Pope Francis reflects on how, in becoming flesh, God has united with humanity, loving us in all our fragility and inviting us to share everything with Him.
By Vatican News staff writer
On Sunday, Pope Francis invited believers to invite God into their homes, into their families, to share their frailties and fears, to enable him to change his life.
Speaking in the time of Angelus on the second Sunday after Christmas, the Pope contemplated the tenderness of the Baby Jesus in the crib and reflected on the Gospel of John (Jn 1: 1) explaining that, especially in the prologue, “he speaks to us of Him before He is born.”
He said that the apostle uses words similar to those used in the Bible for the account of creation, but says that today “He whom I beheld at his birth existed before: before things began, before the universe. He existed before space and time. “In Him was life” (Jn 1: 4), before life appears. “
God communicates with us
The Pope mentioned that “Saint John calls him Logos, that is Word.” And the word, he added, serves to communicate: “you don’t talk alone, you talk to someone.”
The fact that Jesus was, from the beginning, the Word, Pope Francis continued, “means that from the beginning God wants to communicate with us, He wants to speak with us.”
The Son of the Father, Pope Francis explained, “wants to tell us about the beauty of being children of God,” he wants to remove the darkness of evil from us: “He is the ‘life’ who knows our life and wants to tell us that He always loved them ”.
“Jesus is the eternal Word of God, who always thought of us and wanted to communicate with us,” he said.
He became flesh to dwell forever among us
The Pope explained that in this way, as today’s Gospel tells us, Jesus went beyond words and, indeed, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
He reflected on the choice of the word by St. John meat, which indicates our human condition in all its weakness, in all its fragility.
“He tells us that God has become fragile so that he can reach our fragility up close,” he said.
“Revealing the wounds of His Father’s body,” the Pope said, “Jesus intercedes for us.”
From the moment the Lord took flesh, Pope Francis explained, nothing in our lives is foreign to him: “There is nothing He despises, we can share everything with Him.”
“Dear brother, dear sister, God became flesh to tell you that He loves you so much, in your fragility; right where you are most ashamed, ”he said.
The Pope went on to detail how God did not return, “He did not clothe our humanity like a garment that can be put on and taken off,” he never detached himself from our bodies. And He will never be separated from her.
He explained that, as the gospel says, “He came to dwell among us. He did not come to visit us. “
Open your hearts to the Lord
“What does He want from us?” The pope asked, “Great privacy!”
He wants us to share with Him our joys and sorrows, He said, our desires and fears, our hopes and pains, people and situations.
The Pope concluded by urging the faithful to do just that, to open their hearts to Him and to tell Him everything.
“Let us stop in silence before the crib to enjoy the tenderness of God who has come, who has become flesh. And without fear, to invite Him among us, in our homes, in our families, in our weaknesses. He will come and life will change. “
Special greetings from Pope Francis for the New Year
Following the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis renewed his wishes for the year that has just begun for all. He said that as Christians, we know that things will get better, with God’s help, only if we work together for the common good, “putting the weakest and most disadvantaged at the center.”
“We don’t know what 2021 will bring, but what each of us and all of us can do is commit to taking care of each other and creating our common home,” he said.
He revealed that he was saddened to read in the newspapers, there were cases in the past days in which some chose to ignore the blocking rules in order to “have a good holiday”, without thinking about others suffering the consequences of the pandemic.
The Pope expressed his special greetings especially to those “who start the New Year with greater difficulties: the sick, the unemployed, those living in situations of oppression or exploitation.”
He also said that he is close to the families waiting for the arrival of a new child, saying: “A birth is always a promise of hope!”