At the New Year's Day Angelus, Pope Francis encourages us to "roll up our sleeves to build peace" praying that Mary, Queen of Peace, may obtain harmony in our hearts and in the entire world.
By Vatican News staff writer
After presiding over the morning celebration of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Pope Francis greeted pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, offering his New Year's good wishes and reflecting on the day's liturgy. In the Church, the first day of the civil New Year is also observed as the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, as well as the World Day of Peace.
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In today's Gospel, we hear about the wonder of the crib when the shepherds hasten to see the Christ Child announced to them by the angel. The Pope said we can imagine Mary, "like a tender and caring mother," placing Jesus in the manger, not only holding Him in her arms, but inviting us to look at Him in adoration and with welcome. "Behold Mary’s maternity," he said. "She offers the Son who is born to all of us."
New Year's Day Angelus
God is near, within our reach
Mary's presentation of Jesus gives us "a wonderful message" that "God is near, within our reach," the Pope said, not in order to be feared but with the "frailness of someone who asks to be loved." He added that God shared in our human condition to be with us as one of us, "born little and in need so that no one would ever again be ashamed," and to draw ever nearer to us, excluding no one, making us all brothers and sisters.
New Year's Day Angelus
God gives us courage with tenderness
"God with us" in the Christ Child gives us "courage with tenderness," the Pope pointed out, and this needed encouragement is light in these uncertain and difficult times caused by the pandemic. The resulting economic and social problems cause fear for the future, the Pope acknowledged, recalling modern-day young mothers and their children fleeing conflicts and famine, or waiting in refugee camps. Like Mary, we too can make ourselves available to others to bring positive change in our world. "If we become craftsmen of fraternity, we will be able to mend the threads of a world torn apart by war and violence."
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