Shrewsbury Cathedral, 4th January 2023
We know Pope Benedict’s last words before dying were: “Jesus, I love You.” A final response to the question asked of the disciple called to be Peter, ‘The Rock’ on which the Church is built. Three times Peter is asked “Simon son of John do you love me” [i]. In affirming his love for Christ, Peter was called to become a true pastor “Feed my lambs, feed my sheep” [ii].
Across 95 years, Joseph Ratzinger who became Pope Benedict, sought to make this same response of a disciple and pastor: “Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you” [iii]. As a youngster in Nazi Germany in the face of ridicule and threat, he openly expressed his desire to give his life to Christ in the Catholic Priesthood. The same declaration of love is found in the brilliance of his work as one of the great minds and foremost theologians of the past century, seeking to be true to the Church’s living tradition – not to be old-fashioned, rather to be faithful to all the Church received from Christ her Lord. This same affirmation of love echoed when unexpectedly called from the academic world to become the bishop of one of the largest dioceses in Germany; and the same words repeated when called to Rome to become one of the closest co-workers of Pope Saint John Paul II. Finally, in failing health and in his 78th year, he responded with the same love to the heaviest responsibility he would bear by becoming a Holy Father for us all. In the life of Pope Benedict, we witnessed a life inspired by Love.
Each Pope of the modern era has set out his priorities in a first letter to the Church. Pope Benedict’s first letter was entitled “Deus Caritas Est” – “God is Love.” He recalled the words of the Apostle John “We have come to believe in love” and reflected “In these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life” [iv]. Here we glimpse the faith and love which inspired Pope Benedict’s life and service when he explains: “Whoever loves Christ loves the Church and desires the Church to be increasingly the image and the instrument of the love which flows from Christ” [v].
Pope Benedict sought to be faithful to the love of Christ. Yet, like us all he knew he fell short through his sins. And so, we must pray for him in the hour of death as we pray and intercede for each other. Pope Benedict spoke of the hope that our love might finally be purified, the hope we call ‘purgatory.’ In his second letter to the Church “Spe Salvi” – “Saved by Hope” he describes our final encounter with Christ, Judge and Saviour, as the moment when, “The holy power of his love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God … His gaze, the touch of his heart heals us … The pain of love becomes our salvation and our joy” [vi].
May this be true of the gentle soul of a man who sought to love Christ on earth in all that was asked of him. Together with Blessed Mary, Saint Joseph and Saint Benedict, his patrons and all the Saints, may he now be forever united with Christ in a love which knows no end.
“Eternal Rest …”
[i] Jn. 21: 16
[ii] Jn. 21: 16 & 17
[iii] Jn. 21: 17
[iv] Deus Caritas Est No. 1
[v] Deus Caritas Est No.33
[vi] Spes Salvi No. 47