Ashley and John Noronha: the blessed John Paul II

John Paul II Praised for His Love, Thought

By Andrea Kirk Assaf

ROME, May 4, 2011 (Zenit.org)

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Another vocation influenced by John Paul II occurred in the life of Father Dominique Rimaz of Switzerland. "He is my father for the faith. I was 10 years old when he was elected," Father Rimaz recounted. "My mother made a big jump when she heard his name as Pope at Vatican Radio. She said, 'A Polish Pope! Fantastic!' She jumped maybe one meter above the sofa! My mother explained to me that he was a good man because he always followed his conscience, he was a true man, a man who loved the Truth and was ready to always follow it.

"That made a big impact on me as a child. When I saw him in his car in St. Peter's Square in 1988 in Rome, I had the first inkling of the vocation, precisely when looking at him."

Like Father Rimaz, other members of the John Paul II generation cherish their encounters with John Paul II as pivotal moments in their lives.

"I'm part of the JPII generation, as John Paul II was the Pope for my youth and for as long back as I can remember. I had the opportunity to meet Pope John Paul II during a private audience on Jan. 7, 2005," Ashley Noronha of Springfield, Illinois, told ZENIT.

"It was one of his last public audiences before his death," she recounted. "I clearly remember the love in his eyes as he blessed me and held my face in his hands. It seemed that he loved me, as his own daughter.

"It was the same feeling that I got from the two World Youth Days that I attended (Rome and Toronto) where he always reminded us to 'be not afraid' and told the hundreds of thousands of youth gathered, 'JPII loves you too!'"

John Paul II's legacy with the youth was also underlined by Noronha, who works in Rome as a Catholic communications expert: "He had a gift of speaking to the hearts of youth, and his writings on theology of the body, for example, managed to help a whole generation understand human sexuality in a new way.

"It seems like everyone can relate to Pope John Paul II -- from young to old, rich to poor, Poles to Americans and Catholics and non -- because he showed us all what it means to actually live a life of virtue, and not just talk about it."

Faith and reason

Ashley's husband, John Noronha, also noted the power of being in his presence as well as the impact of Pope's teachings on his thought. "I can still remember how his gaze was so loving and soul piercing -- something I will always treasure," said John, who was trained as both a computer engineer and a theologian. "It was well known that Pope John Paul II had such a great depth of spirituality, but as an engineer, I was especially impressed by his encyclical 'Fides et Ratio,' on faith and reason, which seamlessly tied faith and reason to an understanding of who and what the human person is."

"As a systematic theologian," John continued, "it is always a treat to see how it is possible to connect the dots among various disciplines, with no contradictions, if one starts with the right foundational principles. Pope John Paul II found ways to integrate the most profound spiritual concepts, not just through a theological lens, but through his mastery of metaphysics and his personalistic philosophy, which was in the spirit of being at the 'diakonia (service) of the truth' and always trying to know one's self to the fullest, at the very core of one's being, and finding one's purpose and direction in life through an understanding of one's nature, origin and 'telos' (end)."

On Sunday those beloveds had the opportunity to stand as witnesses at the rite of his beatification to affirm that "Yes, John Paul II is blessed."