Vatican City, Tuesday, December 24, 2024 8.15 pm (ACI Press).
This evening Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, thus beginning the Jubilee 2025, dedicated to hope. The Pope, remaining seated in the wheelchair, pronounced the ritual formula and then opened the two doors of the Holy Door and, crossing the threshold, entered the Vatican Basilica.
“Among the amazement of the poor and the singing of the angels – said the Pope in his homily – heaven opens on earth: God made himself one of us to make us like Him, he descended among us to raise us up and bring us back into the Father's embrace. This is our hope. God is Emmanuel, he is God-with-us. The infinitely large has become small; the divine light has shone amidst the darkness of the world; the glory of heaven appeared on earth, in the smallness of a Child. And if God comes, even when our heart resembles a poor manger, then we can say: hope is not dead, hope is alive.”
“With the opening of the Holy Door – added the Pontiff – we have begun a new Jubilee: each of us can enter into the mystery of this announcement of grace. This is the night when the door of hope opened onto the world; this is the night in which God says to each one: there is hope for you too. God forgives everything, God always forgives.”
We must – urges the Pope – “set out with the amazement of the shepherds of Bethlehem. This is the indication to rediscover lost hope, renew it within us, sow it in the desolations of our time and our world: without delay. There are many desolations in this time, there are wars… Don't delay, don't slow down, but let yourself be attracted by the good news. Without hesitation, let us go and see the Lord who was born for us, with a light and alert heart, ready to meet, to be able to translate hope into the situations of our lives. Why Christian hope is not a happy ending to be passively waited for: it is the promise of the Lord to be welcomed here and now, in this land that suffers and groans. It asks us not to linger, not to drag ourselves into habits, not to linger in mediocrity and laziness; it asks us to be indignant at the things that are wrong and have the courage to change them; asks us to become pilgrims in search of the truth, dreamers who are never tired, women and men who allow themselves to be disturbed by dream of God, the dream of a new world, where peace and justice reign”.
Looking at the shepherds, the Pope asks us to learn from them because “the hope that is born in this night does not tolerate the indolence of the sedentary and the laziness of those who have settled into their comforts; it does not accept the false prudence of those who do not go out of their way for fear of compromising themselves and the calculation of those who think only of themselves; it is incompatible with the quiet life of those who do not raise their voices against evil and injustices committed against the poorest. Christian hope, while inviting us to patiently wait for the Kingdom that germinates and grows, demands from us the audacity to anticipate this promise today, through our responsibility and our compassion”.
