In his homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis explained that thinking about death does not have to be a bad experience.
POPE FRANCIS
“When we die, we will meet the Lord – this is the beauty of death, it will be an encounter with the Lord. It will be Him who comes to our encounter. It is Him saying, 'Come, come, you are blessed by My Father, come with me.'”
Finally, the pope also invited Christians to stop for a moment and think about their moment of death, in order to value what they have in life.
EXTRACTS FROM THE PAPAL HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio)
“The Church, our Mother, wants us to take time to consider our own death. We are all used to the routine of daily life. We think things will never change. But the day will come when we will be called by the Lord. For some it will be unexpected; for others it might come after a long illness – but the call will come. Then there will be another surprise from the Lord: eternal life.
This is why the Church asks us to pause for a moment, take a moment to think about death. We should not become accustomed to earthly life, as though it were eternity. A day will come, echoing the words of Jesus in the Gospel, when you will be taken away to go with the Lord. And so it is good to reflect upon the end of our life.
Thinking about death is not a gruesome fantasy. Whether it is gruesome or not depends on me, and how I think about it – but what will be, will be. When we die, we will meet the Lord – this is the beauty of death, it will be an encounter with the Lord, it is Him coming to meet you, saying, “Come, come, [you who are] blessed by My Father, come with me.”
