On the first day of the year – World Day of Peace – Francis entrusted to the Mother of God “the children who suffer and no longer have the strength to pray and the many brothers and sisters affected by war in many parts of the world.” At the Angelus he asked “no to rearmament, that the resources be allocated to health, food, education, work.” He entrusted Benedict XVI “faithful servant of the Gospel” to the intercession of Mary.
Vatican City () – “At the beginning of this year we need hope, just as the earth needs rain”, “the key to hope is Mary and the antiphon of hope is the invocation Holy Mother of God”, he said this morning Pope Francis in the homily of the mass in the Basilica of Saint Peter, during the celebration of the solemnity of Mary Most Holy Mother of God on the first day of 2023, World Day of Peace.
Francis reflected that many books and great treatises have been written on the title of Mother of God that is attributed to the Virgin. “But, above all, these words – he added – have entered the heart of the holy people of God, in the most familiar and domestic prayer, which accompanies the rhythm of the days, the moments of greatest effort and the most daring hopes: it is Ave Maria”.
“Let us ask the Mother in a special way for the children who suffer and no longer have the strength to pray – continued the pontiff – for so many brothers and sisters affected by the war, in so many parts of the world, who live these holidays in the darkness and cold, in misery and fear, surrounded by violence and indifference. Let us ask the Virgin for those who have no peace, she who brought the Prince of peace into the world (cf. Is 9, 5; Ga 4, 4). In her, Queen of Peace, the blessing we heard in the first reading is fulfilled: “May the Lord show you his face and grant you peace” (Num 6, 26). Hand in hand with a Mother, the peace of God wants to enter our homes, our hearts, our world”.
But how can we welcome this peace? Francis pointed to the example of the shepherds, who “went without delay” to the Bethlehem grotto. “To welcome God and his peace -he explained- we cannot sit still, we cannot remain comfortably waiting for things to improve. You have to get up, take advantage of the opportunities of grace, go out, take risks ”. And he invited to ask: “Where do I want to go this year? To whom am I going to do good?” “Given the laziness that anesthetizes and the indifference that paralyzes, given the risk of limiting ourselves to sitting in front of a screen, with our hands on a keyboard, today the pastors encourage us to go out, to do something for what is happening in the world. world, to get our hands dirty to do good, to renounce so many habits and comforts to open ourselves to the novelties of God, which are found in the humility of service, in the courage to take charge”.
And then the shepherds stop to see the Child in the manger. “How many times – Pope Francis commented again – caught up in the rush, we do not even have time to stop for a minute in the company of the Lord, to listen to his Word, to pray, to adore, to praise. The same happens with respect to others: in a hurry or trapped by the limelight, we don’t have time to listen to the wife, the husband, to talk to the children, to ask them how they feel inside, not just how their studies and school are going. Health. And how much good it does to listen to the elderly, to grandfather and grandmother, to look into the depth of life and rediscover the roots. Let us ask ourselves then if we are capable of seeing the one who lives next to us, the one who lives in our building, the ones we meet every day on the street”.
Shortly afterwards, when he addressed the faithful who were in Saint Peter’s Square at noon to pray the Angelus, Pope Francis once again entrusted Pope Benedict XVI to the intercession of the Virgin, “faithful servant of the Gospel and of the Church” who passed away yesterday. He then pointed to the example of the tenderness of the Virgin and affirmed that the path to peace is through “caring” for others.
“On this day that Saint Paul VI wanted to dedicate to reflection and prayer for peace in the world – he added after praying the Angelus – we feel the contrast of war even more strongly and intolerably than in Ukraine and in other parts of the world sow death and destruction. However, we do not lose hope, because we have faith in God, who in Jesus Christ has opened the path of peace for us. The experience of the pandemic -he concluded- teaches us that no one can be saved alone but that, together, we can travel paths of peace and development. Throughout the world, in all peoples, the cry is raised: no to war! Not to rearmament! That the resources be used for development, health, food, education, work”.
