I welcome everyone to this special Liturgy to celebrate the life, the perseverance in the Faith, the death and the transition to eternal life of Pope John Paul II, the 263rd successor of Peter the Apostle, the Vicar of Christ on earth.

The media coverage given to his illness and death is unprecedented. The reaction of world leaders to his death has been truly remarkable – over 200 world leaders will travel to Rome to attend the funeral. His funeral is shaping up to be the funeral of history.

Why is this global reaction happening? The answer to that question is really quite simple: He was a man of faith who offered vision to a searching world, gave insight into spirituality for an unsettled people and used the world stage and the media to preach the truth. He was the Pope of the people.

They loved him because they knew he loved them. For 26 years, he did things no other Pope has ever done. World leaders whom he related to with respect and with unwavering courage trusted him. He taught us how to live and he taught us how to die.

In this homily I shall try to link the biblical readings proclaimed in the liturgy to some themes from the life and teaching of John Paul II. In the process, I shall also try to apply the themes to us who still live because we must confront together the truly significant challenges of our times. To face these challenges, we must have vision. As we reflect together, let us examine the depth of our vision!

‘We can face our problems together'

The first reading is from the Book of Wisdom. It tells the story of Greek speaking Jews living in Egypt who were losing their faith. As a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great in the fourth century before Christ, the Jews were living in a very sophisticated Greek culture.

The secular culture was so omnipresent and impressive that they began to be ashamed of their faith. They thought their faith was too simple, that it belonged to another age. The Book of Wisdom was written around 150 BC to strengthen them so they could survive as believers in a pluralistic and increasingly pagan society.

The situation in Egypt of 150 BC is quite similar to our world. People have distanced themselves from faith. They are seriously secularised. Many of them are confused. They just do not know what to do. Pope John Paul II understood the worldwide challenge.

He was not secularised and he was most certainly not confused. The world was asking, “What can be done? Can anything be done?” John Paul II told the world at the opening of his papacy, “Don't be afraid! We can face our problems together.” He told the confused and the searching, “Don't be afraid! God's truth will set you free.” He taught the truth with kindness, courage and with perseverance.

There are two points in the reading that apply to John Paul II quite well. They also challenge us:

1) God tests those whom he loves. He takes them to himself as sacrificial offerings.

John Paul II suffered terribly - the whole world could see it. When I had a private audience with him in 2002, I told him I found it very painful to see him in his present condition of such poor health. He said, “It is God's plan for me.” His life became a parallel to the suffering servant in the prophet Isaiah whom we meet in the Scriptures on Palm Sunday and Good Friday.

Incredible suffering, embarrassing suffering, apparently useless suffering! I use the word “apparently” deliberately because when the suffering servant was vindicated by God, he brought forth salvation and life for others.

The connection between suffering and victory began to emerge clearly in salvation history. John Paul II through his powerful witness taught us about suffering and how to use suffering for ministry that leads to salvation. 

2) The second point in the reading is about trust. The reading from the Book of Wisdom states that those who trust God shall be able to understand the truth. Trust is never simple. It flows from faith, love and experience. Most people find it very difficult to trust.

Because of his faith, his spirituality and his personal relationship with God, John Paul II was able to trust in God profoundly. The result of his trust was a tremendous confidence in God that sustained him throughout his life.

God's truth was very important to John Paul II. He preached it, he witnessed to it and he challenged people with the truth. The centerpiece of his vision was the truth of the dignity of the human person.

He resisted the Nazis, he fought the Communists, he fought the contemporary dictators of the world who oppress and even kill their people and he fought the neo-pagan secularists who are trying to create an international society without reference to God.

His vision was clear: God created people to be respected and free – all people, not just some people: believers of all religious traditions, people who do not yet believe in God and even people who ignore or try to undermine the truth.

The reading from Romans governed his life. Remember the words: “ None of us lives as his own master and none of us dies as his own master. In life and in death we belong to the Lord .” Because of his deep relationship with Jesus, his Lord, he was filled with hope. As he was dying, he was able to say to those closest to him, “Don't weep for me, I am going to the Lord.”

Remember the condition of the world when he began his pontificate – trouble and oppression around the globe. His vision and confident relationship with God enabled him to help change that world in many ways in collaboration with other world leaders. His life is testimony to what is possible.

He was a man of visibility and a man of dialogue. His visibility to the world cannot be challenged. His dialogue with the world may not be familiar to many people. When he was elected as the successor to John Paul I, the Vatican had diplomatic relations with 85 countries.

Now the Vatican has diplomatic relations with 174 countries, with the European Union and has special relations with the Russian Federation and the Palestine Liberation Organisation. Diplomatic relations with the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago began on the day of his installation as Pope on October 22, 1978 .

In 26 years, he had 690 meetings with Heads of State and 226 meetings with Prime Ministers. He went to the people: 129 visits outside of Italy travelling 700,000 miles.

Scholar, author, linguist and diplomat

Wherever he went, he insisted on meeting with young people so he could be present to them and listen to them. He had a remarkable chemistry with the young.

He prayed in synagogues and mosques. After 9/11, he invited the leaders of all religions to gather at Assisi to pray for peace. When he could no longer walk well due to health, he was humble enough to allow himself to be rolled around so he could be present to the people.

The world still has many problems to face. The formula of John Paul II is still applicable: Don't be afraid to search for the truth or to accept the truth when it is found. Don't be afraid to implement the truth together. Don't be afraid to hope.

So many people have given up. They believe change is impossible – personal or social. Church and State must give people tangible assistance to move from quiet despair and dangerous levels of anger to a realistic hope rooted in justice and God's love for us.

The gospel is a parallel to the message of the first reading from the Book of Wisdom: humble trust in God and simplicity of life enables people to be open to and to understand the truth.

There is an academic component to the Catholic Tradition that is well known through the Catholic universities of the world.

There is a dimension of danger in the academic component. It is possible to so intellectualise the faith that it has little or no influence over a person's life. John Paul II was a scholar, an author, a linguist, a diplomat but he also incarnated the faith into his life. He was not just a man with vision, he was a man of faith whose vision was universal.

The charisma of his personality was a gift to the Church, but the spirituality of his life made his charisma come alive for the whole world to see. Even people who did not accept his teaching had to deal with the person because the witness of the man was so overwhelming.

The end of the Gospel reading is important. Come to me all you who are weary and find life burdensome. John Paul II was not only the “Pope of the People” he was the teacher of the truth to the people. Therefore, he felt compelled to ask, “why are the people weary, why do people find life so burdensome?”

Proof of what God's Spirit can do

These are justice questions for the poor and marginalised. They are spiritual questions for the rich and powerful who, although they may be comfortable, can also be weary, find life burdensome and lacking in meaning.

The reason is that, in too many cases, the spirituality of the rich and powerful has become too shallow to sustain their lives. John Paul II understood questions of justice and spirituality. He reached out to both the poor and the powerful and invited them to close the class gap, to find ways to give hope and meaning to all through a spirituality based on justice, solidarity, love and community.

In the private meeting I had with the Holy Father in 2002 that I referred to earlier, he surprised me with some informal English. He said to me, “You know I was in Trinidad ”. I said I knew about his visit.

I told him I had read the reports and saw the pictures in the Catholic News and that I had read the booklets that were published after his visit in 1985. I invited him back. He smiled! We both knew he would be unable to come back but neither of us mentioned it. He asked me to give his blessings and regards to the people of Trinidad and Tobago when I returned to the Archdiocese. When I returned to the Archdiocese, I fulfilled his request.

The next time I saw him was in Rome in 2003 when I concelebrated the silver jubilee of his Papacy. He had failed significantly in just a year.

Yet he never hid his suffering and used his life to witness to the role of suffering in life and that people who suffer should still have confidence in God and continue to serve and contribute as long as possible.

We have not heard the last of John Paul II. He will continue to be the proof of what God's Spirit can do through people who believe. His teaching will continue to be heard and discussed, even challenged, but through that process it will also spread.

His vision and love for the truth will help all people to be sufficiently free to accept the salvation offered by God .