Jesus Christ is the way of peace

Francis’ words during the blessing Urbi et Orbi: “Let’s overcome the lethargy of false images that make us forget who is honored and contemplating Bethlehem, let’s fix our gaze on the child victims of the Third World War.” Calling for “an end to all bloodshed” in Myanmar and Iran. The call for reconciliation in Ukraine, Syria, the Holy Land, Lebanon, Yemen; and also for Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa, plagued by famine and famine.

Vatican City () – “”If we want it to be Christmas, the Christmas of Jesus and of peace, let us contemplate Bethlehem and fix our gaze on the face of the Child who was born for us. And in that small innocent face, let us recognize that of the children who in every corner of the world yearn for peace”. This is the invitation that Pope Francis addresses to the world in his message Urbi et Orbi for this Christmas of 2022, dramatically marked by the wounds of what he insists on calling, simply and simply, the “third world war”.

As every year, from the central loggia of Saint Peter’s Basilica, the Pontiff appeared to impart the Christmas blessing, accompanied this year by the Marian Angelus prayer. Francis greeted the peoples of the world thus: “May the Lord Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, bring to all of you the love of God, source of faith and hope; together with the gift of peace, which the angels announced to the shepherds of Bethlehem”.

“Let us let the light surround us”, the Pope continued, “and let us go and see the sign that God has given us. Let’s overcome the lethargy of spiritual sleep and the false images of the party, which make us forget who the honoree is. Let’s get out of the bustle that anesthetizes the heart and leads us to prepare decorations and gifts rather than to contemplate the Event: the Son of God who was born for us.

At this time when the “winds of war continue to blow over humanity”, Francis asks that we stop and listen again to “the first groan of the Prince of peace”. Because ‘the Birth of the Lord is the Birth of peace’ he said, quoting Saint Leo the Great. The word that we invoke the most today, peace, finds its way in Jesus Christ, since He, “with his incarnation, passion, death and resurrection, opened the way – of a closed world, oppressed by the darkness of enmity and from war – to an open, free world, to live in brotherhood and peace”.

Christmas is about following this path. But for this, it is necessary to free oneself, also today, from those “burdens” that prevented King Herod from recognizing and welcoming the birth of Jesus: “the attachment to power and money, pride, hypocrisy, lies”. These burdens also today “exclude us from the grace of Christmas and close access to the path of peace” in so many parts of the world.

“May our gaze be filled with the faces of the Ukrainian brothers and sisters, who live this Christmas in the dark, in the open or far from their homes, because of the destruction caused by ten months of war”, is the exhortation of Francis .

“We let the Lord dispose us to carry out concrete gestures of solidarity to help those who are suffering. And may he enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the guns and immediately put an end to this senseless war.”

However, on this Christmas day, the news coming from the front dramatically indicates another path. Bitterly, the Pope commented: “Unfortunately, we prefer to listen to other reasons, dictated by the logic of the world. But the voice of the Child, who listens to it?

This is not only happening in the heart of Europe: “Our time is experiencing a serious lack of peace in other regions as well.” Francis began to list them: he spoke of Syria, “tormented by a conflict that has faded into the background but has not ended”; and the Holy Land, where violence and conflicts have increased in recent months, with deaths and injuries. “Let us implore the Lord so that there, in the land where he was born, dialogue and the search for reciprocal trust between Israelis and Palestinians can resume.” But the focus on the Middle East also stops at Lebanon, “so that it can finally recover, with the support of the international community and with the strength of brotherhood and solidarity.”

He then spoke of the Sahel region, “where the peaceful coexistence between peoples and traditions is disturbed by clashes and violence”, and also called for Yemen, which is still seeking “a lasting truce”. He referred to Myanmar, ravaged by civil war for two years now, and the harsh repression of protests in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini. Pope Francis mentions them together, wishing “all bloodshed to cease.” And he does not forget the American continent, shaken by political and social tensions affecting various countries: “I am thinking in particular of the Haitian population – added the pontiff – who have suffered for so long”.

They are all wars that, as always, are intertwined with the scourge of hunger, which especially affects children, “while large amounts of food are wasted and resources are squandered to acquire weapons.” Among the regions most affected by hunger, he mentions Afghanistan and the countries of the Horn of Africa. He denounces the use of food as a weapon: “Let us all commit ourselves, in the first place those with political responsibilities, so that food is only an instrument of peace”. But he also invites us not to forget those families that “in this time of economic crisis, are experiencing difficulties due to unemployment and lack the necessities to live”; and let us not forget the many “refugees and displaced persons who knock on our doors in search of comfort, warmth and food”; to “the marginalized, to the people who are alone, to the orphans and the elderly, who are at risk of being discarded, to the imprisoned who we only look at for their mistakes and not as human beings”.

Francis concludes his words on the occasion of Christmas by quoting another father of the Church, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus: “He who is the source of all good makes himself poor and asks for our poor humanity as alms. Let us be moved by the love of God and follow Jesus, who stripped himself of his glory to make us partakers of his fullness”.