Continuing his catechesis on Christian hope during his general weekly audience this morning, the Holy Father spoke about hope and death. “These are two things that we may forget to associate with each other, reported Ashley Noronha, Relevant Radio Rome Correspondent, on Morning Air^®.

It’s that old saying of ‘everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die’, she chuckled.

Pope Francis ‘reminded us that death is a reality in our world, yet we’re often unprepared to face it. So we have to remember that there is something out there that is greater than ourselves and we will be called at the end of our lives and it’s okay to mourn,” says Noronha.

“He talked about Jesus’ reaction to Lazarus’ death. What did Jesus do? He wept and He also prayed,” she said. This is where our hope comes from. “Jesus is our hope – He’s come to heal us, He’s come to save us from death.” We find hope in the fact that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Light.

It is natural to mourn and endure sorrow and grief when someone dies, yet we are still called to have faith in Christ. We know that He remains close to us in our grief, and that gives us hope. “The Holy Father reminded us that one day when we, too, face death, we will hear Jesus’ voice and He will say, ‘Arise!’”

John Harper, host of Morning Air, says there is so much hope found in Mark 5:41, in which Christ gives the command, “I say to you, arise!”

“When we are confronted with death, which is a mystery, we must keep that flame alight, knowing and counting on hearing those words from Christ,” says Noronha.

Listen to the segment here:

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