{"id":78746,"date":"2023-01-05T05:46:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-05T10:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/full-text-pope-francis-homily-at-pope-emeritus-benedict-xvis-funeral-mass\/"},"modified":"2023-01-05T05:46:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-05T10:46:00","slug":"full-text-pope-francis-homily-at-pope-emeritus-benedict-xvis-funeral-mass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/full-text-pope-francis-homily-at-pope-emeritus-benedict-xvis-funeral-mass\/","title":{"rendered":"FULL TEXT: Pope Francis\u2019 homily at Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI\u2019s funeral Mass"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Pope Francis <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Vatican City, Jan 5, 2023 \/ 03:46 am<\/p>\n

At 9:30 a.m. this morning Pope Francis presided over the funeral Mass of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. This is the full text of his homily:<\/p>\n

\u201cFather, into your hands I commend my spirit\u201d (Lk 23:46). These were the final words spoken by the Lord on the cross; his last breath, as it were, which summed up what had been his entire life: a ceaseless self-entrustment into the hands of his Father. His were hands of forgiveness and compassion, healing and mercy, anointing and blessing, which led him also to entrust himself into the hands of his brothers and sisters. The Lord, open to the individuals and their stories that he encountered along the way, allowed himself to be shaped by the Father\u2019s will. He shouldered all the consequences and hardships entailed by the Gospel, even to seeing his hands pierced for love. \u201cSee my hands,\u201d he says to Thomas (Jn 20:27), and to each of us: \u201cSee my hands.\u201d Pierced hands that constantly reach out to us, inviting us to recognize the love that God has for us and to believe in it (cf. 1 Jn 4:16).<\/p>\n

\u201cFather into your hands I commend my spirit.\u201d This is the invitation and the programme of life that he quietly inspires in us. Like a potter (cf. Is 29:16), he wishes to shape the heart of every pastor, until it is attuned to the heart of Christ Jesus (cf. Phil 2:5). Attuned in grateful devotion, in service to the Lord and to his people, a service born of thanksgiving for a completely gracious gift: \u201cYou belong to me\u2026 you belong to them,\u201d the Lord whispers, \u201cyou are under the protection of my hands. You are under the protection of my heart. Stay in my hands and give me yours.\u201d Here we see the \u201ccondescension\u201d and closeness of God, who is ready to entrust himself to the frail hands of his disciples, so that they can feed his people and say with him: Take and eat, take and drink, for this is my body which is given up for you (cf. Lk 22:19). The total synkatabasis of God.<\/p>\n

Attuned in prayerful devotion, a devotion silently shaped and refined amid the challenges and resistance that every pastor must face (cf. 1 Pet 1:6-7) in trusting obedience to the Lord\u2019s command to feed his flock (cf. Jn 21:17 ). Like the Master, a shepherd bears the burden of interceding and the strain of anointing his people, especially in situations where goodness must struggle to prevail and the dignity of our brothers and sisters is threatened (cf. Heb 5:7-9). In the course of this intercession, the Lord quietly bestows the spirit of meekness that is ready to understand, accept, hope and risk, notwithstanding any misunderstandings that might result. It is the source of an unseen and elusive fruitfulness, born of his knowing the One in whom he has placed his trust (cf. 2 Tim 1:12). A trust itself born of prayer and adoration, capable of discerning what is expected of a pastor and shaping his heart and his decisions in accord with God\u2019s good time (cf. Jn 21:18): \u201cFeeding means loving, and loving also means being ready to suffer. Loving means giving the sheep what is truly good, the nourishment of God\u2019s truth, of God\u2019s word, the nourishment of his presence.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n