Homily of Cardinal Pietro Parolin on the second day of novelty for the death of Pope Francis

This II Easter Sunday, Domingo de la Divina Misericordia, Cardinal Pietro Parolin presided over the celebration of Mass on the second day of the “novelty”, a period of nine days of mourning for the death of Pope Francis.

The Mass was also framed in the jubilee of adolescents, which brought together tens of thousands of young people in Rome.

Next, the full text of the homily pronounced by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, diffused by the press office of the Holy See:

Dear brothers and sisters:

Jesus resurrected appears before his disciples, while they are in the Cenacle where they have been locked out of fear, porn the doors (Jn 20,19). His mood is disturbed and his heart sunk in sadness, because the teacher and pastor who had continued to leave everything, was nailed to the cross. They lived terrible things and feel orphans, alone, lost, threatened and helpless.

The initial image that the Gospel offers us this Sunday can represent the mood of all of us, of the Church and the entire world. The pastor that the Lord donated to his people, Pope Francis, ended his earthly life and has left us. The pain of his departure, the sense of sadness that seizes us, the embarrassment that we perceive in the heart, the feeling of loss, all this we are living, such as the apostles upheld by the death of Jesus.

And yet, the Gospel tells us that precisely in these moments of darkness the Lord appears before us with the light of the resurrection, to illuminate our hearts. Pope Francis has reminded us since his choice and has repeated him frequently, putting in the center of his pontificate that joy of the gospel that – as he wrote in Evangelii Gaudium – “fills the heart and the whole life of those who meet Jesus. Those who let themselves be saved by him are released from sin, sadness, inner vacuum, isolation. With Jesus Christ, joy is always born and reborn ”(n. 1).

The Easter joy, which supports us at the time of test and sadness, is something that can almost be played in this square; We see it printed above all in your faces, dear boys and adolescents who have come from all over the world to celebrate the jubilee. They come from many parts: from all the dioceses of Italy, of Europe, of the United States, Latin America, Africa, Asia, Arab Emirates, etc., with you the entire world really present. He addresses a special greeting, with the desire to make you feel the hug of the Church and the affection of Pope Francis, who would have wished to find them, looking at them in the eye, and passing among you to greet you.

Given the numerous challenges that are called to face – I remember, for example, that of artificial technology and intelligence that characterizes our era in particular – never forget to feed their life with true hope, which has the face of Jesus Christ. Nothing will be too big or too hard with him. With him they will never be alone or abandoned, not even in the toughest moments. He comes to meet you wherever you are, to give you the courage to live, to share their experiences, their thoughts, their gifts, their dreams, to see in the face of who is close or far a brother and a sister whom to love, to whom we have so much to give and of those we have so much to receive, to help them be generous, faithful and responsible in the life that awaits them, to make them understand what really has value in life: Wait for everything (cf. 1 CO 13.7).

Today, Second Easter Sunday, Domingo In Albis, we celebrate the Festival of Mercy. Precisely the mercy of the Father, bigger than our limits and that our calculations, is what has characterized the teaching of Pope Francis and his intense apostolic activity, together with the desire to announce and share it with everyone – the announcement of the good news, the evangelization – which was the program of his pontificate. He reminded us that “mercy” is the very name of God and, therefore, no one can put a limit to his merciful love, with which he wants to get up again and make us new people.

It is important to host this indication on which Pope Francis insisted as a precious treasure. And – let me say – our affection for him, which is being manifested in these hours, should not remain as a simple emotion of the moment, we must host his inheritance and make life, opening ourselves to the mercy of God and being also merciful to each other.

Mercy transports us to the heart of faith. It reminds us that we should not interpret our relationship with God and our Church according to human or mundane categories, because the good news of the Gospel is above all to discover us loved by a God who has entrails of compassion and tenderness for each of us regardless of our merits; It also reminds us that our life is woven by mercy. We can get up after falling and looking at the future only if we have someone who loves us without limits and forgives us. And, therefore, we are asked to commit ourselves not to live our relationships according to criteria of convenience or blinded by selfishness, but opening to dialogue with the other, welcoming who we find on the way and forgiving their weaknesses and their mistakes. Only healthy mercy and creates a new world, turning off the fires of distrust, hate and violence. This is the great teaching of Pope Francis.

Jesus shows us this merciful face of God in his preaching and in the gestures he performs; And, as we have heard, presenting in the Cenacle after the resurrection, offers the gift of peace and says: “The sins will be forgiven to those who forgive them, and will be retained to those who retain them” (Jn 20,23). Thus, the risen Lord establishes that his disciples, his Church, are instruments of mercy for humanity, for those who wish to welcome the love and forgiveness of God. Pope Francis was a luminous witness of a church that leans tenderly towards who is injured and healthy with the balm of mercy; And he reminded us that there can be no peace without recognizing the value of the other, without the attention to the one who is weaker and, above all, there can never be peace if we do not learn to forgive ourselves reciprocally, using among us the same mercy that God has for our life.

Brothers and sisters, precisely in Misericordia Sunday we remember with affection our beloved Pope Francis. This memory is particularly alive among the employees and faithful of the city of the Vatican, many of whom are here, I want to thank the service they perform every day. To you, to all of us, to the entire world, Pope Francis sends us his hug from heaven.

We entrust ourselves to the blessed Virgin Mary, to which he was so devotedly united that he has chosen to rest in the Basilica of Santa María la Mayor. That she protects us, intercede for us, watch over the Church, and hold the path of humanity in peace and fraternity. Amen.