In the Mass for the soul of the Cardinals and Bishops deceased over the past year, Benedict XVI said in his homily that "God is true wisdom that will never age, is a treasure that will never be depleted, is the happiness the human heart is longing for. This reality, which is permeating the Book of Wisdom and the New Testament, is fulfilled in Jesus’ life and teachings." The Pope pointed out that "in the perspective of the evangelical truth, death is teaching us a good lesson forcing us to face the reality. Hence we are obliged to recognise the caducity of things considered big and strong by the world. With death, human pride is reduced to nothing while things that are actually worthy become important. I am referring to, so to speak, the positive aspect of death, which has always been acknowledged by philosophers and writers, namely the fact that death is painfully inevitable, but is saying something true and important: that everything is coming to an end and everyone is passing away because we are all creatures. In a world no one of us is God." ” ” ” “
