Dear People of God,
During his more than five weeks in the hospital, we watched the daily updates on Pope Francis’ health, praying for him as his condition was described as “worsening” and “critical.” The Holy Father’s illness gave us pause to reflect upon our own aging and the frailty that might accompany it.
Anyone who is older and dealing with health issues knows that recovery can be challenging, often taking longer than they’d like. It is a process filled with uncertainty. Even now, as Pope Francis continues to recover at home, he is dealing with a regimen of oxygen treatments, physical therapy and medication. Like others dealing with illness, he may be asking his doctors, “Will I be OK?”
The Holy Father’s illness was well publicized, as was the prayerful way he grappled with it. He made us acutely aware of the effects of aging and the obstacles that can accompany it. In doing so, he gave powerful witness in responding to Jesus’ call to take up our cross and follow him.
The sorrow, fear and anxiety we experienced regarding the pope’s illness is a contrast to the Church’s message during the Easter season which is a message of new life, resurrection and rejuvenation.
This contrast is compelling as it exemplifies what humanity experiences. We regularly deal with challenges – when we are at our weakest, when we feel we have reached our limit, when confronted with loss, frailty and illness in our own lives, as well as in the lives of those we know and love.
Yet, while those dark days may envelop us, the message of Easter is always there, too. In the midst of the human condition, with all of its problems and trials, our lives are continually guided and fortified in knowing that we are accompanied by our Risen Lord.
How providential that Pope Francis would declare this Jubilee Year to be a Year of Hope, quoting St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans: “Hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5).
In announcing the Year of Hope on May 9, 2024, our Holy Father stated: “Everyone knows what it is to hope. In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring [Emphasis added]. Even so, uncertainty about the future may at times give rise to conflicting feelings, ranging from confident trust to apprehensiveness, from serenity to anxiety, from firm conviction to hesitation and doubt” (“Spes non confundit”).
Hope is what sustained Pope Francis during his illness and continues to sustain him in his recovery. Hope is what sustains us. Throughout the Sacred Triduum and into the Easter season, we are reminded that in the human condition, hope accompanies us and we are invited to renew our accompaniment with Our Lord. That hope is found in the Resurrection; it transforms our darkest days into the new life we find in the glory of our Risen Lord.
In this Easter season, recall in the Letter to the Hebrews that we “… hold fast to the hope that lies before us. This we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm” (Heb 6:18-19).
Rejoice in the new life we celebrate and allow the hope we find in our Risen Lord to sustain us in whatever challenges we endure.
May you have a blessed – and hope-filled – Easter season!
Yours in Christ,
Most Rev. Barry C. Knestout
Bishop of Richmond