VATICAN CITY (CNS) The death of a loved one brings pain and sadness, but Christians believe their loved ones will have eternal life in Jesus Christ and that they will be united again with them in heaven, Pope Benedict XVI said. Celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Nov. 3 in memory of the 10 cardinals and 103 bishops who had died in the past year, Pope Benedict ended three days of commemorations of "those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith."
Marking the Nov. 1 feast of All Saints, the pope said just as God has created thousands of different kinds of beautiful plants and flowers, so has he given the world male and female saints, young and old, from every race and culture.
The beauty of the saints, he said during his noon Angelus address, should lead to a desire in every Christian heart to be like them and to spend eternity in their company.
Reciting the Angelus publicly again Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls, Pope Benedict said, "It is very important that we Christians live our relationship with the deceased in the truth of faith and see death and the beyond in the light of revelation."
The subjects of death and eternal life are "realities particularly subject to superstitious beliefs," he said without providing examples.
Repeating questions he raised in his 2007 encyclical, "Spe Salvi" (on Christian hope), the pope asked if Christian faith still gives people hope and if they still desire eternal life or think that earthly life is all there is.
While no one knows exactly "what it is or how it will be," eternal life will be like "immersing yourself in the ocean of infinite love where time — a before and an after — no longer exist. Fullness of life and joy: This is what we hope for and expect from our being with Christ," he said.
Celebrating the memorial Mass Nov. 3 for the cardinals and bishops who died in the last year, Pope Benedict said the hope that they will enjoy eternal life in heaven is not based on their age or wisdom or achievements, but on the fact that they dedicated themselves to Christ and to serving others.
"The world gives credit to the ‘wise’ and ‘talented,’ while God shows special favor to the little ones," he said.
The eternal life of each person is not something that begins with death, but begins with the choices they make in this world, especially the choice to "open ourselves to the mystery of God and welcome him into our midst."
"If, therefore, we are saddened by having them taken from us and missing them still causes pain, faith fills us with a deep comfort knowing that, just as it was for the Lord Jesus and always thanks to him, death no longer has power over them."
The 103 bishops remembered at the papal Mass included six from the United States: Bishops James D. Niedergeses of Nashville, Tenn.; Daniel A. Hart of Norwich, Conn.; Donald W. Montrose of Stockton, Calif.; Charles A. Buswell of Pueblo, Colo.; and Auxiliary Bishops Juan A. Arzube of Los Angeles and Walter Paska of the Ukrainian Archeparchy of Philadelphia.
In preparation for the memorial Mass, Msgr. Guido Marini, the pope’s master of liturgical ceremonies, had the altar in the apse of St. Peter’s Basilica replaced. The memorial Mass traditionally is celebrated at the Altar of the Chair in the apse and not at the main altar above the tomb of St. Peter.
Maria Cristina Stella, spokeswoman for St. Peter’s Basilica, said Msgr. Marini had asked that the 1975 bronze altar be removed and that the 1907 marble and gold altar that had been there previously be returned.
The 1907 altar "is a more traditional form and its iconography blends better with the gold of Bernini’s sculpture of the Chair of St. Peter," she said. The older altar is expected to remain in the basilica permanently.
