Thank God despite the COVID-19 pandemic – Pope Francis

MANILA, Philippines — Pope Francis said people should be praising God despite the COVID-19 pandemic as it was His grace that inspired many to continue their compassionate acts and service.

In a homily read by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re at St. Peter’s Basilica on New Year’s Eve, Pope Francis said the celebration was meant to “give thanks for the year that is drawing to a close.”

Re led the Vespers and Te Deum prayer in lieu of Pope Francis who was absent during the prayer service due to his sciatica condition which causes him pain, the Catholic News Agency reported.

“It might seem forced, almost jarring, to thank God at the end of a year like this, marked by the pandemic,” the Pope said in his homily.

“We think of families who have lost one or more members, of those who have been sick, of those who have suffered from loneliness, of those who have lost their jobs … Sometimes someone asks:

What is the point of a tragedy like this?” he said.

In the same homily, the Pope told the faithful not to rush the answers to the questions.

The compassionate acts of the Good Samaritan, he said, had the effect of “arousing compassion and provoking attitudes and gestures of closeness, care, solidarity.”

People served others during the difficult times of pandemic “with their daily commitment, animated by love of neighbor,” which would not happen without God’s grace and mercy.

“For this, we give praise to Him, because we believe and know that all the good that is done day by day on earth comes, in the end, from Him. And looking to the future that awaits us, we again implore: May your mercy always be with us,” he said.