Pope Francis remembers death and why it should not be feared

Pope Says He Keeps Track of Death Anniversaries as Reminder Time Is Passing

At Casa Santa Marta, says death isn’t to be feared if we try to be faithful

November 22, 2016Kathleen NaabPope's Morning Homily

© PHOTO.VA - Osservatore Romano

Pope Francis today dedicated his homily at morning Mass in the Casa Santa Marta to a reflection on death.
Taking his cue from the day’s reading from the book of Revelation, the Pope’s homily focused on the reality of how all of us will face Jesus on the day of judgement, Vatican Radio reported.
The Holy Father acknowledged that death is not something we like to think about, but is a reality we all face. He said he keeps a diary in which he notes the date of a person’s death, so that as each year passes and he sees the anniversary, he reflects on how time has passed.
The Pope said this obliges us to think about what we’ll leave behind: “We’d do well to think: ‘But what will the day be like when I will be in front of Jesus? When He asks me about the talents that he gave me, what use I made of them, when He will ask me: how was my heart when the seed was dropped, like a path or like thorns: that Parable of the Kingdom of God. How did I receive His Word? With an open heart?  Did I make it germinate for the good of all or in secret?’”
Pope Francis quoted from the Gospel reading that warns Christians not to be deceived. And the deception being spoken about, he explained, is alienation, estrangement, the deception of superficial things that do not have transcendence, the deception of “living as though we never had to die.” When the Lord comes, the Pope asked, “how will he find me?  Waiting for Him or in the midst of the many ‘alienations’ of life?”
“I remember as a child, when we went to catechism we were taught four things: death, judgement, hell or glory.  After the judgement there is this possibility. ‘But Father, this is to frighten us…’ ‘No, this is the truth because if you do not take care of your heart, because the Lord is with you and (if) you always live estranged from the Lord, perhaps there is the danger, the danger of continuing to live estranged in this way from the Lord for eternity.’ And this is a terrible thing!”
Pope Francis concluded his homily by urging his listeners to think about their day of judgement and how they will fare but not to fear that moment because the Lord tells us, “remain faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life.”
“Fidelity to the Lord does not disappoint. If each one of us is faithful to the Lord, when death comes, we will say like Francis (of Assisi) ‘come sister death…’ we won’t be afraid. And when the day of judgement comes, we will look at the Lord: ‘Lord I have many sins but I have tried to be faithful.’ And our Lord is good.  I give you this advice: ‘be faithful until death – said the Lord – and I will give you the crown of life.’ With this fidelity we won’t be afraid of death, when we die we won’t be afraid of the day of judgement.”