Pope leads Vespers and Te Deum on
New Year’s Eve
In his homily at Vespers in St Peter’s Basilica, Pope
Francis thanks all Rome’s residents who strive to promote the common good in
the Eternal City
Leading a celebration of Vespers in the Vatican Basilica on
Sunday afternoon, Pope Francis spoke of his gratitude for the many ways in
which Rome’s residents have worked to promote the common good of the city over
the past year.
The celebration concluded with the singing of the
traditional Te Deum, after which the Pope went outside and spent a
few moments greeting well-wishers and praying in front of the life-sized
Nativity scene in St Peter's Square.
Fullness of time
The Pope began his homily at Vespers by reflecting on the
“fullness of time” when the Word was made flesh through the birth of the Christ
child.
Mary, the Mother of God or Theotokos as she’s called in the
Orthodox world, was the first to experience that sense of fullness, the Pope
said, as her humble heart and her whole being was “saturated with the Holy
Spirit”.
Sense of gratitude
From Mary, he continued, the Church inherits this inner
perception of fullness which nourishes a sense of gratitude as the only human
response to God’s great gift for us. In this spirit of gratitude, he said, we
lift up to God our thanksgiving for the year that draws to a close.
Wasting God’s gift
As we look back over 2017, Pope Francis said, we must
recognise the many ways we have wasted and wounded God’s gifts “with works of
death, with lies and injustices”. Wars are the flagrant sign of this
backsliding and absurd pride, he said, but so are all the small and great
offenses against life, truth, and solidarity, which cause multiple forms of
human, social and environmental degradation.
Working for the common good
But the Pope also expressed his gratitude to all those
living and working for the common good in the city of Rome, seeking to “do
their duty”, to “respect public places”, to “point out things that are wrong”
and to “pay attention to the elderly or those in difficulty”.
Teaching civic values
In particular, he praised the work of all parents, teachers
and educators who try to train children and young people in a civic sense and
an ethic of responsibility. Though they may not make the news, he said, they
are the majority of Rome’s residents, striving to do what they can, even though
many live in difficult economic conditions.
Today, in thanksgiving to God, the Pope concluded, let us
all express our gratitude for all these craftsmen of the common good, who love
their city not only with words but also with deeds.
Please find below the full text of the Pope’s homily for
Vespers in St Peter’s Basilica
"When the fullness of time came, God sent his Son"
(Gal 4:4). This celebration of Vespers breathes the atmosphere of the fullness
of time. It’s not because we are on the last evening of the solar year, far
from it, but because faith makes us contemplate and feel that Jesus Christ, the
Word made flesh, gave fullness to time, both of the world and of human history.
«Born as a woman» (v.4). The first person to experience the
sense of fullness given by the Jesus’ presence was precisely the
"woman" from whom He was "born". The Mother of the
Incarnate Son, Theotokos, the Mother of God. Through her, so to
speak, the fullness of time has flowed: through her humble heart, so full of
faith, and through her whole flesh saturated with the Holy Spirit.
From her the Church has inherited and continuously inherits
this inner perception of fullness, which nourishes a sense of gratitude, as the
only human response worthy of the immense gift of God. An overflowing
gratitude, which, starting from the contemplation of that Child wrapped in
swaddling clothes in a manger, extends to everything and everyone, throughout
the whole world. It is a "thank you" that reflects Grace; it comes
not from us but from Him; it comes not from the self, but from God, and
involves both the self and the community.
In this atmosphere created by the Holy Spirit, we lift up to
God our thanksgiving for the year that draws to a close, recognizing that all
good is God’s gift.
Even the year 2017, which God gave us whole and healthy, we
human beings have in many ways wasted and wounded it with works of death, with
lies and injustices. Wars are the flagrant sign of this backsliding and absurd
pride. But so are all the small and great offenses against life, truth, and
solidarity, which cause multiple forms of human, social and environmental
degradation. We desire to and must assume fully, before God, our brothers and Creation,
our own responsibility.
But tonight the Grace of Jesus prevails and his reflection
in Mary. Therefore, gratitude prevails, which, as Bishop of Rome, I feel in my
soul, thinking of people who live with an open heart in this city.
I feel a sense of warmness and gratitude for all those
people who contribute every day with small but precious and concrete actions to
the good of Rome: they try to do their duty as best as possible; they confront
its traffic with care and prudence; they respect public places and they point
out things that are wrong; they pay attention to the elderly or those in
difficulty, and so on. These and a thousand other behaviors express concretely
their love for the city of Rome. Without speeches, without grandiosity, but
with a type of civic education practiced in everyday life. And so they silently
cooperate in the common good.
I also feel a great esteem for parents, teachers and all
educators who, in this same manner, try to train children and young people in a
civic sense and an ethic of responsibility, educating them to belong, to take
care of themselves, and to take an interest in the reality that surrounds them.
These people, even if they do not make the news, are the
majority of the people who live in Rome. And among them, many are in difficult
economic conditions; yet they do not cry uselessly, nor do they harbor
resentment and grudges, but they strive to do their part every day to improve
things a little.
Today, in thanksgiving to God, I invite you to express also
gratitude for these craftsmen of the common good, who love their city not only
with words but with deeds.
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