«Our gestures towards the poor must speak, denounce, stimulate, train and inform. Concrete commitment to the poor must be associated with a cultural transformation. A mentality that ignores others, without even realizing it, often persists. Changing this culture is also the task of the world of communication. We are called to form a new public opinion, first and foremost within the Church, which overcomes abandonment and ideological prejudices. Poverty must not be interpreted as punishment, lack of merit or useless charitable intervention. Even Christians risk being infected by distorted mentalities.”
It is the reflection of the monsignor Gian Carlo Perego, archbishop of Ferrara and president of the CEI Migrantes Foundation, in the homily of Christmas mass celebrated on Wednesday afternoon for the employees and collaborators of San Paolo Publishing Group at theAuditorium in via Giotto 36 in Milanwhere the editorial offices of the Group’s periodicals are also located (Christian Family, Believe, Jesus, Mary with you).
They participated in the celebration Don Stefano Stimamigliopresident and CEO of the Group as well as director of Christian family, Don Giuseppe Musardogeneral director, don Roberto PontiProvincial Superior, and numerous Pauline priests from the communities of Rome, Milan and Cinisello Balsamo.
The meaning of Christmas and the kingship of Christ
In his homily, Monsignor Perego recalled the essence of Christmas, underlining God’s choice to become poor in order to share human frailty: «God, sharing the limits and fragility of man, became poor. He was born in the flesh like us. We knew him in the smallness of a child placed in a manger and in the humiliation of the cross, sharing our radical poverty and even death.”
The archbishop, quoting Don Primo Mazzolari, Giuseppe Lazzati and Armida Bareelli, he also highlighted the kingship of Christ, which manifests itself from his birth in Bethlehem to the cross: «The kingship of Jesus is not power or dominion, but sharing, forgiveness and justice». And he underlined that Christian politics is neither exclusion nor arrogance: «It’s not about exclusion, squadrism or arrogance. Recalling royalty means recalling the style of the Christian in the world: a policy that has the common good as its primary reference, even at the cost of sacrifice and gift.”
Discernment, social responsibility and attention to the poor
Reflecting on Christian discernment and social commitment, Msgr. Perego added:
“Christmas calls us to build authentic relationships with the poor, not to delegate the task of acting to others, to denounce what offends the dignity of man and to promote a culture of charity, which overcomes self-referentiality and prejudices.” The archbishop also recalled responsibility towards migrants: «The organizations I represent and my person are of help to the entire Italian Church and to all of us, in a time in which powerful forces are being unleashed against migrants who would like to blame every problem in our society on them, creating the conditions for ethnic, religious and racial hatred.”
The role of Christian communication
In the initial greeting at the beginning of the Mass, Don Stefano Stimamiglio emphasized the meaning of this Christmas celebration: «We thank you», he said, turning to Monsignor Perego, «for being here this evening to remind us that every apostolic action and every form of testimony of the Lord, even that of communication that we try to carry forward every day draws nourishment and reason for being from the Lord Jesuswho still experienced the tragic experience of exile in Egypt at Christmas in search of protection from brutal human violence.”
The homily and the celebration, as Perego underlined, reminded us that Christmas is not just about waiting and celebrating, but also a concrete commitment in society: build relationships with the poor, denounce injustices, promote charity as a high form of politics and live the kingship of Christ as a gift and service.
At the end of the celebration they were rewarded three employees who have completed 25 years of career in the San Paolo Publishing Group.
