Pope Leo’s homily at Holy Mass for the suffrage of the
Cardinals and Bishops who died during the year
Papal Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica – Thursday, 5 November 2026
First Reading 2 Maccabees 12:43-46
43Judas Maccabees took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. 44 For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead.
45 But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.
Second Reading: John 14:2-3
In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
Gospel: John 12:22-28
At that time Jesus said to his disciples,
“The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say?
‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify thy name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
Pope Leo’s Homily,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
“If anyone wants to serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also”
These words of Jesus challenge us, calling us to follow him on his path, the way of glory through the cross.
Along this path, on which trials and sufferings are inevitable, but we are guided and sustained by a promise: that of a communion over which death has no power.
Those who follow Christ, in fact, become his servants and will always be where he is, precisely because he has paved the way.
This is why St. Paul says: “If we die with him, we shall also live with him” (2 Timothy 2:11).
Dear friends,
This faith and hope animates our celebration in suffrage of the cardinals and bishops who left us during the past year.
We pray that the Lord will reward his faithful servants.
Our prayerful remembrance invites us to reflect on the spiritual value of remembrance.
Shortly before her death, St. Monica said goodbye to her sons, Augustine and Navigio.
“I beg you of one thing only: remember me, wherever you are, before the altar of the Lord”
(St. Augustine, Confessions, IX, 11, 27).
The mystery of death is connected to the Church’s practice of praying for the dead, which she has always considered one of her fundamental duties.
In light of the Word of God, we can briefly meditate on two truths that shed light on our suffering: the hope of resurrection and the communion of saints.
The account of Judas Maccabeus that we heard in the first reading helps us to reflect on the resurrection.
After some of his companions who had been guilty of idolatry fell in battle, Judas entrusted them to God’s mercy and offered an expiatory sacrifice for them so that they might be absolved of their sins.
This gesture is based on the belief that the communion we share on earth, despite its limitations and faults, will not falter if placed in God’s hands.
Thus, the testimony of the Maccabees becomes an anticipation of the fullness found in the Christian liturgy.
In fact, remembering our deceased brothers and sisters at the altar of the Lord is based on the promise that our life in Christ will not be lost because it has been redeemed.
Judas’s gesture is, above all, an act of faith because he offers his sacrifice with firm confidence that the dead will be raised. (2 Maccabees 12:44).
In the light of Jesus, the author of resurrection, we pray for our dead by virtue of the great hope given to us in the Paschal Mystery.
If there were no resurrection, as Scripture emphasizes, it would be in vain to pray for the dead. (2 Maccabees 12:44).
The Apostle Paul himself warns with heartfelt zeal: “If there is no resurrection from the dead, neither is Christ raised! But if Christ is not raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain”. (1 Corinthians 15:13-14).
Dear friends, Praying for the dead is a celebration of life!
First, there is the risen life of Christ the Lord, and by his grace, our own life rises in him. The Eucharistic sacrifice is the memorial of his Passover, through which he saved us by sacrificing himself for us.
Therefore, let us not allow the memory of the deceased to be reduced to mere nostalgia.
With faith, let us meditate on the mystery of death without fear because the Lord is alive and waiting for us. He has already prepared a place for us in his Father’s house.
(2nd reading: John 14:2-3)
The Church celebrates this act of entrustment and hope in the communion of saints. When we pray for the dead, we pray with them as well as for them, participating in a reciprocity that the Holy Spirit inspires in our hearts
The Church is a mystery of communion between Christ, the Head, and his members. From him, we receive life.
This communion unites blessed spirits who contemplate God’s face and those on their way to this luminous goal, whether in heaven or on earth.
Dear friends,
In Christ, Death does not dissolve our bonds because bonds are permanent and unbreakable. Rather, it transfigures them into a new dimension.
This dimension is only understood in the mystery of his love, which was given to the end on the cross and poured out after the Paschal victory.
Therefore, by welcoming the charity of the risen Lord in the Holy Eucharist, let us always preserve and cultivate this communion on our journey.
When our hour comes, may we receive the suffrage of our brothers and sisters still on pilgrimage and rejoice with all the saints in the joy of our heavenly homeland.