«We are neither eternal nor ephemeral: we are men and women on the way in time, time that begins and time that ends».
Homily of Pope Francis at the Mass celebrated in Santa Marta on Thursday, February 1, 2018, and reported in Vatican News.
The Holy Father has confronted the thought of death that «saves us from the illusion of being owners of time». In this sense, Francisco has pointed out that «Death is a fact, death is an inheritance and death is a memory».
In his homily, the Pope was inspired by the passage of the First Book of Kings, which addresses the theme of David’s death, Pope Francis invited the assembly to «pray and ask for the grace of the sense of time» so as not to remain «imprisoned» for the present moment, «locked in themselves». «Death is a fact that concerns everyone – the Pontiff recalled – and said that» sooner or later it arrives «.
«The road ends in death»
«But there is the temptation of the moment that takes over life and leads you to go spinning in this selfish labyrinth of the moment without a future, always round trip, back and forth, right? And the road ends in death, we all know it. For this reason the Church has always tried to make us reflect on this end of ours: death, right? «, The Pontiff commented.
«I am not the owner of time, repeating this helps» -the Pope has recommended- because «it saves us from that illusion of the moment, from taking life as a chain of links of moments, which does not make sense».
«I am on the way and I must look forward», but I must also consider that «death is an inheritance», not the material inheritance, but the heritage of the testimony, said Francisco.
