The Pope's special prayer for anonymous victims of the pandemic

In the Mass at Santa Marta, Francesco thinks of those who died as a result of Covid-19, praying in particular for the nameless dead, buried in mass graves. In his homily, he recalled that announcing Jesus is not proselytizing but witnessing to faith with one's own life and praying to the Father to draw people to the Son

Francis presided over Mass at Casa Santa Marta on Thursday of the third week of Easter. In the introduction he addressed his thoughts to the victims of the new coronavirus:

Let us pray today for the deceased, those who died from the pandemic; and also especially for the deceased - let's say - anonymous: we have seen the photographs of the mass graves. Many …

In the homily, the Pope comments on today's passage from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 8, 26-40) which recounts Philip's meeting with an Eunian Echoes, an official of Candàce, eager to understand who was described by the prophet Isaiah: " Like a sheep he was led to the slaughterhouse. " After Philip explains that it is Jesus, the Ethiopian is baptized.

It is the Father - affirms Francis recalling today's Gospel (Jn 6, 44-51) - that attracts the knowledge of the Son: without this intervention one cannot know the mystery of Christ. This is what happened to the Ethiopian official, who in reading the prophet Isaiah had a restlessness put in his heart by the Father. This - the Pope observes - also applies to the mission: we do not convert anyone, it is the Father who attracts. We can simply give a testimony of faith. The Father attracts through the testimony of faith. It is necessary to pray that the Father will draw people to Jesus: testimony and prayer are necessary. Without witness and prayer you can make a beautiful moral sermon, many good things, but the Father will not have the opportunity to attract people to Jesus. And this is the center of our apostolate: that the Father can attract Jesus. Our testimony opens the doors to people and our prayer opens the doors to the heart of the Father to attract people. Testimony and prayer. And this is not only for the missions, it is also for our work as Christians. Let us ask ourselves: do I testify with my lifestyle, do I pray that the Father will draw people to Jesus? Going on a mission is not proselytizing, it is testifying. We do not convert anyone, it is God who touches people's hearts. We ask the Lord - it is the Pope's final prayer - for the grace to live our work with testimony and prayer so that he can draw people to Jesus.

Vatican source Vatican official source