Reading of the day A reading from the Book of Wisdom 3:1-9
The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace. For if before men, indeed, they be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality; chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself. In the time of their visitation they shall shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble; they shall judge nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord shall be their King forever. Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love: because grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with his elect.
From the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 5:5-11
Brothers and sisters: Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For Christ, while we were still helpless, died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. How much more then, since we are now justified by his Blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath. Indeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life. Not only that, but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Gospel of the day From the Gospel according to John 6:37-40
Jesus said to the crowds: “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.”
The words of the Popes “Hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5), Paul told us. Hope draws us and gives meaning to our life. I do not see the afterlife, but hope is God’s gift that draws us toward life, toward eternal joy. Hope is an anchor that we have from the other side, and we, grasping the rope, sustain ourselves (cf. Heb 6:18-19). ‘I know that my Redeemer lives, and I shall see him’. And repeat this in times of joy and in bad times, in times of death, let us say this.
This certitude is a gift of God, because we can never have hope by our own efforts. We must ask for it. Hope is a freely given gift that we never deserve: it is given; it is offered. It is grace.
And then, the Lord confirms this, this hope that does not disappoint. “All that the Father gives me will come to me” (Jn 6:37). This is the aim of hope: to go to Jesus. And “him who comes to me I will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (Jn 6:37-38). The Lord who welcomes us there, where the anchor lies. Life in hope is to live like this: grasping, with the rope in hand, strong, knowing that the anchor is below. And this anchor does not disappoint; it does not disappoint.
Today, in the thoughts of many brothers and sisters who have passed on, it will do us good to look at the cemeteries and to look heavenward. And to repeat, like Job: ‘I know that my Redeemer lives, and I myself will see him. My eyes shall behold him, and not another’. And this is the strength that hope gives us, this freely given gift that is the virtue of hope. May the Lord give it to all of us. (Pope Francis, Homily, Pontifical Teutonic College Santa Maria in Camposanto, 2 November 2020)
Job was in darkness. He was right at death’s door. And in that moment of anguish, pain and suffering, Job proclaimed hope: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth... my eyes shall behold [him], and not another” (Job 19:25, 27). The commemoration of the dead has this twofold meaning. A sense of sorrow: a cemetery is sad, it reminds us of our loved ones who have passed on. It also reminds us of the future, of death.
But in this sadness, we bring flowers, as a sign of hope, and also, I might say, of celebration, but later on, not now. And sorrow is mingled with hope. Today, in this celebration, this is what we all feel: the memory of our loved ones, before their remains, and hope.
But we also feel that this hope helps us, because we too must make this journey. All of us must make this journey. Sooner or later, with more pain or less, but everyone must. However with the flower of hope, with that powerful thread that is anchored in the hereafter. Thus, the hope of resurrection still does not disappoint.
Jesus was the first to make this journey. We are following the journey that he made. And it was Jesus himself who opened the door: with his Cross he opened the door of hope, he opened the door for us to enter where we will contemplate God. “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth... I shall behold him, and not another, I shall. My eyes shall behold him, and not another”.
Let us return home today with this twofold remembrance: remembrance of the past, of our loved ones who have passed on; and remembrance of the future, of the journey that we will make. With certainty, security; that certainty came from Jesus’ lips: “I will raise him up at the last day” (Jn 6:40).
FAUSTI - Even though you have seen me, nevertheless do not believe" His listeners "see" the Bread of Life, of which the one in the desert and the one on the mountain are signs, and yet they do not believe in Him. They have seen the signs and have listened the meaning. There is in their hearts an impediment to believing that there wasn't in the Samaritan woman. The Lord cannot be their bread, as long as other breads are their lord. They cannot believe in God, as long as their god is their own self. - The Father's will is to communicate His life to His children. Jesus, coming down from heaven, does the work of the Father, so that it will not be lost nothing of what He loves, so that the last day may be for all ones the life and not the death... The Father's will is to give us the Son, because in Him we "see" His love for us and welcome Him. To adhere to the Son is to already have eternal life now, which consists in loving the Father and our brothers and sisters. This love is victory over death and the deposit of the future resurrection: united with Him, we are in communion with the very source of life. Jesus is man, how can He be of divine origin? Why does He call God "my Father" and promise to men the life of God? How can a man make himself equal to God? It is the mystery of Jesus. He is flesh, like all of us. But He is the Word, made flesh, the Son of God who became the Son of man, an inevitable scandal so that every son of man may become the Son of God. Jesus reaffirms that welcoming Him is a gift from the Father, His work par excellence. He draws every man to the Son so that he may become a son. This attraction of the Father, even if it is mysterious, is innate in man, precisely because of His son: is expressed in the many requests for meaning that each one poses. We are all directly instructed by God, disciples of the inner voice that bears witness to the Word, the true light that illuminates every man. We are "theo-didact". , educated by God, He acts in the heart of every man, drawing him towards light and life, towards the Son in whom He gives Himself to us as Father. If before there was the law, written on boards of stone, now God Himself writes His Word in our hearts, putting in us a new heart, full of His Love.
Reading of the day
RispondiEliminaA reading from the Book of Wisdom
3:1-9
The souls of the just are in the hand of God,
and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
For if before men, indeed, they be punished,
yet is their hope full of immortality;
chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
because God tried them
and found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.
In the time of their visitation they shall shine,
and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;
they shall judge nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord shall be their King forever.
Those who trust in him shall understand truth,
and the faithful shall abide with him in love:
because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,
and his care is with his elect.
From the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans
5:5-11
Brothers and sisters:
Hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
For Christ, while we were still helpless,
died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,
though perhaps for a good person
one might even find courage to die.
But God proves his love for us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
How much more then, since we are now justified by his Blood,
will we be saved through him from the wrath.
Indeed, if, while we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,
how much more, once reconciled,
will we be saved by his life.
Not only that,
but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Gospel of the day
From the Gospel according to John
6:37-40
Jesus said to the crowds:
“Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.”
The words of the Popes
RispondiElimina“Hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5), Paul told us. Hope draws us and gives meaning to our life. I do not see the afterlife, but hope is God’s gift that draws us toward life, toward eternal joy. Hope is an anchor that we have from the other side, and we, grasping the rope, sustain ourselves (cf. Heb 6:18-19). ‘I know that my Redeemer lives, and I shall see him’. And repeat this in times of joy and in bad times, in times of death, let us say this.
This certitude is a gift of God, because we can never have hope by our own efforts. We must ask for it. Hope is a freely given gift that we never deserve: it is given; it is offered. It is grace.
And then, the Lord confirms this, this hope that does not disappoint. “All that the Father gives me will come to me” (Jn 6:37). This is the aim of hope: to go to Jesus. And “him who comes to me I will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (Jn 6:37-38). The Lord who welcomes us there, where the anchor lies. Life in hope is to live like this: grasping, with the rope in hand, strong, knowing that the anchor is below. And this anchor does not disappoint; it does not disappoint.
Today, in the thoughts of many brothers and sisters who have passed on, it will do us good to look at the cemeteries and to look heavenward. And to repeat, like Job: ‘I know that my Redeemer lives, and I myself will see him. My eyes shall behold him, and not another’. And this is the strength that hope gives us, this freely given gift that is the virtue of hope. May the Lord give it to all of us.
(Pope Francis, Homily, Pontifical Teutonic College Santa Maria in Camposanto, 2 November 2020)
HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS
EliminaPrima Porta Cemetery
Wednesday, 2 November 2016
Job was in darkness. He was right at death’s door. And in that moment of anguish, pain and suffering, Job proclaimed hope: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth... my eyes shall behold [him], and not another” (Job 19:25, 27). The commemoration of the dead has this twofold meaning. A sense of sorrow: a cemetery is sad, it reminds us of our loved ones who have passed on. It also reminds us of the future, of death.
But in this sadness, we bring flowers, as a sign of hope, and also, I might say, of celebration, but later on, not now. And sorrow is mingled with hope. Today, in this celebration, this is what we all feel: the memory of our loved ones, before their remains, and hope.
But we also feel that this hope helps us, because we too must make this journey. All of us must make this journey. Sooner or later, with more pain or less, but everyone must. However with the flower of hope, with that powerful thread that is anchored in the hereafter. Thus, the hope of resurrection still does not disappoint.
Jesus was the first to make this journey. We are following the journey that he made. And it was Jesus himself who opened the door: with his Cross he opened the door of hope, he opened the door for us to enter where we will contemplate God. “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth... I shall behold him, and not another, I shall. My eyes shall behold him, and not another”.
Let us return home today with this twofold remembrance: remembrance of the past, of our loved ones who have passed on; and remembrance of the future, of the journey that we will make. With certainty, security; that certainty came from Jesus’ lips: “I will raise him up at the last day” (Jn 6:40).
FAUSTI - Even though you have seen me, nevertheless do not believe" His listeners "see" the Bread of Life, of which the one in the desert and the one on the mountain are signs, and yet they do not believe in Him.
EliminaThey have seen the signs and have listened the meaning. There is in their hearts an impediment to believing that there wasn't in the Samaritan woman. The Lord cannot be their bread, as long as other breads are their lord. They cannot believe in God, as long as their god is their own self. - The Father's will is to communicate His life to His children. Jesus, coming down from heaven, does the work of the Father, so that it will not be lost nothing of what He loves, so that the last day may be for all ones the life and not the death...
The Father's will is to give us the Son, because in Him we "see" His love for us and welcome Him.
To adhere to the Son is to already have eternal life now, which consists in loving the Father and our brothers and sisters. This love is victory over death and the deposit of the future resurrection: united with Him, we are in communion with the very source of life. Jesus is man, how can He be of divine origin? Why does He call God "my Father" and promise to men the life of God?
How can a man make himself equal to God? It is the mystery of Jesus.
He is flesh, like all of us.
But He is the Word, made flesh, the Son of God who became the Son of man, an inevitable scandal so that every son of man may become the Son of God. Jesus reaffirms that welcoming Him is a gift from the Father, His work par excellence. He draws every man to the Son so that he may become a son.
This attraction of the Father, even if it is mysterious,
is innate in man, precisely because of His son:
is expressed in the many requests for meaning that each one poses. We are all directly instructed by God, disciples of the inner voice that bears witness to the Word, the true light that illuminates every man. We are "theo-didact". ,
educated by God, He acts in the heart of every man, drawing him towards light and life, towards the Son in whom He gives Himself to us as Father.
If before there was the law, written on boards of stone, now God Himself writes His Word in our hearts, putting in us a new heart, full of His Love.