At the Mass on New Year’s Day, the Pope denounced injustice and the multitudes of migrants risking their lives to have their rights respected. At the Angelus he thanked the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella and said war is not the only enemy to peace, indifference is too.
Wars, violence, subjugation, "hordes of men, women and children fleeing war, hunger and persecution, ready to risk their lives simply to encounter respect for their fundamental rights". The "torrent of misery" that rushes through the world seemingly contradicts the "fullness of time" marked by the birth of Jesus Christ, "yet this swollen torrent is powerless before the ocean of mercy which floods our world". Pope Francis said this in his homily for the New Year's Day Mass, on the Solemnity of the Mother of God and World Day of Peace. As Munich was put on terror alert last night, prayers for peace were said in German in St. Peter's Basilica.
The Pope began his homily with the words of the Apostle Paul: "When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman". "What does it mean to say that Jesus was born in "the fullness of time"?" Francis remarked. "If we consider that particular moment of history, we might quickly be deluded. Rome had subjugated a great part of the known world by her military might. The Emperor Augustus had come to power after five civil wars. Israel itself had been conquered by the Roman Empire and the Chosen People had lost their freedom. For Jesus' contemporaries, it was certainly not the best of times. To define the fullness of time, then, we should not look to the geopolitical sphere. Another interpretation is needed, one which views that fullnessfrom God's standpoint." "History does not determine the birth of Christ; rather, his coming into the world enables history to attain its fullness. For this reason, the birth of the Son of God inaugurates a new era, a new computation of time, the era which witnesses the fulfilment of the ancient promise" and thanks to his presence in the world "our time can find its fullness".
"Nonetheless, this mystery constantly clashes withthe dramatic experience of human history," Francis said, underlining in his address to the Pueri Cantores choir that this is precisely what one of the questions they put to him at yesterday's audience was about." Each day, as we seek to be sustained by the signs of God's presence, we encounter new signs to the contrary, negative signs which tend to make us think instead that he is absent. The fullness of time seems to fade before the countless forms of injustice and violence which daily wound our human family. Sometimes we ask ourselves how it is possible that human injustice persists unabated, and that the arrogance of the powerful continues to demean the weak, relegating them to the most squalid outskirts of our world. We ask how long human evil will continue to sow violence and hatred in our world, reaping innocent victims. How can the fullness of time have come when we are witnessing hordes of men, women and children fleeing war, hunger and persecution, ready to risk their lives simply to encounter respect for their fundamental rights? A torrent of misery, swollen by sin, seems to contradict the fullness of time brought by Christ."
"The grace of Christ, which brings our hope of salvation to fulfilment," the Pope said in his Message for the World Day of Peace, presented in the Vatican on 15 December, on the theme "Overcome indifference and win peace", "leads us to cooperate with him in building an ever more just and fraternal world, a world in which every person and every creature can dwell in peace, in the harmony of God's original creation." "Today Mary," to whom today's Solemnity is dedicated, "makes it possible for us to grasp the meaning of events which affect us personally, events which also affect our families, our countries and the entire world," the Pope concluded. "Where philosophical reason and political negotiation cannot reach, there the power of faith, which brings the grace of Christ's Gospel, can reach, opening ever new pathways to reason and to negotiation."
During the moment of prayer among faithful, a girl said a prayer in German, asking for "the prince of peace to put an end to wars, break the chains of hatred and bless the efforts of men of goodwill". The German city of Munich was put on terror alert last night. Another prayer in Chinese was pronounced for the Pope and bishops "may God the father sustain them in their apostolic ministry and with firm tenderness, may they guide all brothers and sisters to their communion with the Lord Jesus". A prayer in polish was also pronounced for those persecuted for their faith: "may God the father appreciate the faithfulness of those suffering persecution in the name of Jesus and may he protect them under his powerful and merciful wing".
At mid-day the Pope recited the Angelus prayer, overlooking St. Peter's Square, where stringent security measures were in force. "Dear brothers and sisters," he said, I wish to thank the President of the Italian Republic," Sergio Mattarella, "for the wishes he send me yesterday evening in his end of year Message. I reciprocate wholeheartedly." "Today we celebrate the World Day of Peace, whose theme is: 'Overcome Indifference and win Peace'," the Pope underlined recalling that peace must be "conquered". "The enemy of peace," he stated, "is not only war, but also indifference, which makes us think only of ourselves and creates barriers, suspicions, fears and closures [of mind and heart]." "It's nice exchanging wishes at the start of the year," he emphasised, "thus renewing our wishes for what lies ahead to be a little bit better. What it is essentially, is a sign of hope that motivates us and invites us to believe in life. But we know," Francis continued, "that not everything will change with the coming of the new year and that many of yesterday's problems will persist. So I would like to make a wish for you, backed by a sincere hope," that "the Lord may watch over you and that you may be able to rejoice in the knowledge that every day, his merciful gaze, more radiant than the sun, shines upon you and never sets!" Francis added that God "is a Father who is in love with man, who never tires of starting over with us in order to renew us. But he does not promise any magical changes, He des not use a magic wand. He loves to change reality from the inside, with patience and love; he asks to come into our lives gently, like rain penetrates the earth, bringing fruits. And he always waits for us and looks at us with tenderness."
At 5 pm this afternoon, the Pope opened the Holy Door of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, having opened the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica on 8 December, the date that marked the official start of the Jubilee of Mercy (which was actually moved forward to the end of November, when Francis opened the Holy Door of Bangui Cathedral in the Central African Republic) and the Holy Door of the Basilica of St. John the Lateran, the cathedral of the diocese of Rome, which the Pope opened on 13 December.
Francis - who let the archpriest James Harvey open the Holy Door of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls - is particularly fond of the Basilica of St. Mary Major which is just a stone's throw away from Rome's Termini railway station. This is the temple he went to on the morning after the Conclave to pray before the icon of the Salus Populi Romani and traditionally vivits the Basilica before and after each international trip.
