{"id":17582,"date":"2017-01-04T11:59:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-04T11:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/there-are-no-words-for-the-loss-of-a-child-but-there-is-still-hope-pope-says-35768\/"},"modified":"2017-01-04T11:59:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-04T11:59:00","slug":"there-are-no-words-for-the-loss-of-a-child-but-there-is-still-hope-pope-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/there-are-no-words-for-the-loss-of-a-child-but-there-is-still-hope-pope-says\/","title":{"rendered":"There are no words for the loss of a child, but there is still hope, Pope says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Vatican City, Jan 4, 2017 \/ 04:59 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- While no words or gestures will ever be enough to comfort the pain experienced by those who have lost a child, Pope Francis said that God\u2019s response to our tears is the offer of hope \u2013 hope in the promise of eternal life.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the Old Testament figure of Rachel, who in the Book of Jeremiah is weeping \u201cfor her children \u2013 they are no more!\u201d the Pope focused his Jan. 4 general audience on God\u2019s response to her mourning.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod, with his gentleness and his love, responds to the cry of Rachel with real words\u201d through the Prophet Jeremiah, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCease your cries of weeping, hold back your tears! There is compensation for your labor,\u201d Jeremiah writes. \u201cThey shall return from the enemy\u2019s land. There is hope for your future\u2026your children shall return to their own land.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pain of Rachel in the loss of her children \u201cembodies the pain of all mothers of all time, and the tears of every human being who cries for irreparable losses,\u201d the Pope said.<\/p>\n

Rachel\u2019s refusal to be consoled, Francis said, shows the \u201cdepth of her pain \u2013 a pain in proportion to the love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery mother knows all this; and there are many, even today, mothers who weep, who are not resigned to the loss of a child, inconsolable before a death impossible to accept.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francis said the figure of Rachel teaches us how to respond to those who have or are experiencing similar pain, stressing that if we want to bring hope, we must approach these people gently, uniting our tears to theirs.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo speak of hope to those who are desperate, one needs to share their desperation,\u201d he said, adding that \u201conly in this way can our words truly be capable of giving a little bit of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, in St. Matthew\u2019s Gospel the Evangelist uses this text in reference to the massacre of the Holy Innocents, Pope Francis said, explaining that it is a text that puts us right \u201cin front of the tragedy of the killing of defenseless human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in the New Testament when Jesus dies on the cross, death is conquered and Jeremiah\u2019s prophecy fulfilled. \u201cEven the tears of Mary, like those of Rachel, have generated hope and new life\u201d in this instance, the Pope said in conclusion.<\/p>\n

At the end of the audience, Francis asked attendees to pray for victims of a Jan. 1 prison riot in Brazil that left 56 people dead. The fight erupted between two rival gangs at the overcrowded prison in Manaus and lasted for around 17 hours, according to the BBC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI invite you to pray for the deceased, for their families, for all inmates of that prison and for those who work there,\u201d Pope Francis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI renew my appeal so that penitential institutions would be places of rehabilitation and social reintegration, and that the living conditions of the inmates are worthy of human people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue of poor living conditions and overcrowding in prisons has been a recurrent topic during Pope Francis\u2019 pontificate. He commonly makes visits to prisons during international trips, and his first Holy Thursday as Pope was spent visiting a youth prison in Rome.<\/p>\n

More recently, in November 2016, he hosted a special audience for prisoners during right before the close of his Jubilee of Mercy.<\/p>\n

The Pope closed his appeal by turning to Mary, Mother of Prisoners, and invited attendees to pray \u201cfor these prisoners, living and dead, and also for all prisoners in the world, so that prisons can be for rehabilitation, and not overcrowded, that they are places of reintegration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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