By URN<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV on Christmas night delivered a deeply reflective homily centered on hope, humility, human dignity, and God\u2019s closeness to humanity,\u00a0<\/b>urging believers to look not to power or the heavens, but to the vulnerability of the Christ Child for salvation.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV presided over the midnight Mass for the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord\u00a0at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica.<\/p>\n
The mass was attended by over five thousand people and watched by millions around the world. Addressing the faithful, the pontiff reflected on humanity\u2019s long search for meaning, noting that for centuries people had \u201cscrubbed the sky, giving names and shapes to mute stars\u201d while searching for truth beyond their reach. Yet, he said, such efforts often left humanity \u201cconfused by their own oracles.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis night,\u201d the Pope declared, quoting Scripture, \u201cthe people who walked in the darkness saw a great light. On those who dwelt in the dark land, a light shone.\u201d<\/p>\n
He described the birth of Christ as \u201cthe star that surprises the world, a spark that has just been lit, a beacon of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marking the Nativity, he reminded Christians that salvation is not distant or abstract. \u201cToday, in the city of David, a Savior has been born for you, who is Christ the Lord,\u201d he said, adding that Christ comes \u201cin time and space, there where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe lives with us,\u201d the Pope said, describing Jesus as the one \u201cwho gives his life for us, illuminating our night with salvation.\u201d The Pope stressed that the birth of Jesus brings light capable of overcoming every form of darkness.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no darkness that this star does not illuminate,\u201d he said, because in Christ\u2019s light \u201cthe entire humanity sees the dawn of a new and eternal existence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calling Jesus \u201cthe Emmanuel,\u201d the pontiff emphasized that God\u2019s gift at Christmas is not symbolic but total. \u201cIn the Son made man, God does not give us something, but himself,\u201d he said, explaining that Christ comes \u201cto rescue us from all iniquity and to form for himself a pure people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pope urged the faithful to abandon the tendency to search for God in grandeur or power. \u201cTo find the Savior, one must not look up, but contemplate down,\u201d he said, pointing to the manger as the clearest sign of God\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe omnipotence of God lies in the impotence of a newborn,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cthe eloquence of the eternal Word resounds in the first cry of a child.\u201d<\/p>\n
He described the vulnerability of the infant Jesus as a revelation of God\u2019s closeness to humanity, saying, \u201cIt is divine the need for care and warmth that the Son of the Father shares in history with all his brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Linking the Nativity to contemporary social realities, the Pope warned against societies that exclude the weak and vulnerable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe divine light that radiates from this child helps us to see man in every newborn life,\u201d he said. Recalling the words of Pope Benedict XVI, he cautioned that \u201con earth there is no space for God if there is no space for man.\u201d \u201cNot welcoming one means not welcoming the other,\u201d the Pope said, stressing that \u201cwhere there is a place for man, there is a place for God.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that, in this light, \u201ca stable can become more sacred than a temple.\u201d The pontiff also offered a sharp moral critique of economic and social systems that strip people of their dignity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile a distorted economy sometimes leads men to be treated as goods,\u201d he said, \u201cGod makes himself similar to us, revealing the infinite dignity of every person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Contrasting human ambition with divine humility, he noted, \u201cWhile man wants to become God to dominate his neighbor, God wants to become man to free us from every slavery.\u201d<\/p>\n
“While a distorted economy leads us to treat human beings as mere merchandise, God becomes like us, revealing the infinite dignity of every person,” he said. “While humanity seeks to become ‘god’ in order to dominate others, God chooses to become man in order to free us from every form of slavery.”<\/p>\n
The Christmas hymn, “Noel,” was sung during the procession, and the Mass began with the Christmas proclamation, or “kalenda,” of Jesus’ birth. The pope lifted a cloth to reveal a statue of baby Jesus, which he then kissed and blessed with incense.<\/p>\n
The Pope described Christmas not as an answer to every problem, but as an invitation into a story of love. \u201cNot a resolute idea for every problem, but a story of love that involves us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said God responds to human suffering with gentleness: \u201cBefore the pain of the poor, he sends a child to be strength to rise up.\u201d And \u201cbefore violence and oppression, he lights a gentle light that illuminates with salvation all the children of this world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quoting St Augustine, the Pope recalled that \u201conly divine humility could lift you up,\u201d underscoring humility as the path to renewal.<\/p>\n
Referring to Pope Francis\u2019 message last year, the pontiff said the Nativity renews both a gift and a responsibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nativity of Jesus revives in us the gift and the commitment to bring hope where it has been lost,\u201d he said, noting that \u201cwith him joy flourishes, with him life changes, with him hope does not disappoint.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the Jubilee now underway, he said Christmas is \u201ca time of gratitude and of mission,\u201d urging believers to \u201cannounce day by day his salvation\u201d and to \u201cnarrate his glory\u201d among all peoples.<\/p>\n
He concluded by calling Christmas \u201ca celebration of faith, of charity and of hope,\u201d saying it is faith because \u201cGod becomes man,\u201d charity because Christ is given \u201cin brotherly dedication,\u201d and hope because \u201cthe Child Jesus lights it in us, making us messengers of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith these virtues in our hearts,\u201d the Pope said, \u201cwithout fear of the night, we can go against the dawn of the new day.\u201d If people refuse to make room for others — like the poor, children and the stranger — then they also refuse to make room for God, Pope Leo XIV said as he celebrated the birth of Jesus.<\/p>\n
“Where there is room for the human person, there is room for God,” the pope said in his homily Dec. 24 as he celebrated the nighttime liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By URN Pope Leo XIV on Christmas night delivered a deeply reflective homily centered on hope, humility, human dignity, and God\u2019s closeness to humanity,\u00a0urging believers to look not to power or the heavens, but to the vulnerability of the Christ Child for salvation. Pope Leo XIV presided over the midnight Mass for the Solemnity of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10669","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-national","7":"category-news"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10669"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10674,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10669\/revisions\/10674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}