In the homily prepared for New Year’s Eve, Pope Francis asks how we can give thanks to God after such a difficult year. He says God always has compassion for us and we are grateful for the acts of closeness, care and solidarity we have seen throughout 2020.
By Vatican News staff reporter
Pope Francis, who suffered a sciatica attack, was absent from the celebration of Vespers and the recitation of Vespers. Your gods – The Church’s solemn singing of Thanksgiving for the past year – although it offered a reflection on how we can give thanks for the year that is coming to an end.
The liturgy was presided over by the dean of the college of cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who delivered the homily prepared by Pope Francis for the occasion.
In his homily, Pope Francis wrote that giving thanks “at the end of a year like this” may seem “forced,” or even discordant, especially when we think of families who have lost loved ones, of the sick, of the who have suffered alone or lost their jobs.
“What sense does a tragedy like this have,” he asked. Faced with our questions, he replied, God does not appeal to “higher reasons,” as if sacrificing individuals for some higher good. Instead, his answer is the Incarnation, sending his Only Begotten Son to become man to save each and every one.
Like the good Samaritan, God is moved with compassion, helping those who suffer. And in this attitude, the Pope said, perhaps we can “find the” significant “meaning” of this tragedy, of this pandemic, as well as of other scourges that afflict humanity: that of arousing compassion in us and provoking attitudes and gestures of closeness, care, solidarity, affection “.
We see this happening all over the world, and even in Rome, wrote Pope Francis, and “it is above all for this reason that we give thanks to God this evening: for the good things that have taken place in our cities during the closure and, in general, throughout the pandemic, which unfortunately is not over yet ”.
Pope Francis praised “many people who, without making noise, have tried to make the weight of the trial more bearable.” He highlighted not only health workers, priests and leading religious, but also “all those who strive every day in the best possible way to carry out their service to their families and those who are committed to the its service to the common good “. He especially highlighted teachers and school administrators, as well as civic leaders who put the good of others, especially the most disadvantaged, ahead of their own private interests.
“All this cannot happen without the grace, without the mercy of God,” Pope Francis said. “How is it possible … that so many people, with no other reward than to do good, find the strength to care for others?” he asked. “In the end, even if they themselves are not aware of it, what strengthens them is the strength of God, which is more powerful than our selfishness.” So the Pope said, “For this reason, this evening we give him praise, because we believe and know that all the good that is achieved every day on earth, in the end, comes from him, comes from God.” .
The Pope concluded his prepared statements looking to the future that awaits us, with the prayer: “May your mercy always be with us, Lord, because we have waited on You.”