Fascinating...fascinating

I'm reading over some bio's about Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, and I can't help but keep comparing him to John Paul II. I know it's not fair, but it's all so new.

Then I got thinking: So many millions of us have been formed by JPII. His thinking, his philosophy, his theology have permeated what we understand and know. I wonder if what I have chosen to study was not a direct result of the teachings of him, I just didn't know it. For instance, I am fascinated by moral theology and even more so was completely overwhelmed with wonder at the Theology of the Body, as I was with Humanae Vitae and Mulierius Dignitatum (Dignity and Vocation of Women). My philosophical ponderings drank in everything I could lay my hands on that the Church taught on such issues, and many times I found myself reading JPII's work-or work inspired by him, or joined in with his teachings. The things he loved, I found I was loving. The things he challenged us on, I found myself picking up on (such as working for justice in our Western Free Market society), he was all about the dignity of the human person and so I studied: What does that mean? Who is the human person?

Pope Benedict XVI is not Karol Wojtyla. He will have his own passions, his own message gleaned from Truth, his own emphasis and direction. Will I love them as much? Will I formulate my ministry inspired by him as I was so much with his predecessor? Is it ok that I'm still a JPII Girl?

It's not that I fear the future, far from it. I believe Pope Benedict XVI will lead excellently.

It's just different. And fascinating.