Pope Francis: At the end of a pandemic year, 'we praise you, God'

Pope Francis explained on Thursday why the Catholic Church gives thanks to God at the end of a calendar year, even years that have been marked by tragedy, such as the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.

In a homily read by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re on December 31, Pope Francis said “this evening we give space to thanks for the year that is drawing to a close. 'We praise you, God, we proclaim you Lord ...' "

Cardinal Re gave the Pope's homily in the liturgy of the First Vatican Vespers in St. Peter's Basilica. Vespers, also known as Vespers, are part of the Liturgy of the Hours.

Due to sciatic pain, Pope Francis did not participate in the prayer service, which included Eucharistic adoration and blessing, and the singing of the “Te Deum”, a Latin hymn of thanksgiving from the early Church.

“It might seem obligatory, almost jarring, to thank God at the end of a year like this, marked by the pandemic,” Francis said in his homily.

“We think of families who have lost one or more members, those who have been sick, those who have suffered from loneliness, those who have lost their jobs…” he added. "Sometimes someone asks: what's the point of a tragedy like this?"

The pope said that we should not be in a hurry to answer this question, because not even God answers our most distressing "whys" by resorting to "better reasons" ".

“God's response”, he affirmed, “follows the path of the Incarnation, as the antiphon to the Magnificat will soon sing:“ For the great love with which he loved us, God sent his Son in the flesh of sin “.

The first Vespers were recited in the Vatican in anticipation of the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, on January 1st.

“God is father, 'Eternal Father', and if his Son became man, it is because of the immense compassion of the Father's heart. God is a shepherd, and which shepherd would give up even one sheep, thinking that in the meantime he has many more left? ”Continued the pope.

He added: “No, this cynical and ruthless god does not exist. This is not the God we 'praise' and 'proclaim Lord' ".

Francis pointed to the example of the compassion of the Good Samaritan as a way to "make sense" of the tragedy of the coronavirus pandemic, which he said had the effect of "arousing compassion in us and provoking attitudes and gestures of closeness, care , solidarity. "

Noting that many people selflessly served others during the difficult year, the pope said that “with their daily commitment, animated by love for their neighbor, they have fulfilled those words of the hymn Te Deum: 'Every day we bless you , we praise your name forever. "Because the blessing and praise that pleases God most is brotherly love".

Those good works “cannot happen without grace, without God's mercy,” he explained. “For this we praise him, because we believe and know that all the good that is done day by day on earth comes, in the end, from him. And looking to the future that awaits us, we implore again: 'May your mercy always be with us, in you we have hoped' "