«Will love be enough to change history?». On Christmas night, Pope Leo, in a crowded basilica despite the rain and cold, questions himself about the meaning of the birth of Jesus. About that “distorted economy” which “leads us to treat men as commodities” while “God becomes similar to us, revealing the infinite dignity of every person”. The Pontiff explains that «while man wants to become God to dominate over others, God wants to become man to free us from all slavery.”
Six thousand faithful are in the basilica, almost as many outside that they follow on the big screens. The Pope, surprisingly, before the celebration, greets them in English and Italian and explains that the interior, unfortunately, is not large enough to accommodate them all. He thanks them for their presence, despite the bad weather and blesses them.
Many of those present still have images from a year ago in their eyes. Pope Francis, already suffering, opened the Holy Door in a wheelchair. Which opened the heart to hope, despite the darkness, the wars, the uncertainties. Pope Leo also remembers this by taking up the words of his predecessor for the homily of 24 December 2024, and hoping that «the Christmas of Jesus revives in us “the gift and commitment to bring hope where it has been lost”, because “with Him joy flourishes, with Him life changes, with Him hope does not disappoint”». The Holy Year had begun and now «that the Jubilee is approaching its completion, Christmas”, says Prevost, “is a time of gratitude and mission for us. Gratitude for the gift received, mission to testify it to the world.”
A world that, even today, rejects and sets aside. Who does not allow himself to be enlightened by the coming of Christ, who does not recognize the plan of love inherent in creation. «As long as the night of error obscures this providential truth, then», says Leone, borrowing the words of Benedict XVI, «there is not even room for others, for children, for the poor, for foreigners». Words that tell us that on earth «there is no space for God if there is no space for man: not welcoming one means not welcoming the other. Instead, where there is room for man, there is room for God: then a stable can become more sacred than a temple and the womb of the Virgin Mary is the ark of the new alliance.”
The Little Child, “unveiled” by the Pope accompanied by ten children, and who at the end of the celebration is placed in the nativity scene of St. Peter’s Basilica, recalls today’s wounds. From Ukraine, Mozambique, South Korea, India, Paraguay, Polandthe little ones, with flowers in their hands and the traditional clothes of their countries, are a mirror of that defenseless little one who saved the world. A baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, a great light that illuminates the darkness. «For millennia, in every part of the earth, people have scanned the sky, giving names and shapes to silent stars», explains Leone, «in their imagination, they read the events of the future looking high up, among the stars, for the truth that was missing down below, among the houses. As if groping, in that darkness they remained confused by their own oracles. On this night, however”, as Isaiah writes, “the people who walked in darkness saw a great light; on those who lived in the dark land a light shone.”
The child is “the star that surprises the world, a spark just lit and blazing with life”. And, “in its light all humanity sees the dawn of a new and eternal existence.”
We must not look for the trace of a new world high up, among the stars, but “by bowing our heads, in the next stable. The clear sign given to the dark world is in fact “a child wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger”. To find the Savior, one must not look up, but contemplate down: the omnipotence of God shines in the impotence of a newborn; the eloquence of the eternal Word resonates in the first cry of an infant; the holiness of the Spirit shines in that little body just washed and wrapped in swaddling clothes. The need for care and warmth, which the Son of the Father shares in history with all his brothers, is divine. The divine light that radiates from this Child helps us to see man in every nascent life.”
And so the Pope’s invitation is to admire «the wisdom of Christmas. In the child Jesus, God gives the world a new life: his, for everyone. Not a solution idea for every problem, but a love story that involves us. Faced with the expectations of the people, He sends an infant to be a word of hope; in front of the pain of the miserable He sends a defenseless person, to be the strength to get up again; in the face of violence and oppression He lights a gentle light that illuminates all the children of this world with salvation.”
