By Sophia Chang
Mourning Catholics have thronged to special masses in the past few days, like the one held at St. Kevin's Church at 45-21 194th St. in Auburndale Monday night.”The parish came out in great numbers for a mass for the Holy Father,” said Msgr. D. Joseph Finnerty, who said almost 1,000 people attended the service. “It was a very inspiring mass, with music, reading of scriptures. It was an opportunity for us to say goodbye to the Holy Father and thank him for 26 years of service to the church.”Finnerty, who had met John Paul II three times, remembered one particular encounter 10 years ago.”When I was in Rome, I was invited to celebrate with the Holy Father in his private chapel,” he said. “I was there in the morning and celebrated mass with him. You just knew from the way he prayed and the intensity of his meditation that you were in presence of a holy man. He was a man of God, a truly spiritual person.”Father Richard McCormack, head of the predominately Polish congregation at St. Josaphat's RC Church at 24-32 210th St. in Bayside, recalled the pope's famous 1979 visit to Shea Stadium, where he spoke before thousands of devoted followers during a prayer service.”A lot of people, including myself, have the same memory of 1979 when he came here to Shea Stadium,” McCormack said. “He came in from behind the scoreboard. It had been raining very hard that day, but as soon as he came in, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Everybody remembers that.”With the pope's health visibly failing in the past few years, church leaders said his death, while sad, was not a shock and perhaps a blessing for a man who suffered from chronic and painful diseases.”Everybody is very saddened by his passing, but people were also relieved after a long and most demanding pontificate, he has finally been relieved of his burden and entered into eternal rest,” said Rev. Edward Ryan of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal at 62-81 60th Place in Ridgewood. “Especially when his physical condition had deteriorated so dramatically, it was painful to see him having been such a vigorous man.”But the pope maintained his dignity to the last moment and remained a paragon of Catholic faith as he died, Finnerty said.”The final thing is he taught us how to live and also how to die,” he said. “Bravely bearing his suffering, the words he said to those around his deathbed after having received the sacraments was: 'Do not weep for me. I am happy and you should be as well. Let us pray for each other with joy.'”Finnerty added, “I hope I can say that when it comes my time.”Reach reporter Sophia Chang by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
