Cardinal Timothy Dolan's Homily at Mass for Late Pope Francis

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan presided over a Catholic Mass in Manhattan Tuesday, mourning Monday's loss of Pope Francis to a heart attack and stroke at age 88.

Newsmax aired the St. Patrick's Cathedral homily live just after noon:

Times of sadness or joy always become a time of prayer.

Prayer – that's what unites us this afternoon in Saint Patrick's Cathedral, as we offer what we Catholics believe to be the most sublime prayer of them all: The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. You are all so very welcome. We're grateful for your solidarity in prayer.

We pray, first of all for mercy – mercy upon the noble, loving, simple, humble soul of our beloved Pope Francis. He was a troubadour of God's mercy, constantly preaching God's tender mercy for us and encouraging our tender mercy for one another.

Secondly, we pray for consolation, right? Consolation at our admitted loss. For us, as Catholics, this is a death in the family. We didn't call him Holy Father for nothing.

We grieve that so many of you, our friends and neighbors, share in that grief this afternoon means the world to us. That prayer for consolation has already been answered in so many ways. As he returned to the home of his Father on the day after Easter, with the victory of Jesus over death, at his resurrection, still fresh in our hearts, the octave, the eight days of Passover only recently completed.

And finally, everybody we pray in Thanksgiving, right? We praise God for the gift that Pope Francis was to all of us. A gift to be long savored. We're grateful to God for what he taught us, by how he lived, and by how he died. Comfortable.

Comfortable enough with us, his family, to let us see his weakness, his fragility, his stumbling, in a wheelchair, with his oxygen tube, confident enough to let us see his struggle.

No wonder, no wonder we sing this Easter season: Glory to God in the highest. No surprise that we chant out "Hallelujah!" at the top of our lungs. No wonder we gather under the light of Christ, so evident in the Paschal candle. Gratitude.

Now believe me, I could preach a lot longer, but Pope Francis always complained about priests preaching too long. No wonder he was so popular.

You could never meet him without him asking: Please pray for me.

And that we do this high noon in America's Parish Church.

Let us pray.

GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:

NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!

Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.

You need to watch NEWSMAX today.

Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!

Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now

BEST OFFER:

Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.

Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.

Even get Jon Voight’s special series and President Trump’s comedy programs and much more!

Watch NEWSMAX+ on your smartphone or home TV app.

Watch NEWSMAX anytime, anywhere!

Start your FREE trial now: NewsmaxPlus.com