Pope says that Jesus loves people who trust in him
In St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis said a memorial Mass for Pope Benedict XVI, as well as cardinals and bishops who passed away in the previous year.
Pope Francis said that God seeks and loves the humble because it makes it possible for him to participate in their lives.
In his homily on November 3, the pope stated, “This is Christian humility, which is not merely one virtue among others, but the fundamental disposition of life: believing ourselves to be in need of God, making room for him, and placing all our trust in him.”
In St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope said a memorial Mass for Pope Benedict XVI, the six cardinals, and the 147 bishops who passed away in the previous year. Five of the bishops were from Canada, and eighteen were from the United States. Australian Cardinal George Plle, who served as the prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy before passing away in Rome in January at the age of 81, was also among them.
According to Pope Francis, the Lord is empathetic and “is moved by death, the greatest cause of our suffering.” “How important it is to communicate that same look of compassion to all those who grieve for the death of their loved ones!”
As the pope put it, those who are “most alone and forsaken, having no one else to trust but God,” such as orphans, widows, and “strangers,” are especially close to and compassionate to the Lord.
“These are the people closest and dearest to the Lord,” he said. “We cannot be close and dear to God if we ignore those who enjoy his protection and preferential love, for one day they will be the ones to welcome us to heaven.”
“It is the humble, the poor in spirit, who reveal to us the ‘littleness’ so pleasing to the Lord, the path that leads to heaven,” he said.
“God loves humility because it permits him to interact with us,” he said.
Pope Francis recalled “the very first words with which Pope Benedict described himself following his election: ‘a humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord.'”
“Indeed, Christians, especially the pope, the cardinals and the bishops, are called to be humble laborers: to serve, not to be served and to put the fruits of the Lord’s vineyard before their own advantage,” he said. “What a fine thing it is to renounce ourselves for the church of Jesus!”
“Let us pray for our beloved, departed brethren. Their hearts were pastoral, compassionate and humble, for the Lord was the center of their lives,” he said. “In him may they find eternal peace.
