In a special New Year’s Eve liturgy Tuesday, Pope Francis offered a rare direct message to Rome, encouraging locals weary after a year of political bickering that has left many more confused than clear about their future.
He also appeared to issue a subtle chastisement of those who take a hard line on immigration, urging Romans to build bridges and bonds of fraternity rather than opposition.
In his annual Dec. 31 New Year’s Eve celebration of Vespers, Francis contrasted the cities where Jesus was born and where he died, noting that he was born in Nazareth, “a small city never mentioned in scripture” apart from a few bleak references, and he “died discarded by the great city, by Jerusalem, crucified outside of its walls.”
God’s decision is clear: To reveal his love, he chooses the small city and the despised city, and when he arrives to Jerusalem, he unites with the sinners and the discarded,” the pope said.
From the cross, condemned and abandoned to “sarcastic comments,” God gathers everything and everyone to himself, he said, noting that Jesus’ ministry was not limited to the temple, but rather, he spent his days with the people.
“In the city God set up his tent…and from there he never departed! His presence is in the city, also in our city of Rome, which must not be fabricated, but discovered, revealed,” Francis said, and pointed to the day’s Psalm, 147, which speaks of the building up of Jerusalem and the gathering of the outcasts.
“Tonight, I would like our gaze on the city of Rome to look at things from God’s point of view,” Francis said, stressing that “Rome is not only a complicated city, with many problems, inequalities, corruption and social tensions.”
Rather, God “delights in seeing how many acts of good are done every day, how much strength and dedication there is in promoting brotherhood and solidarity,” he said, calling Rome a city “in which God sent his word, which through the spirit nestles in the hearts of its inhabitants and pushes them to believe, to hope despite everything, and to love fighting for the good of all.”
Francis said that he has met “courageous people,” both believers and non-believers, during his time in Rome. These people, he said, are the “beating heart” of the city.
“God truly does not cease to change history and the face of our city through the small and poor people who inhabit it: He chooses them, inspires them, motivates them to action, makes them supportive, pushes them to launch networks, create virtuous bonds, and to build bridges rather than walls,” he said.
“It is precisely through these thousands of streams of living water of the spirit that the word of God fertilizes the city and turns it from sterile to a joyful mother,” he said.
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