At noon today (Rome time), on the Feast of Saint Stephen, the first martyr, the Holy Father, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and with pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
After having celebrated the birth of Jesus, today we celebrate the birth of Saint Stephen, the first martyr, in heaven. Even if at first, it might seem that among these two events there is no connection, in truth there is, and it is a very strong connection.
Yesterday, in the Christmas day liturgy, we heard: The Word was made flesh and came to live among us (Jn 1:14). Saint Stephen placed the leaders of his time in crisis because: filled with faith and the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5), he firmly believed and professed the new presence of God among men; he know that from now on, the true temple of God was and is Jesus, the eternal Word who came to dwell among us, who was made like us in all things except for sin. But Stephen was accused of preaching the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. The accusation that was made against him was that he was affirming the fact that Jesus, the Nazarene, would destroy this place and undermine the customs that Moses had handed down to us (Acts 6:14).
In truth, the message of Jesus was uncomfortable and inconvenient, because it challenged worldly religious power and provoked consciences. After his coming, it was necessary to convert, to change our mentality, to renounce our ways of thinking before this change, to convert. Stephen remained anchored to the message of Jesus until his death. His final prayers: Lord Jesus, welcome my spirit and Lord, do not hold this sin against them (Acts 7:59-60), these two prayers are faithful echoes of the prayers that were spoken by Jesus on the cross: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit (Lk 23:46) and Father, forgive them for they know not what they do (Lk 23:34). These words spoken by Stephen were possible only because the Son of God came to earth and died and rose for us; before these events, they would have been humanly impossible expressions.
Stephen pleaded with Jesus to welcome his spirit. In fact, the risen Christ is the Lord, the only mediator between God and man, not only at the hour of our death, but also at every moment of our lives: without Him we can do nothing (cf Jn 15:5). Therefore, we too, standing before the child Jesus in the manger scene, can pray to him in these words: Lord Jesus, I entrust my spirit to you, welcome it, so that our lives may be well lived according to the gospel.
Jesus is our mediator and he reconciles us not only with the Father, but also with one another. He is the source of love, that opens us to living in communion with our brothers and sisters, to loving one another, removing all traces of conflict and resentment. We know that resentments are terrible things, they cause so much suffering and cause us such pain! Jesus removes all of them and helps us instead to love one another. This is the miracle of Jesus. Let us as Jesus, born for us, to help us to adopt these two attitudes of faithfulness to the Father and to love for our neighbour; this is an attitude that transforms lives and makes them more beautiful, more fruitful.
To Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer and Queen of martyrs, let us trustingly offer our prayers, asking her to help us to welcome Jesus as Lord of our lives and to become his courageous witnesses, ready to personally pay the price of faithfulness to the gospel.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
In this climate of Christian joy that surrounds us at the Birth of Jesus, I greet you all and I thank you for your presence.
To all of you who have come from Italy and from many other countries, I renew my wish for peace and serenity: may these days be for you and your families, a time to enjoy the beauty of being together and knowing that Jesus is among us.
I offer a particular greeting to the national Ukrainian pilgrimage: I bless all of you and your country.
In recent weeks, I have received many messages and greetings. It would never be possible for me to respond to each one of them, so today I express to all of you, my sincere gratitude: especially for the gift of your prayers. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! May the Lord reward you for your generosity!
Happy feast day! Please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye.
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
After having celebrated the birth of Jesus, today we celebrate the birth of Saint Stephen, the first martyr, in heaven. Even if at first, it might seem that among these two events there is no connection, in truth there is, and it is a very strong connection.
Yesterday, in the Christmas day liturgy, we heard: The Word was made flesh and came to live among us (Jn 1:14). Saint Stephen placed the leaders of his time in crisis because: filled with faith and the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5), he firmly believed and professed the new presence of God among men; he know that from now on, the true temple of God was and is Jesus, the eternal Word who came to dwell among us, who was made like us in all things except for sin. But Stephen was accused of preaching the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. The accusation that was made against him was that he was affirming the fact that Jesus, the Nazarene, would destroy this place and undermine the customs that Moses had handed down to us (Acts 6:14).
In truth, the message of Jesus was uncomfortable and inconvenient, because it challenged worldly religious power and provoked consciences. After his coming, it was necessary to convert, to change our mentality, to renounce our ways of thinking before this change, to convert. Stephen remained anchored to the message of Jesus until his death. His final prayers: Lord Jesus, welcome my spirit and Lord, do not hold this sin against them (Acts 7:59-60), these two prayers are faithful echoes of the prayers that were spoken by Jesus on the cross: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit (Lk 23:46) and Father, forgive them for they know not what they do (Lk 23:34). These words spoken by Stephen were possible only because the Son of God came to earth and died and rose for us; before these events, they would have been humanly impossible expressions.
Stephen pleaded with Jesus to welcome his spirit. In fact, the risen Christ is the Lord, the only mediator between God and man, not only at the hour of our death, but also at every moment of our lives: without Him we can do nothing (cf Jn 15:5). Therefore, we too, standing before the child Jesus in the manger scene, can pray to him in these words: Lord Jesus, I entrust my spirit to you, welcome it, so that our lives may be well lived according to the gospel.
Jesus is our mediator and he reconciles us not only with the Father, but also with one another. He is the source of love, that opens us to living in communion with our brothers and sisters, to loving one another, removing all traces of conflict and resentment. We know that resentments are terrible things, they cause so much suffering and cause us such pain! Jesus removes all of them and helps us instead to love one another. This is the miracle of Jesus. Let us as Jesus, born for us, to help us to adopt these two attitudes of faithfulness to the Father and to love for our neighbour; this is an attitude that transforms lives and makes them more beautiful, more fruitful.
To Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer and Queen of martyrs, let us trustingly offer our prayers, asking her to help us to welcome Jesus as Lord of our lives and to become his courageous witnesses, ready to personally pay the price of faithfulness to the gospel.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
In this climate of Christian joy that surrounds us at the Birth of Jesus, I greet you all and I thank you for your presence.
To all of you who have come from Italy and from many other countries, I renew my wish for peace and serenity: may these days be for you and your families, a time to enjoy the beauty of being together and knowing that Jesus is among us.
I offer a particular greeting to the national Ukrainian pilgrimage: I bless all of you and your country.
In recent weeks, I have received many messages and greetings. It would never be possible for me to respond to each one of them, so today I express to all of you, my sincere gratitude: especially for the gift of your prayers. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! May the Lord reward you for your generosity!
Happy feast day! Please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye.
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