A Wound Full of Hope: Remembering Those Who Have Gone Before Us

There is a mysterious solidarity in Christ between those who have already passed to the other life and we pilgrims in this one: our deceased loved ones continue to take care of us from Heaven. They pray for us, and we pray for them and we pray with them. --Pope Francis Thinking about death is part of embracing the full mystery of life. Death has always been with us and accompanies us, even though we may not realize it. In this book of prayers meant to accompany that loss, Pope Francis reminds us of the need to confront ourselves, each of us, with the horizon of our own death. The words of Pope Francis about our dear ones passed away are accompanied by images taken during his visits and apostolic journeys. It is impossible to live without others. The loss of our loved ones will continue to hurt us until the end. And until the end, we will continue to elaborate this emptiness inwardly, which we will then discover to be not only emptiness but also superabundance, companionship, even a mysterious form of communion. Pope Francis challenges us in these pages to look twice within the experience of mourning, looking at the wound within us that is caused by the death of those we love, but at the same time, to always look up and look beyond.+