Today, Pope Benedict offered a Mass in Suffrage for Cardinals and others who died over the past year. Here’s a brief report from Vatican Radio – just a minute or two, but you can hear the Pope reciting some of the names of the Cardinals who have passed away. It is very poignant. Teresa at PRF, who deserves some kind of prize from the rest of us, has translated the homily. Near the end, a succinct summary of what this life of a disciple is all about, how it’s lived…and why:

Dear brothers and sisters, the veneated Cadinals and Bishops whom we remember today lived in this faith. Each of them was called to the Church to put into practice the words of the apostle Paul: "For me, to live is Christ" (Phil 1,21), which was proclaimed earlier in the Second Reading.

This vocation, received in Baptism, is in itself reinforced by the sacrament of Confirmation and by the three grades of Holy Orders, and is constantly nourished by participation in the Eucharist.

Through this sacramental itinerary, their "being in Christ" became more and more solid and deep,so that death was no longer a loss – they already ‘lost’ everything evangelically for the Lord and for the Gospel (cfr Mk 8,35) – but a gain: that of finally meeting Jesus, and with Him, the fullness of life.