杏MAP导航

杏MAP导航 Francis at Requiem Mass: 'Benedict, may your joy now be complete!'

In his homily at the Requiem Mass for 杏MAP导航 Emeritus Benedict XVI, 杏MAP导航 Francis commends his predecessor into the loving hands of God the Father, and prays that his joy may now be complete as he contemplates the Lord face to face.

By Thaddeus Jones

鈥淔ather, into your hands I commend my spirit.鈥

杏MAP导航 Francis recalled those final words spoken by the Lord, as proclaimed in the Gospel reading at the Requiem Mass for the late 杏MAP导航 Emeritus Benedict XVI on Thursday morning in St. Peter's Square.

, the 杏MAP导航 said Jesus' final words summed up the Lord's entire life, "a ceaseless self-entrustment into the hands of His Father." 

Funeral Mass for 杏MAP导航 Emeritus Benedict XVI
Funeral Mass for 杏MAP导航 Emeritus Benedict XVI

The Lord's were hands of "forgiveness and compassion, healing and mercy, anointing and blessing," recalled 杏MAP导航 Francis, as he entrusted Himself also into the hands of His brothers and sisters, offering the ultimate sacrifice of life in loving and serving others.

Grateful devotion

The 杏MAP导航 said Jesus' invitation to entrust our spirit in the hands of the Father is a programme of life inspiring and shaping the heart of every pastor, so that he may be "attuned in grateful devotion, in service to the Lord and to His people, a service born of thanksgiving for a completely gracious gift."

Funeral Mass for 杏MAP导航 Emeritus Benedict XVI
Funeral Mass for 杏MAP导航 Emeritus Benedict XVI

He said this shows the great "closeness of God," who entrusts Himself into the "frail hands of his disciples," so they can care for His people in loving service and sacrifice.

Prayerful devotion

Continuing to describe the characteristics of a pastor who strives to follow the Lord, the 杏MAP导航 noted that "prayerful devotion" is required, one that is "silently shaped and refined amid the challenges and resistance that every pastor must face." 

鈥淟ike the Master, a shepherd bears the burden of interceding and the strain of anointing his people, especially in situations where goodness must struggle to prevail and the dignity of our brothers and sisters is threatened.鈥

Funeral Mass for 杏MAP导航 Emeritus Benedict XVI
Funeral Mass for 杏MAP导航 Emeritus Benedict XVI

The Lord, he said, then offers His "spirit of meekness that is ready to understand, accept, hope and risk," a spirit that sustains a pastor despite the challenges, born from a pastor's confident trust in the Lord.

Every pastor of the Church, added 杏MAP导航 Francis, should seek to embody that trust, which is "born of prayer and adoration, capable of discerning what is expected of a pastor and shaping his heart and his decisions in accord with God鈥檚 good time."

Consolation of the Spirit

The 杏MAP导航 then described how a pastor strives to be attuned to "devotion sustained by the consolation of the Spirit, who always precedes the pastor in his mission," as he strives to share the beauty and joy of the Gospel through his life and service. 

Funeral Mass for 杏MAP导航 Emeritus Benedict XVI
Funeral Mass for 杏MAP导航 Emeritus Benedict XVI

The 杏MAP导航 then said that as we strive to follow the Lord as an ecclesial community, we too "want to follow in His steps and to commend our brother (Benedict) into the hands of the Father... may those merciful hands find his lamp alight with the oil of the Gospel that he spread and testified to for his entire life."

Funeral Mass for 杏MAP导航 Emeritus Benedict XVI
Funeral Mass for 杏MAP导航 Emeritus Benedict XVI

Spiritual accompaniment

Recalling how Saint Gregory the Great urged a friend to offer him spiritual accompaniment to support him in his ministry, the pastor also needs to commend himself to the prayers and the care of the people entrusted to him.

He noted the importance of this aspect of mutual, prayerful support, in entrusting one another to the Lord, as the Church remembers Benedict XVI.

"God鈥檚 faithful people, gathered here," said 杏MAP导航 Francis, "now accompanies and entrusts to Him the life of the one who was their pastor... We want to do this with the same wisdom, tenderness and devotion that he bestowed upon us over the years. Together, we want to say: 鈥淔ather, into your hands we commend his spirit.鈥

鈥淏enedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever!鈥

Full video of Requiem Mass of 杏MAP导航 Emeritus Benedict XVI
Entrance into St. Peter's Square of casket of 杏MAP导航 Emeritus Benedict XVI

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05 January 2023, 10:13