mercy illuminates the waiting for death

On the day of the commemoration of the faithful departed, the pontiff presided over the suffrage mass for the cardinals and bishops who died during the year in Saint Peter’s. “At the end of life, the only criterion of merit or accusation will be love for the poor and the discarded. Let us not be caught off guard by this discovery.”

Vatican City () – “Death comes to show the truth about life and removes any mitigating factor to mercy”, the Pope said today – the day of the commemoration of the faithful departed – in the homily of the Mass he presided over in the basilica of San Pedro in suffrage of the 9 cardinals and 148 among bishops and archbishops who died during the last year. Among the names listed in the celebration brochure are two bishops from mainland China, Msgr. Peter Wu Junwei, Apostolic Prefect of Xinjiang, who died in May, and Msgr. John Baptist Ye Ronghua, Apostolic Prefect of Ankang, who died in August.

In his homily, Pope Francis focused on two words that are central to the Gospel account of the final judgment, at the hour of death: expectation and surprise. “Waiting – said the Pope – expresses the meaning of life, because we live waiting for the encounter with God. We all live in expectation, hoping one day to hear those words of Jesus addressed to us: «Come, blessed by my Father».”. Therefore, today is an opportune moment -continued the pontiff- to “Ask ourselves if our desires have anything to do with Heaven. Because we run the risk of continually aspiring to things that are temporary, of confusing desires with needs, of putting the expectations of the world before God. But losing sight of what is important, to chase the wind, would be the biggest mistake of life”.

The evangelical passage of the final judgment also speaks of a surprise: “Lord, when did we see you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you drink?” “In the divine court – Francis commented – the only criterion of merit or accusation is mercy towards the poor and the discarded. Those who live in heaven are some of the most insignificant to the world.”

“Brothers, sisters,” he continued, “let us not let ourselves be surprised by this discovery. Let us be very careful not to sugarcoat the taste of the Gospel. Because many times, for comfort or convenience, we tend to soften the message of Jesus, to dilute his words. Feeding the hungry yes, but the issue of hunger is complex, and I certainly can’t solve it! Helping the poor, yes, but injustices have to be addressed in a certain way and therefore it is better to wait, because if you commit yourself you run the risk of being constantly bothered and maybe later you realize that you could have done it better; That’s why it’s better to wait a bit.”

“When did that happen? Both the just and the unjust ask themselves in surprise – Francis concluded -. There is only one answer: when is it now, today, at the end of this Eucharist. It is in our hands, in our works of mercy: not in clarifications and refined analyses, not in individual or social justifications On the day of our farewell, the surprise will be happy if we now allow ourselves to be surprised by the presence of God, who awaits us in the poor and wounded of the world. Let us not be afraid of this surprise: let us go forward in the things that the Gospel tells us, to be judged just in the end. God is waiting for us to caress him, not with words but with deeds”.