by Graziella Fons

Pope Francis pilgrim in Sardinia

Endless, bright and intense was the Sunday in September that saw Pope Francis as a pilgrim in Cagliari. There were around 400 thousand people who arrived from all over Sardinia to greet and listen to the words of Pope Francis who wanted to honor the Marian sanctuary of Bonaria linked to the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, an echo of the "good air" brought by Sardinian navigators in past centuries. The strong words of this son of Piedmontese emigrants had the flavor of someone who had to become an exile from his homeland to seek fortune through the strength of his arms. The Pope's words: "Without work there is no dignity" had the accent of an ancient suffering, which is why he forcefully repeated: "Do not let yourselves be robbed of hope, do not let yourselves be robbed of hope." «I too am the son of a father who arrived in Argentina full of hope and experienced the suffering and dashed hopes of emigrants following the crisis of the 30s. There was no work, and in my childhood I heard people talking about this suffering at home."
In those words at the feet of the Madonna there was also the ancient discomfort of the small family from Nazareth forced to emigrate to a foreign land, to look for enough to make a living in a foreign country whose language and customs of life they did not know. Forced to open a passage to refresh the son of God, the authentic hope of the world that was dawning in that family of emigrants. That family guarded humanity's greatest treasure, Jesus, and was forced to beg for a little bread, for work, for a roof to shelter themselves with dignity without being treated as "a waste", as happens today even in our society which it discards foreigners, the old and deprives the young of hope for the future.
Pope Francis told the pilgrims that on the journey of life "we need her gaze of tenderness, her maternal gaze."
He also asked the young people to feel this maternal gaze on their lives which becomes an itinerary for a life fulfilled in fullness. Pope Francis took a leap back to his youth and recalled his «60th anniversary from the day I heard the voice of Jesus in my heart, I was seventeen […] since then I have never regretted it, because even in the dark times I never felt alone. Trust in Jesus!
He felt that call to follow Jesus under the paternal gaze of Saint Joseph who called him to help his son Jesus build a kingdom of justice and peace. This trust in Saint Joseph has never abandoned him and Providence wanted him to be called to carry out the ministry of holding the helm of the Church of Christ on the day dedicated to the solemn cult of Saint Joseph, March 19th of this year .
Where Mary is, Joseph is also always present; the good scent of the resin of the carpenter of Nazareth is widespread among the Sardinian population. There are almost fifteen thousand members of the Pia Unione del Transito di San Giuseppe residing in Sardinia. On the solemnity of All Saints in 1916, the archbishops and bishops of all of Sardinia sent a collective letter to the faithful encouraging adherence to the prayers of our Pious Union for the benefit of the dying. On that occasion the Sardinian episcopate wrote: «Christian charity, always fertile with new works, according to the needs of the times, in these months of war multiplies the holy efforts to add spiritual help for the wounded, the mutilated, the orphans , widows and the unemployed and also for the dearly departed, but there is a category of people, the most needy and almost forgotten, that of the dying." The spiritual paternity of the bishops suggested - and there is still a need today - for good souls to "multiply their prayers to Saint Joseph in favor of the dying who are increasing in number due to the war".
The moment of leaving this earth is always a painful birth for everyone and the solidarity of prayers alleviates the discomfort and by invoking Saint Joseph, the patron saint of the dying, the passage is sweeter and the encounter with the God of mercy and forgiveness is more joyful.
Saint Therese of the Child Jesus with great faith said: "I am not dying, but I am passing to life." It is this transition to "life" that needs support, a helping hand that accompanies with Christian piety, with the prayer to Saint Joseph invoking that spiritual energy that allows us to overcome fear.
In the pastoral letter cited, the Sardinian bishops blessed "the great patriarch Saint Joseph, protector of the dying, for having sparked the foundation of this universal Crusade of prayers on behalf of the dying". This Work was deemed so appropriate by Pope Saint Pius X that he wanted to be the first to enroll.
During his visit to Sardinia, Pope Francis, meeting the sick, said: «In your eyes I see fatigue, but I also see hope. Feel loved by the Lord, and also by many good people who with their prayers and works help you alleviate your suffering."
On that pilgrimage, the Pope also gave an invitation for us volunteers to pray and take action on behalf of the dying when he said that Christian solidarity «is a choice of life, a way of being, of living the humility of Christ who he chose to be small and to be with the little ones." A virtue that also invites us to be with the poorest of the poor, the dying, because in that moment every person truly touches the abyss of human poverty.