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Although not Catholic, I find it necessary to protest your treatment of Pope Benedict XVI. In Sunday’s Mercury News, you had three articles and two political cartoons referring to him. All were critical. This is not something new.

It is true that Jesus was very forgiving of sinners, and for this I am eternally grateful, since that includes me. But please note that forgiveness has to be preceded by repentance.

Frank L. Messersmith
Cupertino

Who were those Catholics you presented in the April 24 article as being “deflated” by the selection of the new pope? Do you really think that was an accurate representation of what Catholics think, or are you presenting a small vocal group who are probably misguided in the first place? How can they honestly be discouraged already?

The new pope has been in the office a week and you have people ready to give up or leave the church already. These quitters lost their faith a long time ago.

David McCaine
San Jose

damn straight!

i know the last few posts haven’t been anything but quotes from things (shows, newspaper articles, letters). too much to do, too little time. i’m headed off to nashville today to watch my sister run the Country Music Marathon. She’s nuts, but i admire someone who can do something like this. go sis!

this is what gives me hope:

I am thinking especially about the youths. My affectionate thought goes to them, Pope John Paul II’s privileged interlocutors, while, God willing, I wait to meet with them in Cologne on the occasion of the next World Youth Day. I will continue the dialogue with you, dear youths, future and hope of the church and mankind. - Pope Benedict XVI, April 20th, 2005

And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life. Amen. - Pope Benedict XVI, April 24th, 2005

ugh, today is gonna be a rough day…

i went to bed way too late last night due to circumstances beyond my control (well, that’s not entirely true). a bunch of my guildies and i were going to do a “quick” maraudon inner boss run around 7.30pm last night. i say “quick” because we were just going to go in, kill the princess and get out. well, we spent probably 30 minutes waiting for people to arrive (as some were traveling from the other continent), then people had to leave and we kept getting our asses handed to us but huge freaking giants. to make a long story short, we finally got a good group of pirates consisting of me, a 56 shaman, a 52 druid, a 54 warlock and a 46 warrior and whooped the instance. sadly, i lost all the rolls for rares but did level up, so all’s good. but sadly, it was it was probably midnight when i ported us all out of there and headed for bed.

yeah, i know…that’s sad

luckily, the day has started off pretty peacefully, with none of the annoying nagging and crap i had to deal with yesterday. the more i think about it, the more i realize that IM, while useful at times, generally brings about more headache than anything else. these days i’m almost never at my desk at work, or on my laptop at home (except to play WoW). but i could never give it up entirely, or i’d miss gems like this:

(08:01:30) jan: HAHAHAHA
(08:01:36) jan: u know what pepe taught me
(08:01:39) jan: i dunno if this works
(08:01:43) jan: but the other day it did
(08:01:48) jan: after i eat spicy food
(08:01:55) jan: that will give me explosions
(08:01:59) jan: EAT ICE CREAM
(08:02:05) me: hahaha
(08:02:08) jan: he said it cancels it out
(08:02:09) jan: lol
(08:02:14) jan: i thought it was a crock
(08:02:23) jan: but i ate those thai instant noodles
(08:02:30) jan: OMG
(08:02:40) jan: i need to bring you the fiery noodles
(08:02:46) jan: remember the ones straight from thailand
(08:02:48) me: yeah!
(08:02:49) me: hehe
(08:02:50) jan: DUDE
(08:02:52) jan: DAMAGE

I’ve heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don’t know if I believe that’s true
But I know I’m who I am today
Because I knew you

this is a sad, sad day for everyone…people of every creed, race, religion…

Pope John Paul II was the only pope that I’ve ever known. It’s estimated that half of the world 1 billion Catholics are in the same situation that I find myself in, a tremendous number considering the longevity of the man known as the Vicar of Christ has never really been very long. And while it’s true that I only really became involved with the Church over the last few years, I feel a great feeling of sadness…

I am happy though that the man who has suffered so much over the last few years is finally at peace, in the loving arms of Christ…

Rest in Peace, Karol Jozef Wojtyla. Your impact on this world can never be quanitied. You will be missed by all…