“Our heart tonight is in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is still rejected by the losing logic of war, with the roar of weapons that even today prevents him from finding a home in the world”. This is what the Pope said in the homily of the Mass in St. Peter’s on Christmas Eve.
Evoking “the context in which Jesus was born” and the then “census of the whole earth”, Francis recalled that “while the emperor counts the inhabitants of the world, God enters almost secretly; while those who command try to rise among the greats of history, the King of history chooses the path of smallness. None of the powerful notice him, only some shepherds, relegated to the margins of social life”. The Pontiff warned against “the risk of living Christmas with a pagan idea of God in our heads, as if he were a powerful master in heaven; a god who marries himself with power, with worldly success and with l ‘idolatry of consumerism’.
“The false image of a detached and touchy god always returns – he explained -, who behaves well with the good and gets angry with the bad; of a god made in our image, useful only to solve our problems and take away our evils”. For the Pope, “He, however, does not use a magic wand, he is not the commercial god of ‘everything at once’; he does not save us by pressing a button, but comes close to change reality from within”.
Yet, he observed, “how deeply rooted in us is the worldly idea of a distant and controlling God, rigid and powerful, who helps his people to prevail against others! But this is not the case: He was born for everyone”. “Here is the wonder of Christmas – Francis indicated -: not a mixture of saccharine affections and worldly comforts, but the unprecedented tenderness of God who saves the world by becoming incarnate”.
“We look at the Child, we look at his manger, we look at the nativity scene – he added -: it is the revealing sign of the face of God, who is compassion and mercy, almighty always and only in love”.
Then inviting us to rediscover adoration, “which is not wasting time”, the Pope quoted the British writer and philologist Tolkien, the author of the “Lord of the Rings”. “A great narrator of epic deeds wrote to his son – he recalled -: ‘I offer you the only great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament. There you will find charm, glory, honor, faithfulness and the true path of all your loves on earth'”.
Even today at the Angelus, wishing “a Christmas Eve in prayer, in the warmth of affection and in sobriety”, Francis recommended: “let us not confuse the celebration with consumerism! We can, and as Christians we must, celebrate in simplicity, without waste and sharing with those who lack the necessary or those who lack company”. And touching on the theme of conflicts and tragedies that cross the world: “We are close to our brothers and sisters who suffer from war, we think of Palestine, Israel, Ukraine. We also think of those who suffer from poverty, hunger , slavery”. “The God who took a human heart for himself instills humanity in the hearts of men”, he concluded.
Meanwhile, Sarah Netanyahu, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, wrote a letter to Pope Francis asking for his “personal intervention” in the situation of the Israeli hostages in the hands of Hamas in Gaza.
“Your Holiness – he wrote -, I ask you for your personal intervention in this matter. I ask you to use your influence to ask for his release without conditions and without delay”. “I also ask you – she added – to appeal to the Red Cross to visit all the hostages and give them vital medicines”.
“His intervention – he explained – could tip the balance and save precious lives”. (HANDLE).
The Pope brings the Baby Child into the nativity scene set up in the Basilica
At the end of the Christmas Eve mass in St. Peter’s, Pope Francis, still pushed in a wheelchair and surrounded by a group of children from all continents, carried the statue of the Child Jesus along the nave and had it placed in the nativity scene set up in one of the side chapels of the Basilica.
Read the full article on ANSA.it
2023-12-25 09:33:00
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