Pope Francis presides over Mass on the night of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord and reflects on the closeness, poverty and concreteness of the manger in which Mary placed the child Jesus.
By Devin Watkins
“If you feel consumed by events, if you are consumed by a sense of guilt and inadequacy, if you thirst for justice, I, your God, am with you.”
As the Church celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ, Pope Francis offered that assurance to Christians around the world by presiding at Mass in St. Petersburg. St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday evening.
In his homily, the Pope noted that the Gospel of Jesus’ birth seeks to “lead us where God wants us to go,” even as we rush around consumerist goals.
He centered his reflection on the importance Luke the Evangelist places on the manger in which Mary laid her Son, noting that his Gospel repeats the term three times in the space of just a few verses (Lk 2).
With the little detail of the nativity scene, he says, the evangelist seeks to show us “the nearness, poverty and concreteness” of God in his Son, Jesus.
Pope Francis at Mass
Proximity in “rejection management”
Pope Francis said the nativity scene can symbolize humanity’s “consumptive greed” because it serves as a trough that allows food to be consumed more quickly.
“While the animals feed in their stables,” he said, “the men and women of our world, in their thirst for wealth and power, even consume their neighbors, their brothers and sisters.”
He deplored the proliferation of wars and injustice, and their deleterious effects on human dignity and freedom, especially that of children.
Yet, the Pope said, the Son of God is first laid precisely in this “manger of rejection and denial,” making God present even in the worst conditions of human existence.
Trust in the nearness of God
The Pope added that God is a Father who, instead of devouring his children, “nourishes us with his tender love”, approaches us in humility.
Each of us can rejoice in God’s closeness to our suffering and loneliness, he said.
He said that there is no evil or sin that Jesus does not want to save us from. And He can. Christmas means that God is close to us: that trust is reborn!
Pope Francis at Mass
The True Wealth Found in the Poverty of Jesus
Pope Francis then turned to the message of “poverty” expressed in the nativity scene, which was surrounded by very little except love.
“The poverty of the manger,” he said, “shows us where the real riches of life are found: not in money and power, but in relationships and people.”
Jesus, the Pope added, is the greatest wealth we can achieve, especially when we learn to love and serve his poverty in the poor of our world.
God concretely embraces the harsh human existence
Finally, the pope focused on the “concrete” manifested in Jesus, lying in a manger.
“A child lying in a manger presents us with a striking, even crude scene,” he says. “It reminds us that God truly became flesh.”
In every moment of his life, Pope Francis said, Jesus’ love for us was “always palpable and concrete” as he embraced the “roughness of wood and the harshness of our existence.”
While Jesus was lying in a manger “tenderly wrapped in swaddling clothes by Mary”, Jesus shows us that he wants to be clothed in our love for those around us who need it most.
mass at night
Jesus gives flesh and life to our faith
Pope Francis also urged everyone to celebrate Christmas by doing something good for others, to “rekindle hope in those who feel hopeless.”
“Jesus, we see you lying in the manger,” he prayed in conclusion. We see you as close, always by our side: thank you Lord! We see you as poor, in order to teach us that true wealth does not reside in things but in people, and especially in the poor: forgive us, if we have not been able to recognize you and serve you with them. We see you as concrete, because your love for us is palpable. Help us to give flesh and life to our faith.
0 Comments