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Funeral Service for Pope Francis — A Call to Humility and Forward Movement (April 26, 2025)

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Broadcast from Chicago’s Evolution Judeo-Christian Church, today’s Sermons of America honors the life of Pope Francis — a true servant of God who walked in humility, love, and service. As the world mourns, DJ Alin Straps delivers a powerful call to justice, peace, and moving forward beyond the cycles of hatred and division. Featuring Psalm 124, a reading from the Jubilee Bible Chapter 27, and reflections on our urgent spiritual crisis. Go forth in peace, live humbly, and honor the call.

Final Cleaned Transcript

VOICES of America – Sermons of America

Special Service: Funeral for Pope Francis

April 27, 2025 | Evolution Judeo-Christian Church | Chicago

Good Sunday morning, everyone.

This is the Sunday morning VOICES of America – Sermons of America service from Chicago’s Evolution Judeo-Christian Church. Today, we are gathered to honor a true servant of God: Pope Francis. In life, he sought humility and service; now he rests in the peace of Christ.

Our opening reading is Psalm 124:

If it had not been the Lord who was on our side—now may Israel say—if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us, then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us. Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul, and the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

This scripture resonates deeply today. Around the world, war, hatred, and division are raging. Blood is being spilled in the name of greed and prejudice. Yet, we are thankful — thankful for Pope Francis, who lived not for gold or marble but for humility, service, and love.

Today, we honor his spirit — and all leaders who walk humbly with God.

Let us begin our opening prayer:

Almighty God, giver of life and conqueror of death,

We gather to celebrate the homecoming of your servant, Francis.

Receive him with open arms of mercy.

Inspire us to live in humility, service, and love.

May we walk the path of righteousness, following the footsteps of Jesus and Francis.

Amen.

Reading from the Jubilee Bible, Chapter 27: “On Holy Leadership and Leader’s Death”

(Extension to the traditional Bible, Canonical Position 95)

Leaders come from dust and return to dust. Do not enshrine the dead in marble, but honor them with simple funerary rites. Use cameras to provide Holy Witness Records — not endless streams, but a single, sacred recording to be archived. Let mourners at a distance see the closure of life respectfully. Preserve dignity. Preserve truth. And above all, walk in humility before God.

Pope Francis was a lighthouse of moral clarity in a chaotic world. He transcended religious lines. He lived the Gospel. He showed the world that leadership is not domination, but humble service.

Today, without him, the world has lost its moral compass.

Let us not squander his legacy.

Let us not retreat into hatred, conservatism for power’s sake, or nationalism clothed as virtue.

Francis stood against these false idols.

Earth itself today is spiritually in the ICU. America, among others, is hooked up to ECMO — barely surviving, only kept alive by occasional shocks of divine mercy. We must move forward. We cannot fall backward into old hatreds.

The spacecraft era, the next evolutionary step of humanity, will only come if we lay down our swords and embrace stewardship over destruction. As Pope Francis warned, the future is not secured by billionaires fleeing to Mars. The future is secured here — through justice, mercy, and love.

The Earth’s sin — our sin — hastened the death of a holy man.

And we must carry that knowledge heavily and humbly.

Let us now pray:

Intercessions:

  • For Pope Francis: may he be welcomed into eternal life.
  • For global leaders: may they lead with justice, humility, and truth.
  • For all people: may we move forward toward peace and away from war.

Lord, hear our prayer. Amen.

Commendation:

Into your hands, O Lord, we commend your faithful servant, Francis.

May he find peace in your heavenly mansion.

May we walk humbly, that one day we may join him there.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Benediction:

May the Lord bless us and keep us.

May the Lord’s face shine upon us and be gracious to us.

May the soul of Francis, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (Closing Prayer):

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Conclusion:

Go forth and live lives worthy of the call you have received:

Peace. Justice. Humility.

Stay well, everyone.

This concludes today’s service.

DJ Alin Straps signing off.

RAW TRANSCRIPT
Good Sunday morning, everyone. this is the Sunday morning Vices of America sermons of men. America, Evolution Judeo Christian Church, Chicago, Funeral for Pope Francis.. Today, we are gathered to honor a servant of God, who in life sought humility and now rests in the pace of Christ. Our beginning reading for today’s service is Psalm 124 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us, then they had swallowed us up quick when their wrath was kindled against us. Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul, and the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the Lord who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth, our soul soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers, the snare is broken and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. This piece of scripture resonates a lot because what is going on in the world right now is this outright war of men against men, women against women, ideologies against ideologies, and blood is being spilled in the name of greed and prejudice. brothers and sisters, this is not in sorrow alone. We’re thankful. You know, we are thankful for the life of of Francis, who told us that greatness is not in just gold, marble and the grandiosity of whatever goes on in the vicardkin, but it’s humility, service, and love, and he traveled around the world doing those things quite frequently. Today we honor his spirit and all leaders who walk humbly before God in the way of Francis because he is a very good example of a leader who walked well in the way of God. But we look around at other leaders and I have to kind of just say, take a look in the mirrors, everyone, because leaders are not leading with their soul. Let us begin the opening prayer. Almighty God, giver of life, conqueror of death. We are gathered today to celebrateate the homecoming of servant Francis. We ask that ye receive him with open arms of mercy and inspire us to live as he did as well as Jesus and all prior servants of you, walking humbly with you now in the heavens. We look up to the heavens with great reverence and joy because we know that the cross has guaranteed us a seat at the table there. Amen. And now, a reading from the Jubilee Bible, chapter 27, which sits in canonical position 95 The Jubilee Bible is not a replacement for, but it’s actually an extension to the Bible. Chapter 27 on Holy Lerhip and Leader’s Death There are global leaders and holy leaders on this planet, but let none set before God be a light brighter than God. for to cast a light brighter than God is cast sin upon the earth, for the light belongs to God. Therefore, do not overrule God’s light. The earth and leader came from dust and shall return to dust. So why do ye quarrel with choices like the type of burial box? A pine box will do, for it is what did in the time of your ancestors, simple and purposeful. Do not enshrine the dead and gigantic cathedrals of marble, rather afford them a room with a place for mourners to attend in person. But do not deprive them mourner at distance, therefore, place a camera upon a pedestal in the room that observeserves the same way a person observes. From dawn until dusk the camera is to be on. At dusk, let the lid of the casket be closed ceremonially to let the dead rest between the days of their wake. When the wake ends, let thy camera see the last closure of the casket be bolted shut, for to do so records the finality of the departure. Let these cameras and tapes be called the Holy Witness records. These cameras and tapes are to do the job that the Vatican camera does, archival and collection of the living, the dead, and the dead’s departure. Therefore, take the camera to the sight of interment, and let it observe in the same way as a visitor to the grave. for in doing so, the mourner at a distance can see the same as a mourner in attendance. Therefore, that camera’s tape shall then be kept within the archives of a respective holy authority government, whichever is seen fit to hold the archives of the camera, the holy camera, any any camera will do. It must record video to a memory card and to the internet. It may not only have streaming, for the record must be stored within a vault after the person is committed into the grave. When the grave is closed, all streams shall close and be erased. Only the vault recording shall remain after the seals are applied, for to do this gives the dead a holy resting place not disturbed by endless stream of the funeral. Now, if some one shall come upon the footstep of the archive and ask to view thy tapes, let them see the archive for the viewing of a card. A recording is not the calling of live spirits to move data, but the act of streaming the funeral after the date of its actual occurrence is worth a rebuke. for it is to stir the dead spirit into laboring. Therefore, do not deny the viewer the card, but give them strict warning, view, do not stream, do not upload it anywhere, or thou art guilty of sin against a funerary memory card. We are called to have humility in this world, and we are called to make sure that funerals are documented in a way that is sound,, sustainable, and welcomes everyone to the funeral rather than being exclusionary. It is sad and unfortunate that we have so many people who in this world were not able to attend to Pope Francis’s funeral or wake, and it’s a bit sad that there are probably hundreds of millions of Catholics, Christians, and others who would want to have been there to see the finality and the death and just see the Pope one last time and say goodbye to the Pope. He was not just a religious figure. He transcended all blurring of lines, and what he was is a moral lighthouse for the entire world, and now the world does not have a global moral lighthouse anymore. His leadership was service, true humble service, not power. And we’ve seen papal figures in the past wield their throne with power and use it to control the Catholic Church and even try to control governments in a way that doesn’t accord with the scripture. because our scripture says that everyone is equal under God. Our scripture literally speaks of divine DEI. I hate to say that word here because I know it’s going to set a lot of people on defensive in the middle of a church to hear the word diversity, equity, and inclusion, but Jesus Christ himself was DEI in a person summed up, basically, because he literally said, we are all equal under God. In that sacrifice on that cross, and that same type of sacrificial act happens when someone is involved in their blood is spilled upon the ground of the earth and reabsorbed by the earth, from dust to dust, ashes to ashes. from the as and dust you came to ash and dust you returned. doesn’t matter if you’re cremated or buried. It’s the same place that your body ends up returning is Earth. Soil. And then so goes up. The body is soil. The soul is retained and kept. Now, the real question is, what will happen next? And I can’t say that. I’m not a prophet. I can’t just go foretelling. The conclave is going to say, and this guy’s going to do that. That’s what the betters do. This pulpit is not a place of betting. This is not a place of predictions. This is not that book arena, sportsbook. So we’re not even going to predict. But what we can do is we can reverently say, if the Holy See has some sort of ears listening, we ask for a pope that is going to continue the legacy that Pope Francis left. a legacy of everyone is equal. under God. a legacy of no person should be shut out just because of mere genetic and biological and sexual differences. you know, we have had too much in this world be labeled as deviant, and yet our first law, as humans is basically judged not, lest ye be judged with what measure you use to meet. We are a world that is in terrible spiritual shape. If I had to say how well Earth is doing spiritual, I would probably say Earth is in the intensive care unit with 12 different intravenous lines hooked up to Ecmo. And America is the one that’s hooked up to ecmo and dialysis and has still problems and has to be regularly defibrillated with an implant in defibrillator. Our world is not in good shape, and the only way that we can actually get this world in better shape is by moving forward as an entire world, moving forward away from war, moving forward towards peace, moving forward towards the dawn of the next evolutionary age. We are still stuck in the 19th century, basically, you know, we have computers, we have the airship, we have the sea ship, we have the aircraft. But the spacecraft age will not come, especially if we keep having it run this way. They’re running everything into the ground and they don’t care about our environment. They don’t care about whether we’re going to survive or not. They only care if they can get 10 or 20 rich people to the moon or Mars. This is not about saving the world. This is about saving nothing. These rich people aren’t interested in salation or saving people or delivering people into possibly the next era. These people are interested in destruction and killing. And this is what Pope Francis spoke exactly against in his last days. and honestly, a heart attack and a stroke, I am not going to point fingers at the pulpit here because this is not what this pulpit’s for, and I will not sin against my papal figure that has served me for 12 very good years in this world. But I will say that Earth, you guys did this to the p pope, the entire world, with the authoritarianism that devolving into chaotic beasts that think mass imprisonment is acceptable, The earth’s downfall is what caused Pope Francis to fall. I hope those words carry gravity, O land of earth. Everyone on this planet who voted for conservatism, who supported these tyrants, the only people who are innocent, I truthfully tell you, are the people who are speaking out against these tyrants and mass imprisonments. but everyone else, you have blood on your hands. If you’re an American, especially, if you ever voted Republican since 2016 to now, possibly even earlier than that, you literally have the pope’s blood on your hands. and then to hear things like Major Taylor Greene, saying, evil has been removed by the hand of God. hey, blasphemy, sin, sin, sin. How are we going to continue to live? I don’t chase honors. I chase service. I looked at the computer and scheduling today, and I was like, I can’t deal with doing the news today. And I decided I need to record for Sunday. This is Saturday, April 26th, 0922 in the morning, Chicago time. and I have to speak on this day, because this is the day of the funeral, and this is the day that Pope Francis would probably want me to speak. Pope Francis was a very good person, and we have some very erratic, almost beast like leaders in this world that are basically killing people for no reason at all. In fact, we literally, I’m not entirely sure if that autistic child that was shot a couple weeks ago by police officers in his backyard because he was angry with a knife. I’m not sure if he survived. But that’s what this country and this world has degraded to, and that’s why the Pope probably died, because they put him in a casket. world leaders put our pope in a casket. I won’t occupy the microphonehone and frequency much longer because I know that we have a 30 minute limit here. So I will bring us into our intercessions. Father in heaven, for Pope Francis, I speak for him. Please may he be welcomed into eternal joy, to the Father, the Son, and Spirit. Amen. For all the leaders in this world, may ye lead with justice at your core, may ye honor the honors of law that have been placed before you, and may ye not revise history on the fly? May the leaders that are in sin be aware of their sin, may the leaders of nations, quarreling with other nations, come to humility under God, realize their sin, come to peace and justice. We pray to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen. For all of those who are listening, I pray that ye carry forward the light light of humble service, progress, forward movement, forward momentum. I’m not talking party lines here. I’m talking transcending party lines. Forward movement literally just means forward. We cannot fall backward into history. We must move forward. There is only one direction in this world forward. Keep moving forward. to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen. Lord, please hear our prayer. Into your hands, O Lord, we commend your faithful servant, Francis, acknowledge him as a faithful child of yours, for to us he was faithful so surely in the eyes of the heaven, ye shall find him faithful. Bring him to the eternal home ye have prepared for him, and for all of us from the beginning of the world the heaven’s mansion, may he rest in his chamber in that mansion, and may we who remain to walk the path of righteousness and attempt to walk the path of righteous justice and humility, even though in our perfections, we often stumble. May we eventually come to meet Francis inside of that mansion, as we will one day walk amongst those halls of the hallowed and dead and ascended, for it is through Christ, our Lord, that we receive the salvation of his blood. Therefore, we pray to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Now I will give the closing benediction and then closing final prayer. May the Lord bless us and keep us. May the Lord’s face shine upon and be gracious to us. May the soul of Francis and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. And now for the closing Lord’s prayer. Our Lord, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the power, the glory, grace, everything, O Lord. Father of God in heaven, Lord Jesus Christ in heaven, heavenly hosts, spirits in heaven. We thank you for your services, and we thank you for every blessing that you have waiting for us, Amen. This concludes the special voices of America, sermons of America Sunday, April April 27th, Service for Pope Francis from Chicago. Go forth and live a life worthy of the call that we have received, and that call is peace, justice, and humility. Stay well, everyone. DJ Alin Straps signing off.