com periodically, it seems so much of the coverage revolved around reaction viewed through the lens of the nation-state. the picture of the two presidents bush and president clinton before his body was amazingly ironic. there the leader of the nation-less church resting in peace before the last three leaders of america--each of which had his own military action specifically condemned by this man. while scores of world leaders arrived to pay their respects, it just didn't seem to matter that the world calls the "important". i round it remarkable that the leader of zimbabwe travelled to the vatican--in spite of a travel ban imposed by the european union--and it did not matter. times such as these in which the illegitimacy of worldly "power" is displayed by the kingdom truly are a welcome foretaste of the eschaton.