SW News: Recalling the final words of Jesus on the cross, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Pope Francis spoke of entrusting the soul of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to the heavenly Father while delivering the homily during the Requiem Mass on Thursday, January 5.

Explaining how the final words of Christ summed up His whole life, which was a "ceaseless self-entrustment into the hands of His Father", the pontiff said the people of God now accompany and entrust to the Lord the life of the one who was their shepherd.

He said the invitation of the Lord to place our spirit in the hands of God the Father is a “program of life inspiring and shaping the heart of every pastor. This, he said, helps them be "attuned in grateful devotion, in service to the Lord and to His people, a service born of thanksgiving for a completely gracious gift."

Another trait of a shepherd who follows Jesus is prayerful devotion. He said it is one that is "silently shaped and refined amid the challenges and resistance that every pastor must face."

“Like the Master, a shepherd bears the burden of interceding and the strain of anointing his people, especially in situations where goodness must struggle to prevail and the dignity of our brothers and sisters is threatened,” the pope said while addressing the thousands who had gathered for the funeral in spite of the cold weather on St Peter’s Square.

He said that just as everyone strives to follow the Lord as one fellowship, “we too want to follow in His steps and commend our brother (Benedict) into the hands of the Father... may those merciful hands find his lamp alight with the oil of the Gospel that he spread and testified to for his entire life." He concluded by saying “Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever!”