Pope John XXIII is a "spiritual hero" of mine; the "parish priest of the world." I believe that the Vatican Council II was one of the finest hours of the history of the Roman Catholic church. It took a brave man to "open the windows" of the church to the modern age. It makes it so sad now that I sense so many of those windows slamming shut.
Out of curiosity I checked out Journal of a Soul which is a collection of his journals from the library. I started to read it hoping to really dig into the book--but I didn't. I guess I was hoping for some "words of wisdom" that I would feel spoke directly to me and my life where it is now. No such luck. (Perhaps that was a bit lofty of a goal.)
I don't see this really as a failure on the book's part or on mine. This is still a man that because of his actions I admire. Perhaps his actions are more the "words of wisdom" I am looking for than what he wrote. Also, this book is a translation edited after his death it seems. One thing that I did appreciate about it was that it wasn't a diatribe about how the world would be perfect if everyone would just listen to him. Instead it concerned things he thought he could do better in his own life.
If you want to change the world, start with yourself.
I think I'm going to be returning the book soon. Perhaps at some other point in my life it will "speak to me" more directly.
However, I found this video on YouTube about VC II: The audio is in Italian (which I don't speak), so hopefully it isn't saying something really offensive.
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