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By Robert Mickens | Vatican City
There is nothing sadder than to see someone die as a bitter old man -- or woman, for that matter.
When Pope Francis made that observation this past week, one could have easily surmised he had mainly men in mind, specifically Catholic bishops.
"It's terrible to arrive at old age with a bitter heart, with a disappointed heart, with a heart that is critical of new things," the pope said on Thursday in St. Peter's Basilica while concelebrating the Eucharist with cardinals resident in Rome and bishops based at the Vatican.
The occasion was the annual Mass in suffrage for their confreres in the Church hierarchy who had died in the course of the year.
In fact, 17 cardinals and 174 other bishops passed "from this world to the next" during the past 12 months.
"Some of them died as a result of COVID-19, in difficult situations that compounded their suffering," Francis noted, speaking from an ambo near the Altar of the Chair in the apse of the massive basilica.
But his focus was on other types of viruses of a more spiritual nature that can afflict even the so-called teachers of the faith -- and, indeed, all of us -- when faced with "life's difficulties and problems", especially "the last and greatest" -- death.
"Waiting in silence with trusting patience"
The Jesuit pope, who will be 85 next month, mentioned a few of them -- irritability, despondency, impatience, sadness, aggressivity, excessive complaining, loss of hope in God and, of course, bitterness.
"In the face of life's difficulties and problems, it is difficult to have patience and remain calm. We become irritated and despondency often sets in," he said.
"Thus, we can be strongly tempted by pessimism and resignation, to see everything as dark, to become accustomed to mistrustful and complaining tones," Francis continued.
But he said the remedy to these ills is patient endurance.
"A long inner transformation is necessary which, through the crucible of suffering, leads us to learn how to wait in silence, that is, with trusting patience, with a meek soul," he said.
Bu often it's not until we hit rock bottom and all hope is gone that God brings us to a decisive "turning point", the pope said.
"This turning point does not come about because the problems have disappeared. No. But because the crisis has become a mysterious occasion for inner purification... It is a paschal experience, a painful passage that opens us to life; it's a sort of spiritual birthing that, in the darkness, brings us again into the light," the pope said.
Our bitter response to adversity in the Church
Francis was not speaking only about illness, old age and death. He was talking about "adversity" of all kinds. He, and all of us, face adversity in our own lives and in the life of our community.
One very disturbing bit of adversity in our large, diverse, and worldwide Catholic family right now is how fractured and bitterly divided we are.
And our response to that has been a growing manifestation of impatience and aggressivity towards our sisters and brothers in the faith.
It's often displayed in bitter tones on social media, for instance.
Even some of our "fathers" -- priests, bishops and cardinals -- seem to be gripped with bitterness.
Bitterness towards the pope or those oppose him. Bitterness at the fact that too much is changing in the Church or that too little is. Bitterness towards fellow believers that are too traditional or not traditional enough. And the list goes on...
This only compounds the adversity in our Church and makes one wonder who would want to be part of such a group of bickering, factious people.
"Let us ask for the grace to look at adversity with different eyes," Pope Francis said at the Mass for deceased cardinals and bishops.
"Let us ask for the strength to be able to live with it in the meek and trusting silencethat waits for the salvation of the Lord, without complaining, without grumbling, without being saddened," he said.
"Now more than ever it is useless to shout, to stir up noise, to become bitter," the pope said.
And he offered a better way to respond.
"What's needed is for each of us to bear witness with our lives to our faith, which is a docile and hopeful waiting".
Follow me on Twitter @robinrome
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