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VATICAN – Pope Francis prayed for those who died alone during the coronavirus pandemic at their morning mass last week.
At the beginning of mass in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, his residence in the Vatican, he said: “Today we pray for the deceased who died from the pandemic. They have died alone, without the caresses of their loved ones. Many did not even have a funeral. May the Lord welcome you in his glory. “
More than 250,000 people died of Covid-19 worldwide as of May 5, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
In his homily, the Pope reflected on the reading of the Gospel of the day (John 10: 22-30), in which Jesus is asked to openly declare if He is the Christ. Jesus responds that he has already told his listeners, but that they have not believed him because they are not among his sheep.
Pope Francis urged Catholics to ask themselves: “What makes me stop at the door that is Jesus?”
A major obstacle is wealth, said the Pope.
“There are many of us who have entered through the Lord’s door but then did not continue because we are prisoners of wealth,” he said, according to a transcript from the Vatican News.
“Jesus takes a hard line regarding wealth … Wealth prevents us from moving forward. Do we need to fall into poverty? No, but we should not become slaves to wealth. Wealth is the lord of this world, and we cannot serve two masters. “
The pope added that another barrier to progress toward Jesus is stiffness of heart.
He said: “Jesus reproached the doctors of the law for their rigidity in interpreting the law, which is not faithfulness. Faithfulness is always a gift from God; stiffness is just self-assurance. “
As an example of rigidity, the Pope recalled that once, when he visited a parish, a woman asked him if attending a bridal mass on Saturday afternoon was fulfilling his Sunday obligation. The readings were different from those on Sunday, so he was concerned that he had committed a mortal sin.
Rigidity takes us away from the wisdom of Jesus and robs us of our freedom, he said.
The Pope mentioned two other obstacles: acedia, which he defined as fatigue that “takes away our desire to advance” and makes us lukewarm, and clericalism, which he described as a disease that takes away the freedom of the faithful.
He identified worldliness as the final obstacle to approaching Jesus.
“We can think about how some sacraments are celebrated in some parishes: how much worldliness is there,” he said.
“These are some of the things that keep us from becoming members of Jesus’ flock. We are “sheep” of all these things: wealth, apathy, rigidity, worldliness, clericalism, ideologies. But freedom is lacking and we cannot follow Jesus without freedom. “Sometimes freedom can go too far, and we can slip and fall.” Yes, that is true. But this is slipping before I am free. “
After mass, the Pope presided over the adoration and blessing of the Blessed Sacrament, before leading those who were watching live in an act of spiritual communion.
The congregation then sang the Marian Easter antiphon “Regina caeli”.
At the end of his homily, the Pope prayed: “May the Lord enlighten us to see within ourselves if we have the freedom required to go through the door that is Jesus, to go further with Jesus to be sheep of his flock. . “
Catholic News Agency via CBCP News
