Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Peace and wellbeing to you and your families!
Today, we have received the sad news of the passing of our beloved Holy Father, Pope Francis. Let us, in our local Church, yet united with all believers around the world as the Body of Christ, lift up our prayers for his eternal rest. This holy man of God, successor to the throne of St. Peter, is now in the arms of our Lord, whom he loved so dearly. In the days to come we will continue to pray for our Pope Francis, and we will reflect on his beautiful legacy as the shepherd of our Universal Church. He called us to go out to the margins of society to listen to the wounded ones, the poor and disenfranchised, to welcome all of them in the Church. Among many other things, he alerted us in a special way through his encyclical letter Laudato Si to the perilous condition of the earth and our responsibility to care for all of God’s creation. The papacy of Pope Francis was marked by his humility. He truly modeled the servant leadership of the Lord Jesus. In reintroducing the idea of Synodality to the Church, he invited us to listen to one another, and to journey together, sharing in the leadership and mission of the Church. He was a free man who was not afraid to speak to us plainly about the need to change old processes, systems and thought patterns that he believed had taken us away from the Gospel. We give thanks to God for the fresh and revolutionary spirit of our Holy father Pope Francis!
Now is also a time for us to lift up our prayers for our Mother Church and for those in the Conclave who will soon begin the sacred process of electing our next shepherd. We trust in the wisdom and the providence of the Holy Spirit, who has always guided us in these moments of mourning and uncertainty.
Eternal rest grant unto Him O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in Peace. Amen!
