The joy of Easter Sunday this year was tinged with sadness at the news of Pope Francis’ death on Easter Monday. It made his Easter Sunday appearance on the balcony at St Peter’s Basilica for the Urbi et Orbi blessing all the more poignant; also, his popemobile tour among the crowds gathered in the square. It was his final blessing and last farewell to the people whom he had loved and served during the 12 years of his papal ministry.
Catholics and other Christians around the world have mourned Pope Francis’ death. Followers of other faiths have also grieved at his death. I was touched that the first condolence messages I received within hours of the announcement of the pope’s death were from Muslim friends and partners in dialogue who appreciated the interfaith outreach of Pope Francis. People of goodwill likewise expressed sorrow at his death, recognising and appreciating his humility, service, leadership, and deep commitment to humanity, especially the poor, migrants, refugees, and those on the margins, and his care for the environment. Thousands of people streamed past the open coffin in front of the main altar of St Peter’s Basilica where Pope Francis’ body lay in state. Thousands of mourners - great and small, rich and poor, cardinals, bishops, monarchs, leaders of countries, and the ordinary faithful - attended his funeral in St Peter’s Square, and millions more watched on TV. Thousands of people lined the streets for the journey to his final resting place in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Thousands of pilgrims now visit his tomb daily.
Memorial Masses have been held in churches around the world, where Catholics, other Christians, and followers of other faiths gathered to remember a faithful servant of God, a humble follower of Jesus Christ, a man who listened to the Holy Spirit, an inspiring leader of the Church, and a humanitarian who cared deeply for all people and all creation. I have been struck by the millions upon millions of prayers of intercession - including my own small quotient - that have been raised to heaven asking God to grant Pope Francis eternal rest. Yet I know in faith that our prayers made no difference to God, who from eternity loved
Pope Francis wholly, completely, utterly! Our prayers did not make God love him more, for God already loved him perfectly. The shocking truth is, God would not have loved him less even if he had been a bad pope, a lay person, a follower of another religion, an atheist, or even a moral reprobate!
The scandal of Christianity, revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is that God is love, that God’s trinitarian nature is a communion of love, that God shares God’s prodigal love with all in creation and redemption, that God loves everyone and everything unconditionally: “Your Father in heaven makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Mt 5:45). All - "todos, todos, todos” - as Pope Francis insisted - are equally welcome in God’s Kingdom.
If God is perfect, unchanging, and everlasting faithful love, and our prayers make no difference to God, then why were we moved to pray for Pope Francis? There are two reasons. The first is that while prayer does not change God, prayer changes us. By praying for Pope Francis, we participate in God’s eternal love for him, we are shaped and moulded by the love that God has for Pope Francis, and we are drawn more deeply into loving as God loves. The second is that while our prayer is phrased in terms of God being merciful for whatever may be lacking in Pope Francis’ life, it is more a recognition of the gifts embodied by Pope Francis that are lacking in our lives! By praying for Pope Francis, we come to recognise his gifts; we grow in gratitude for all that he has given to the church and the world; we come to imitate more closely his humility, his service, and his commitment to humanity and to the environment. We take on his values, make them our own, and live them out in our lives.
Given that prayer will change us and make us more like God, and better “missionary disciples” more like Pope Francis, let us pray more fervently: God, be merciful to your servant, Pope Francis, and grant him eternal rest.
Rev Dr Patrick McInerney
Regional Director of Oceania
directoroceania@columban.org.au
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