Pope Francis celebrates All Saints Mass and prays for migrants who perished
November 2, 2013: Moved perhaps by the melancholic sight of the sun setting against
the tombs in Rome's Verano Cemetery, the final resting place of so many great Italians,
or stirred perhaps by the memory of all the victims of persecution, to whom he referred
a few hours earlier during the Angelus, Pope Francis put aside his written homily
and spoke ad lib during the Mass he celebrated this afternoon. In his meditation,
the words that prevailed were 'hope', 'anchor', and 'Jesus', as if he were proclaiming
the power of Christian hope in a place that speaks about everyone's end and death. Surrounded
by thousands of faithful who filled the paths and alleys between the monumental tombs
of Verano Cemetery, the pontiff celebrated Mass accompanied by Card Agostino Vallini,
vicar of Rome, Mgr Filippo Iannone, vice-regent of the Diocese of Rome, the diocese's
auxiliary bishops and Fr Armando Ambrosi, priest at the San Lorenzo fuori le Mura
(St Lawrence outside the Walls) Parish Church, where the cemetery is located. In coming
here, Pope Francis revisited a tradition that John Paul II had upheld until 1 November
1993. Since then, Benedict XVI did celebrate the Eucharist at the nearby Basilica
of St Lawrence outside the Walls in 2008. In a slow voice, a moved pontiff said,
"At this moment before sunset, we are gathered in this cemetery to think about our
future and all those who are no more, those who have gone before us in life and are
in Lord. The vision we heard in today's first reading is so beautiful (Rev, 7:2-4,
9-14)". "We can expect full love. Those who have gone before us in the Lord are
there and proclaim that they were saved not by their deeds, but by the Lord. 'Salvation
comes from our God [. . .] and from the Lamb" (Rev, 7:10b) [. . .] He is the One who
saves us, like a father, by bringing us to the other shore at the end of our life". Going
back again to the reading from Revelation, the pope went on to say. "An elder asked,
'Who are these [. . .]? [. . .] These are the ones who have survived the time of great
distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb'
(Rev. 7:14)." "We can only enter Heaven through the blood of the Lamb. It is the blood
of Christ that justified us." If today, we remember our departed brothers and
sisters, it is because they were cleansed by the blood of Christ. He is our hope.
He never disappoints." The pope then turned to the first reading of the Mass (1
Jn, 3:1-3), when "John told his disciples, 'See what love the Father has bestowed
on us [. . .] we are God's children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.
We do know that when it is revealed.' That is, 'we shall be like him'. That is our
hope." "Today," the pope explained, "on the feast of All Saints, before the day
of All Souls, we need to think about hope, the hope that accompanies us in life .
. . . Early Christians represented hope as an anchor, as if hope was anchored in God's
life, on the other shore. To have our life anchored where our dearly departed, Jesus
Christ, and God are brings the hope that does not disappoint." "Hope is the yeast
that widens the soul," said in concluding. "Even in difficult times, hope, the soul
go on. Today is a day of hope. Our brothers and sisters are in God's presence. We
too shall be there if we walk along Jesus' road . . . . Everyone who has this hope
based on him makes himself pure' (1 Jn. 3, 3). Hope purifies; it lightens us; it makes
it go faster. "As sun starts to set today, let each of us think of our own sunset.
Am I looking at it with hope? . . . Where is my heart anchored? If it is anchored
on the shore, hope cannot disappoint because Jesus does not disappoint." At the
end of the Mass, the pope concluded, "I would like to pray in a special way, in particular
for our brothers and sisters who died as they sought a better life. We saw the cruelty
of the desert, and of the sea where many drowned. Let us also pray for those who were
saved, now languishing in shelters. Let us hope they might go to other, more comfortable
places, in other centres." (Report by Asianews)