In front of «armed strategies, cloaked in hypocritical speeches, ideological proclamations and false religious motives», there is a gaze capable of disarming: that of the Mother of God, who sees reality with the eyes of the Son.
This is the red thread of the homily of Pope Leo XIV in the celebration of the First Vespers of the Solemnity of Mary Most Holy Mother of God and of the traditional Te Deum at the end of the year, presided over in St. Peter’s Basilica in front of around 5,500 faithful, while the Civil Year and also the Jubilee Year which saw around 30 million pilgrims arrive in the Eternal City are drawing to a close.
In front of civil authorities, including the mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri, the Pope addressed a specific wish to the Capital, “city of the Jubilee”: to be on the level of the little ones, “the children, the lonely and fragile elderly, the families who struggle to get ahead, of men and women who came from far away in the hope of a dignified life.”
Two drawings on the world
In his speech the Pontiff evoked two “designs” that run through history. On the one hand, the God’s plan: “wise, benevolent, merciful”, a “free and liberating, peaceful and faithful” planlike the one sung by Maria in Magnificatwhere the Lord’s mercy extends “from generation to generation”.
On the other hand, Leo XIV denounced, there are “other designs”, which even today “envelop the world”: not peace projects, but strategies of power, aimed at conquering markets, territories and zones of influence. Strategies that often present themselves with high-sounding words, but which hide violence and partisan interests: «Cloaked in hypocritical speeches, ideological proclamations, false religious motives», Prevost describes them. Yet Mary, «the smallest and highest among creatures», looks at history with the gaze of God: «He sees things with the gaze of God», explained the Pontiff, «he sees that with the power of his arm the Most High disperses the plots of the proud, overthrows the powerful from their thrones and raises the humble, fills the hands of the hungry with goods and empties those of the rich. The Mother of Jesus is the woman with whom God, in the fullness of time, wrote the Word that reveals the mystery. He did not impose it: he proposed it first to his heart and, having received her ‘yes’, he wrote it with ineffable love in his flesh. Thus the hope of God was intertwined with the hope of Mary, descendant of Abraham according to the flesh and above all according to faith.”
The Pope in front of the Nativity scene set up in St. Peter’s Square
(HANDLE)
The hope of the little ones
“God loves to hope with the hearts of little ones”, underlined Leo XIV. This is how the world goes: thanks to the hope of many simple people, often invisible, who continue to believe in a better tomorrow because they know that the future is in God’s hands.
Among these people, the Pope recalled, there was also Simon, the fisherman from Galilee called Peter. On his simple and generous faith, God built his Church. And even today, at the tomb of the Apostle, pilgrims from all over the world renew their faith in Christ, especially during the Holy Year now nearing its end.
Rome, city of the Jubilee
Rome, the Pontiff reiterated, has a special place in God’s plan not for its glories or its power, but because here Peter, Paul and many martyrs gave their lives for Christ. This is why it is the city of the Jubilee, a sign of a reconciled and renewed world: «Today we thank God for the gift of the Jubilee, which was a great sign of his plan of hope for man and the world», the Pope’s tribute, «and we thank all those who in the months and days of 2025 worked at the service of pilgrims and to make Rome more welcoming. This was the hope of the beloved Pope Francis a year ago”, underlined Leo XIV: “I wish it still was, and I would say even more so after this time of grace. May this city, animated by Christian hope, be at the service of God’s loving plan for the human family.”
A path that the Pope has entrusted to the intercession of the Holy Mother of God, Salus Populi Romani.
At the end of the celebration in the Vatican Basilica, Leo XIV went out to St. Peter’s Square to visit the nativity scene placed under the obelisk, donated by the diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno. Welcomed by the president of the Governorate sister Raffaella Petrini, in front of the gathering of faithful that immediately formed, the Pontiff paused for a few minutes in front of the display, contemplating the figures and also listening to the explanations of the nun. He then went up before the Child Jesus to pay homage to him and pray for a few moments. At the end, before leaving the square, Leone stopped with the hundreds of faithful present, shaking their hands and dispensing blessings.
