Pope Francis says "...live each day, each moment...with our inner gaze turned to Jesus. Joys and sorrows, satisfactions and challenges. All in the presence and with the grace..." FULL TEXT
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FIRST VESPER OF THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY HOLY MOTHER OF GOD
AND YOU DEUM OF THANKSGIVING FOR THE PASSING YEAR
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
in the Vatican's Basilica of Saint Peter on New Year's Eve
Sunday, December 31, 2023
_________________________________________
FULL TEXT of Pope Francis: Faith allows us to live this hour differently than a worldly mentality. Faith in Jesus Christ, God incarnate, born of the Virgin Mary, gives a new way of experiencing time and life. I would sum it up in two words: gratitude and hope.
Someone might say: “But isn't that what everyone does on this last evening of the year? Everyone thanks, everyone hopes, believers or non-believers." Perhaps it may seem so, and perhaps it was! But, in reality, worldly gratitude, worldly hope are apparent; they lack the essential dimension which is that of the relationship with the Other and with others, with God and with brothers. They are focused on the ego, on his interests, and so they are short of breath, they cannot go beyond satisfaction and optimism.
Instead, in this Liturgy you can breathe a completely different atmosphere: that of praise, amazement, gratitude. And this happens not because of the majesty of the Basilica, not because of the lights and the songs - these things are rather the consequence -, but because of the Mystery that the antiphon to the first psalm expressed thus: «Wonderful exchange! The Creator took a soul and a body, he was born of a virgin; […] He gives us his divinity." This wonderful exchange!
The liturgy lets us enter into the feelings of the Church; and the Church, so to speak, learns them from the Virgin Mother.
Let's think about what the gratitude must have been in Mary's heart as she looked at the newborn Jesus. It is an experience that only a mother can have, and yet in her, in the Mother of God, it has a unique, incomparable depth. Mary knows, alone together with Joseph, where that Child comes from. Yet he is there, he breathes, he cries, he needs to eat, to be covered, cared for. The Mystery gives space to gratitude, which emerges in the contemplation of the gift, in gratuitousness, while suffocating in the anxiety of having and appearing.
The Church learns gratitude from the Virgin Mother. And she also learns hope. One might think that God chose her, Mary of Nazareth, because he saw his own hope reflected in her heart. The one that He Himself had infused into her with her Spirit. Mary has always been filled with love, filled with grace, and for this reason she is also filled with trust and hope.
That of Mary and the Church is not optimism, it is something else: it is faith in God who is faithful to his promises (see Luke 1:55); and this faith takes the form of hope in the dimension of time, we could say "on the way". The Christian, like Mary, is a pilgrim of hope. And this will be the theme of the 2025 Jubilee: "Pilgrims of Hope".
Dear brothers and sisters, we can ask ourselves: is Rome preparing to become a "city of hope" in the Holy Year? We all know that the organization of the Jubilee has been underway for some time. But we understand well that, in the perspective we take here, it is not mainly about this; rather it is the testimony of the ecclesial and civil community; testimony which, more than in events, consists in the lifestyle, in the ethical and spiritual quality of coexistence. And so the question can be formulated like this: are we working, each in our own area, so that this city is a sign of hope for those who live there and for those who visit it?
An example. Entering St. Peter's Square and seeing that, in the embrace of the Colonnade, people of every nationality, every culture and religion move freely and serenely, is an experience that instills hope; but it is important that it is confirmed by a good welcome during the visit to the Basilica, as well as in the information services. Another example: the charm of the historic center of Rome is perennial and universal; but elderly people or people with some motor disabilities must also be able to enjoy it; and the "great beauty" must correspond to simple decorum and normal functionality in the places and situations of ordinary, weekday life. Because a city that is more livable for its citizens is also more welcoming for everyone.
Dear brothers and sisters, a pilgrimage, especially if demanding, requires good preparation. This is why next year, which precedes the Jubilee, is dedicated to prayer. An entire year dedicated to prayer. And what better teacher could we have than our Holy Mother? Let's put ourselves at her school: let's learn from her to live every day, every moment, every occupation with an interior gaze turned to Jesus. Joys and sorrows, satisfactions and problems. All in the presence and with the grace of Jesus, the Lord. All with gratitude and hope.
AND YOU DEUM OF THANKSGIVING FOR THE PASSING YEAR
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
in the Vatican's Basilica of Saint Peter on New Year's Eve
Sunday, December 31, 2023
_________________________________________
FULL TEXT of Pope Francis: Faith allows us to live this hour differently than a worldly mentality. Faith in Jesus Christ, God incarnate, born of the Virgin Mary, gives a new way of experiencing time and life. I would sum it up in two words: gratitude and hope.
Someone might say: “But isn't that what everyone does on this last evening of the year? Everyone thanks, everyone hopes, believers or non-believers." Perhaps it may seem so, and perhaps it was! But, in reality, worldly gratitude, worldly hope are apparent; they lack the essential dimension which is that of the relationship with the Other and with others, with God and with brothers. They are focused on the ego, on his interests, and so they are short of breath, they cannot go beyond satisfaction and optimism.
Instead, in this Liturgy you can breathe a completely different atmosphere: that of praise, amazement, gratitude. And this happens not because of the majesty of the Basilica, not because of the lights and the songs - these things are rather the consequence -, but because of the Mystery that the antiphon to the first psalm expressed thus: «Wonderful exchange! The Creator took a soul and a body, he was born of a virgin; […] He gives us his divinity." This wonderful exchange!
The liturgy lets us enter into the feelings of the Church; and the Church, so to speak, learns them from the Virgin Mother.
Let's think about what the gratitude must have been in Mary's heart as she looked at the newborn Jesus. It is an experience that only a mother can have, and yet in her, in the Mother of God, it has a unique, incomparable depth. Mary knows, alone together with Joseph, where that Child comes from. Yet he is there, he breathes, he cries, he needs to eat, to be covered, cared for. The Mystery gives space to gratitude, which emerges in the contemplation of the gift, in gratuitousness, while suffocating in the anxiety of having and appearing.
The Church learns gratitude from the Virgin Mother. And she also learns hope. One might think that God chose her, Mary of Nazareth, because he saw his own hope reflected in her heart. The one that He Himself had infused into her with her Spirit. Mary has always been filled with love, filled with grace, and for this reason she is also filled with trust and hope.
That of Mary and the Church is not optimism, it is something else: it is faith in God who is faithful to his promises (see Luke 1:55); and this faith takes the form of hope in the dimension of time, we could say "on the way". The Christian, like Mary, is a pilgrim of hope. And this will be the theme of the 2025 Jubilee: "Pilgrims of Hope".
Dear brothers and sisters, we can ask ourselves: is Rome preparing to become a "city of hope" in the Holy Year? We all know that the organization of the Jubilee has been underway for some time. But we understand well that, in the perspective we take here, it is not mainly about this; rather it is the testimony of the ecclesial and civil community; testimony which, more than in events, consists in the lifestyle, in the ethical and spiritual quality of coexistence. And so the question can be formulated like this: are we working, each in our own area, so that this city is a sign of hope for those who live there and for those who visit it?
An example. Entering St. Peter's Square and seeing that, in the embrace of the Colonnade, people of every nationality, every culture and religion move freely and serenely, is an experience that instills hope; but it is important that it is confirmed by a good welcome during the visit to the Basilica, as well as in the information services. Another example: the charm of the historic center of Rome is perennial and universal; but elderly people or people with some motor disabilities must also be able to enjoy it; and the "great beauty" must correspond to simple decorum and normal functionality in the places and situations of ordinary, weekday life. Because a city that is more livable for its citizens is also more welcoming for everyone.
Dear brothers and sisters, a pilgrimage, especially if demanding, requires good preparation. This is why next year, which precedes the Jubilee, is dedicated to prayer. An entire year dedicated to prayer. And what better teacher could we have than our Holy Mother? Let's put ourselves at her school: let's learn from her to live every day, every moment, every occupation with an interior gaze turned to Jesus. Joys and sorrows, satisfactions and problems. All in the presence and with the grace of Jesus, the Lord. All with gratitude and hope.
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