At the morning Mass in St. Martha’s House on Monday, March 14, Pope Francis talked about the people who get sick in Italy’s “Terra dei Fuochi” (Land of Fires), the homeless person who died of cold in Rome without even a final comforting embrace, the nuns killed in Yemen and the migrants who find doors slammed shut. The only answer to these tragedies is to trust in the Lord.
People who fall sick in Italy’s “Terra dei Fuochi” (Land of Fires). The homeless person who died of cold in Rome without even receiving “a caress” before dying. The Missionary sisters of Charity who were killed in Yemen. Doors slammed in the faces of refugees. These were the heartbreaking current issues Francis talked about in today’s mass in St. Martha’s House,” Vatican Radio reports. As we are forced to face these “dark valleys” of our time, he said, the only answer is to trust in God. Even when we find something hard to understand, such as the death of a child as a result of a rare disease, “let us put ourselves in the hands of the Lord who never abandons His people”.
Francis took his cue from the Book of Daniel to underline that when we find ourselves walking in a “valley of darkness” we need not fear evil. The passage talks about Susanna, a just woman who is “soiled” by the “evil desire” of two judges, but chooses to trust in God rather than succumb to their wish.
The Lord, the Pope said, always walks with us, loves us and does not abandon us. And he turned his attention to some of the many “dark valleys” of our time: “When we look at the many dark valleys, at the many misfortunes, at the fact there are so many people dying of hunger, there is war, there are so many children with disabilities… and asking their parents we discover they suffer from something called a ‘rare disease’… And the things we create ourselves: think of the cancers caused by the “triangle of death”… When you look at all this you ask: ‘where is the Lord’, ‘where are you?’ ‘Are you walking with me?’ This was Susanna’s sentiment. And it is ours too. Look at those four slain sisters of ours: they were serving with love; they ended up murdered in hatred! When you see that doors are being closed to refugees who are left out in the cold… you say: ‘Lord, where are You?’”
“How can I entrust myself to God - the Pope said – when I see all these things? And when things happen to me, each of us may say: how can I entrust myself to You?” There is an answer to this question, he continued, “but it cannot be explained”: “Why does a child suffer? I do not know: it is a mystery to me” the Pope said. “And recalling Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane the Pope pointed out that although he is suffering he trusts in the Father and knows that all will not end with death, with the cross. Pope Francis pointed out that Jesus’ last words before dying on the cross were ‘Father into your hands I commend my spirit’ and said: “To trust in God who walks with me, walks with His people, walks with the Church: this is an act of faith. To entrust myself. I cannot explain it, but I place myself in Your hands. You know why”.
And this, he said, is the teaching of Jesus: “he who entrusts himself to the Lord our Shepherd, shall lack nothing”. Even if he finds himself going through the darkest of valleys, Pope Francis said “he knows that the suffering is only of the moment and that the Lord is with him: “Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me”. This – Pope Francis said - is a grace that we must ask for: “Lord, teach me to place myself in your hands, to trust in Your guidance, even in bad times, in the darkest moments, in the moment of death”.
“We would do well, today,” Francis concluded, “to think about our lives, about the problems we have, and ask for the grace to place ourselves into the hands of the Lord. Think of the many men and women who do not even receive a last caress before dying. Three days ago a homeless person died here, on the street: he died of cold. In the middle of Rome, a city that has all the possibilities of providing assistance. Why, Lord? Not even a caress ... But I entrust myself to You because You never let me down. Lord, I do not understand you. This is a beautiful prayer. Without understanding, I place myself in Your hands”.
