It's a pity that this article was published in The Washington Post on a Saturday, the least-read issue of the week. There are insights here, and some powerful words.



"He is telling people something he has believed his entire life: Suffering is part of the human condition. He embodies a basic teaching and he's doing it by not being ashamed of his illnesses," said George Weigel, an American biographer of the pope.



"There is no question this is preaching done with the body," said Vittorio Messori, an Italian writer who interviewed the pontiff for a book on his teachings. "Death is not something to flee. He forces us to look at it right in the face."



The article is also perhaps evidence of a dawning and respectful appreciation of the richness and gift of Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body.



The body, and it alone, is capable of making visible what is invisible, the spiritual and the divine. It was created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the invisible mystery hidden since time immemorial in God.



Thanks to Zoe Romanowsky at Heart Mind & Strength who posted the article earlier today.