Archdiocese remembers Pope Francis at cathedral Mass

Catholics from across the Archdiocese of Chicago gathered at Holy Name Cathedral to remember Pope Francis on April 23, the same day the late pope’s body was carried across St. Peter’s Square into St. Peter’s Basilica for public viewing.

Cardinal Cupich, who celebrated the Mass before making his way to Rome, thanked the congregation that filled the cathedral, those who watched online, guests representing other religious traditions and even the media for coming to recall Pope Francis, who died on the morning of April 21.

He preached his homily on the Scriptures of the day, including the passage from the Gospel of St. Luke that recounts the risen Jesus meeting with two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

What Jesus did — from listening to the disciples before speaking to helping them escape their own self-absorption and leaving them to get on with spreading the Good News —offers a pattern for Francis’ ministry, and a pattern for all Christians, Cardinal Cupich said.

“This is the Jesus who always walked alongside and even ahead of Francis,” he said. “And now that Francis is no longer with us, he would want us to take up this same mission with a palpable sense that Jesus continues to abide with us and invites us to make him present in the world, by being in touch with the realities of peoples’ lives, by drawing them into an encounter with the him that reinterprets and transforms their lives and to send them out on mission, taking the next step forward as individuals and as a church by sharing the joy of the Gospel with the world.”

The key, the cardinal said, is the conversion of the disciples, from focusing on their own sorrow and despair to care for their companion. It is demonstrated in the passage by the two disciples concern for Jesus, inviting him to stay with him rather than continue alone on his road.

“That is true conversion, not just having a change of mind, a cerebral acceptance of a particular teaching but one that makes us more human, move loving, less self-centered,” Cardinal Cupich said.

That leads to the meal, the breaking of bread, when they recognize him in “the first Eucharist of the church.”

“He vanishes just at that moment, because now they have all they need to take up the mission and return on the path they came, but return differently,” Cardinal Cupich said. “They now are empowered to allow their lives to be broken and shared.”

That is what Pope Francis did, and the mission he set for all of the church.

“Francis, like Peter, offered the world the goodness and truth of the risen Lord. This is his legacy, which we can be confident will continue,” the cardinal said.

He then quoted from “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), Pope Francis’ 2013 apostolic exhortation: “Every authentic experience of truth and goodness seeks by its very nature to grow within us, and any person who has experienced a profound liberation becomes more sensitive to the needs of others. As it expands, goodness takes root and develops. If we wish to lead a dignified and fulfilling life, we have to reach out to others and seek their good” (9).

The Mass was concelebrated by more than two dozen priests and the archdiocese’s auxiliary bishops.

Following the Mass, Cardinal Cupich remained in the vestibule greeting those who came.

For Alyssa Reyes, it was a moment to remember both the pope and her grandmother, who died on April 23, 2023.

“I think she would like sharing her day with the pope,” said Reyes, who often attended Mass at the cathedral as a child, when she attended Frances Xavier Warde School on the cathedral campus.

Mary Beth Murphy, a Holy Name Cathedral parishioner, said she was studying in Rome “for the entire pontificate of John Paul I,” who served for 33 days in August and September 1978, and was in the city for the election of Pope John Paul II. She was back in Rome shortly before John Paul II’s death in 2005.

“You could say I have a thing for the popes,” Murphy said. “I love all the popes.”

Margaret McCann, a parishioner at St. Clement, said she made the trip to Holy Name Cathedral by bus and L because “Pope Francis was very special to me. He walked the talk.”

Deacon John Burnett, of St. James Parish in Arlington Heights, vested for the Mass and said he thought it was important for those who were able to attend the memorial Mass.

 “I was fortunate to be able to come today, so I thought I should.”

Susan Burnett, wife of John Burnett and an administrative assistant in the diaconate office, also made the trip.

“Pope Francis’ message was the message of Christ,” she said. “He prayed for us all the time, and now it’s our turn to return the gift.”