In his homily delivered before 6,500 faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Basilica and 6,000 in Saint Peter’s Square, the Pope recalled how Jesus is not a God of performance nor of unlimited power, but who immerses himself in our limits and weaknesses. “Our heart, this evening, is in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is still rejected by the losing logic of war, with the clash of arms which, even today, prevents him from finding a place in the world », affirmed the Holy Father.
Delphine Allaire – Vatican City
Drawing on the historical context of the birth of Christ, that of the census throughout the earth, the Pope highlighted a glaring contrast: “While the emperor counts the inhabitants of the world, God enters into it almost in secret; while those who command seek to rise among the greats of history, the King of history chooses the path of smallness. None of the powerful notice it, only a few shepherds, relegated to the margins of social life.”
This path of smallness is verified, according to the Holy Father, also in the attitude of Jesus towards the census. “He does not sanction the census and humbly allows himself to be counted. We do not see an angry God who punishes, but the merciful God who is incarnate, who enters weakly into the world, with the proclamation: “On earth peace to men” which precedes him.“.
Jesus is not the God of performance but of incarnation
“And our heart, this evening, is in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is still rejected by the losing logic of war, with the clash of arms which, even today, prevents him from finding a place in the world», affirmed the successor of Peter, considering that the census of the entire earth, in short, manifests on the one hand the all too human thread which runs through history: “that of a world in search of power and power, of fame and glory, where everything is measured by achievements and results, figures and numbers“. It’s the obsession with performance, he says. But at the same time, in the census, the path of Jesus, who comes to seek us through the incarnationstands out. “He is not the God of performance, but the God of incarnation. He does not overthrow injustices from above by force, but from below by love; it does not unfold with unlimited power, but immerses itself within our limits; he does not avoid our fragilities, but assumes them.”
The Bishop of Rome continued his homily by questioning the faithful: “Which God do we believe in? To the God of incarnation or to the God of performance? Yes, because there is a risk of experiencing Christmas with a pagan idea of God in mind. As if he were a powerful master in the sky, a god linked to power, worldly success and the idolatry of consumerism.
Beware of false images of a god of immediacy
This, according to Francis, is the false image of a detached and touchy god, who behaves well with the good and gets angry with the bad; “a god made in our image, useful only to solve our problems and remove our evils“. On the contrary, “He does not use a magic wand, He is not the commercial god of “everything and immediately”; he does not save us by pressing a button, but comes close to change reality from within», added the Sovereign Pontiff, deploring this worldly idea of a distant and controlling god, rigid and powerful, who helps his own to prevail over others as many believe.
And the Pope urges us to turn to the “living and true God”, which is beyond all human calculation and which nevertheless allows itself to be recorded by our counts; towards Him who revolutionizes history by inhabiting it; towards Him who respects us to the point of allowing us to reject Him. “He so desires to embrace our existence that, infinite, he becomes finite for us; big, it becomes small; just, he inhabits our injustices», noted Pierre’s successor. This, according to him, is the wonder of Christmas: “Not a mixture of sentimental affections and worldly comforts, but the unprecedented tenderness of God who saves the world by becoming incarnate. Let us look at the Child, let us look at his manger, let us look at the manger, which the angels call “the sign”“.
God looks at the face and the heart, not the performance
The Pope then meditated on the flesh in which the Word was incarnate. A term recalling the fragility of the human condition that God has penetrated out of love for us.
“For God who changed history in the census, you are not a number, but a face; your name is written in his heart“, underlined Francis, speaking to the hollow of everyone’s heart: “Looking at your heart, your performances which are not up to par, the world which judges and does not forgive, perhaps you are living badly this Christmas, thinking that you are not doing well, nourishing a feeling of inadequacy and dissatisfaction because of your frailties, your falls and your problems”.
Now, He who became flesh, does not expect your performances but your open and trusting heart, the Pope said, recalling that Christ does not look at numbers, but at faces. Conversely, he asks, “who looks at Him, in the midst of the innumerable things and the mad rush of a world always busy and indifferent?”
Rediscover worship
One answer to this lies in worship, like Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, then the wise men. “Worship is the way to welcome the incarnation.” “Let us rediscover worship, because to worship is not to waste our time, but to allow God to inhabit our time. It is making the seed of the incarnation flourish in us, it is collaborating in the work of the Lord who changes the world like leaven. It’s interceding, repairing, allowing God to set history straight.” And the Pope concluded quoting the great Christian author Tolkien: “I offer you the only great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament. You will find there the charm, the glory, the honor, the fidelity and the true path of all your loves on earth» (JRR Tolkien, Letter n. 43, March 1941).