Pope Francis wanted to bid farewell to Pope Emeritus with gratitude and hope at the historic funeral by saluting as the faithful friend of the Bridegroom. “With the same anointing, wisdom, delicacy, and dedication that he knew how to spread over the years”, the Holy Father said with gratitude in the homily.
Pope Francis celebrated before thousands of faithful from all over the world the Mass for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican,
This is the first time in the history of the Church that a Pontiff celebrates the funeral of a Pope Emeritus. Pope Francis celebrated Solemn Requiem Mass before thousands of faithful from all over the world.
At the beginning of his homily, Pope Francis recalled the last words of Jesus Christ on the cross: ” Father, into your hands I commend my spirit “, a phrase that for the Holy Father “confirmed what sealed his entire life, a continuous surrender in the hands of his Father.”
For Pope Francis, this last breath of the Lord is also “the invitation and the life program that inspires and wants to mold the heart of the pastor like a potter, until the same sentiments of Christ Jesus beat in him.”
Based on this statement, the Holy Father explained three types of “surrender” that Jesus Christ showed by giving himself completely and fulfilling the will of his Father.
In the first place, he spoke of the ” grateful delivery of service to the Lord and his People, which is born from having accepted a totally free gift”.
“It is the condescension of God and his closeness, able to place himself in the fragile hands of his disciples to feed his people and say with him: take and eat, take and drink, this is my body, which is given for you”. pointed out the Pope.
Later, Pope Francis spoke of a “prayerful surrender”, which is “silently forged and refined between the crossroads and contradictions that the pastor must face and the confident invitation to feed the flock”.
“Like the Master,” the Pope continued, “he carries on his shoulders the weariness of intercession and the wear and tear of the anointing for his people, especially where goodness is in conflict and his brothers see their dignity in danger.”
He also highlighted the ” prayerful and adoring confidence, capable of interpreting the pastor’s actions and adjusting his heart and his decisions to God’s timing.”
Regarding the “sustained dedication”, the Pope explained that this is given by “the consolation of the Spirit, who always awaits him in the mission: in the passionate search to communicate the beauty and joy of the Gospel”.
And also for “the fruitful testimony of those who, like Mary, remains in many ways at the foot of the cross, in that painful but strong peace that does not attack or overwhelm.”
Next, Pope Francis encouraged them to hold on “to the last words of the Lord and to the testimony that marked his life” and as an ecclesial community, “to follow in his footsteps and entrust our brother in the hands of the Father.”
“May these hands of mercy find their lamp lit with the oil of the Gospel, which he spread and witnessed during his life,” he said.
At the end of the homily, Pope Francis recalled Saint Gregory the Great, who, at the end of the Pastoral Rule, “invited and exhorted a friend to offer him this spiritual company.”
In this sense, he stressed that “the conscience of the Pastor who cannot bear alone what, in reality, he could never bear alone and, for this reason, is capable of abandoning himself to prayer and the care of the people entrusted to him.”
“Benedicto, faithful friend of the husband” Finally, referring to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, he said that “it is the people of God who, gathered together, accompanies and entrusts the life of whoever was their pastor.”
“Like the women of the Gospel at the tomb, we are here with the perfume of gratitude and the ointment of hope to show you, once again, that love that is not lost; we want to do it with the same anointing, wisdom, delicacy and dedication that he knew how to spread throughout the years, ”she added.
“We want to say together: ‘Father, into your hands we commend his spirit.’ Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be perfect when you hear his voice definitively and forever”, he concluded.