Pope Leo XIV during Angelus (@Vatican Media)
Pope at Angelus: Remembering the dead brings hope to the
future
During his Angelus on the Commemoration of All the Faithful
Departed, Pope Leo XIV reflects on the hope of the resurrection and the
importance of remembering those who have gone before us.
Vatican News
Addressing the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square on
Sunday, Pope Leo XIV reflected on the meaning of the first few days of
November, when the Church marks the Solemnity of All Saints and the
Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. The Pope said that in these days,
“the resurrection of the crucified Jesus from the dead sheds light on the destiny
of each one of us.”
Quoting the Gospel of John, he recalled Jesus’ words when he
said: “This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all
that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day”.
Reflecting on these words, the Pope emphasised that “the
focus of God’s concerns is clear,” and that is, “that no one should perish
forever and that everyone should have their own place and radiate their unique
beauty.”
A communion that unites differences
Recalling the previous day's celebration of All Saints, Pope
Leo described it as “a communion of differences that, so to speak, extends
God’s life to all his daughters and sons who wish to share in it.” Every human
being, he said, carries a desire “for recognition, attention and joy.” Quoting
Pope Benedict XVI’s Spe Salvi, he added that the expression
“eternal life” gives a name to this longing. “not a succession of time without
end", he added, "but being so immersed in an ocean of infinite love
that time, before, and after no longer exist.”
“This fullness of life and joy in Christ,” Pope Leo
continued, “is what we hope for and await with all our being.”
Remembering those who have gone before us
The Holy Father then turned to the Commemoration of All
Souls, being celebrated on the day, noting how “each time that death seems
definitively to take away a voice, a face or an entire world, interiorly we
understand God’s concern that no one perish. In fact, each person is an entire
world.”
He reflected on the importance of memory, calling it “so
precious and yet so fragile.” Without the memory of Jesus - “of his life, death
and resurrection" - he said, “the immense treasure of daily life risks
being forgotten.” Yet in Christ, he continued, “even those whom no one
remembers, or whom history seems to have erased, always remain in their
infinite dignity.”
A hope that looks forward
Pope Leo then went on to remind the faithful gathered that
Christians have always remembered the deceased in the Eucharist, “asking that
those dear to them be remembered in the Eucharistic Prayer.” From this, he
said, “arises the hope that no one will perish.”
He invited the faithful to let visits to cemeteries become
moments of “silence that interrupts the hustle and bustle of life,” urging them
to remember and to wait in hope. “As we say in the Creed: ‘I look forward to
the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.’”
“Let us commemorate, therefore, the future,” Pope Leo
concluded, “for we are not enclosed in the past or in sentimental tears of
nostalgia. Neither are we sealed within the present, as in a tomb.”
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