| PRODUCT DETAILS | | John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father | | |
John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father
From New York Times bestselling author Peggy Noonan comes "a beautifully written testimony about . . . the most historically recognized pope" (Library Journal)
With such accla imed books as When Character Was King, Peggy Noonan has become one of our most eloquent and respected commentators. Now she offers a stirring portrait of a spiritual and intellectual giant who personally confronted all of the worst tragedies of his age. Drawing on scholarship, interviews with prominent Catholics, and her own experience, Noonan traces the extraordinary life and struggles of Pope John Paul II with characteristic insight and probity—and explores how much we can learn from his leadership, diplomacy, humility, and holiness. Passionate and often deeply personal, John Paul the Great is as exceptional as the man it celebrates.
Manufacturer: Penguin Audio
Price Range: $29.46 - $29.95
 John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father
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| User Reviews |  | Indeed Pope John Paul II, the Great
rating: 5
Noonan brought me to tears several times while reading this book about one of our greatest faith leaders and best Popes. She captures him and his inner spirit well.
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A Refreshing, Quick Read
rating: 5
This was the first book I read by Peggy Noonan and it definitely won't be my last. Noonan is very honest with her writing. She speaks what is on her mind and talks about the good and the bad concerning the Church. This book was very refreshing and I had a hard time putting it down because Noonan writes as if she was just having a conversation with you. If you want a book that will make you stop and think, this is the book for you.
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A honest book
rating: 4
I like this book. Peggy Noonan has done a fine job in that she brings a greater understanding of John Paul the Great to the public. This is not an academic book, but we do not always need an academic book to understand greatness. The book is, by its title, spiritual, but it is also a humanistic book in that it helps us see John Paul as who he was, i.e., a genuine person.
Not being a Catholic, I have developed a greater respect for the Catholic faith because of this book. So thanks to Peggy
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Beautiful Commentary on an Extraordinary Life
rating: 5
In her book "John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father," Peggy Noonan asks a very intregal question which resonates throughout the whole book, which is, "Why do those of us who love him love him" (p. xiv). What I believe she is also trying to ask is, why do those who did not believe at the time they loved him, love him now? Why did he bring so many people together? Why did two to three billion people throughout the world watch his funeral on television? Noonan tries to quietly answer that although he was a larger-than-life man, he taught all of us that by our actions--not our words--our actions can truly change the world. It is how we humbly live our lives, as he did, that his quiet strength taught us to endure.
And endure he did!! Peggy Noonan makes multiple references in her book about how Pope John Paul never looked at his suffering as a burden. We were to understand that with knowing how frail he was at the end of his life, that suffering has to have meaning connected to it. Even in the last few weeks of his life, he did not hide his suffering from his public. She states, "What a death he had. To die in public, with the whole world watching, to work to the very end, to attempt to speak to the world through the window of his Vatican apartments a few days before he died, to struggle and fail and try again, and then to wave, as if he knew we understood" (p. 217). We did understand because he never hid the fact that he was ill, nor did he ever seem to complain. He left the world a gift--which was to make us all understand that we are all connected in so many ways and that our own personal struggles, while difficult and seemingly insurmountable, have a much higher purpose. In the end, Noonan states, "He thanked God for the pain that deepened his understanding of life, and that had been followed by joy" (p.194).
It seems to me that through her book, Noonan is really calling all of us to examine our own lives, and not to simply that of Pope John Paul II. She does not believe him to be perfect. She admits his shortcomings and his weaknesses--and his failings to the American Catholic Church during the priest sex abuse scandals. She does not turn away from the hard issues that face the church and his responsiblity to world's one billion Catholics. What I do believe is clearly stated is that because of the early deaths he endured--he lost every member of his immediate family by the time he was 20-years-old--throughout his Nazi occupied Poland, throughout his assassination attempt--many sufferings most of us will never experience in a lifetime, she is calling us to examine our own spirituality. She states, "He grew up in a country that was poor, that was bullied, and that was occupied by foreign armies. They didn't have religious freedom through most of his life. Didn't luxurious Western Europe understand what a gift it was to be able to practice your faith in public...Poland knew how to suffer. Poland knew how to pray. So does suffering Africa...people who are so lucky they don't even think they have to pray" (p. 198-199). We live in a time and a place in which great struggle and suffering is not necessarily celebrated. Through John Paul II, Noonan shows us that an extraordinary life begins with humble beginnings and much love. That is above all the gift he gave to us--a deep understanding of love--and forgiveness. And even though many rebel against this true faith, Noonan states that we all want it. "We are grateful when someone stands for it" (p.235).
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Inspiring story of Pope John Paul II
rating: 4
Heard JOHN PAUL THE GREAT, written and read by Peggy
Noonan.
It's the inspiring story of Pope John Paul II, born Karol Jozef
Wojtyla, who reigned as the 264th Pope of the Roman Catholic
Church, from 1978-2005 . . . in learning more about him, I was
impressed by his leadership, diplomacy, humility, and holiness.
If anything I would have liked more of a traditional biography; i.e.,
one that traced his life from birth to death in a straightforward
chronological manner . . . at times, the book veered a bit too much
to my liking when it brought in Noonan's background via varied
mystical musings; e.g., when she says her rosary when an
altercation breaks out.
What I did like was the author's attempts to be honest in
her appraisal on John Paul . . . she talks of all the good that
he did, but also points out the bishops and cardinals:
* (simply) do not understand what a mother and father go
through, when their son is sexually violated; how it scars
the child, steals his soul, breaks his heart. They TRY to
understand, but they fail. They don't even seem to understand how
the scandals happened in the first place. When the first priest
violated the fist child and they didn't throw him out--that's how
it started.
And this, Noonan acknowledges, is:
* inescapably part of John Paul's legacy . . . the unhappiest
portion of what he left behind . . .(and) part of what his successor
will now have to heal.
Unfortunately, it could well have been avoided--according to an old
nun--had nuns and priests worked closely together . . . in fact,
according to the author:
* NOTHING helps the world more than good nuns . . . and now's the
time, she believes, to upgrade their titles--from "Sister" to "Mother."
For that is what they are.
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John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father
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