Vatican City - “A census of the whole earth.”, said Pope Francis as he began his homily for Christmas Mass during the Night in St Peter’s Basilica, emphasizing the contrast between worldly power and the humble incarnation of Jesus.
The Holy Father was quoting directly from the Gospel according to St Luke.
Pope Francis highlighted the emperor's census as a symbol of human pursuit of success and achievement, contrasting it with Jesus, the "God of Incarnation." He emphasized that Jesus, not focused on worldly accomplishments, addresses injustice through love and chooses to enter human life humbly. Pope Francis also expressed concern for the Holy Land's conflict, particularly in Bethlehem.
The evangelist, the Holy Father noted, makes a point of emphasising this census, which he could have just mentioned in passing.
A stark contrast thus emerges: “While the emperor numbers the world’s inhabitants, God enters it almost surreptitiously. While those who exercise power seek to take their place with the great ones of history, the King of history chooses the way of littleness.”
“None of the powerful take notice of him,” the Pope stressed: “Only a few shepherds, relegated to the margins of social life.”
Incarnation, not achievement
The emperor’s “census of the whole earth”, Pope Francis said, thus “manifests the all-too-human thread that runs through history: the quest for worldly power and might, fame and glory, which measures everything in terms of success, results, numbers and figures, a world obsessed with achievement.”
There is, however, an alternative to this approach. Jesus, the Pope suggested, is “not the god of accomplishment, but the God of Incarnation.”
“He does not eliminate injustice from above by a show of power,” Pope Francis stressed, “but from below, by a show of love. He does not burst on the scene with limitless power, but descends to the narrow confines of our lives.”
In his greatness, he became small
Let us, then, Pope Francis urged, keep our eyes fixed on this “living and true God.”
He is, the Pope said, the God who “revolutionizes history by becoming a part of history”, and the God who “so respects us as to allow us to reject him; who takes away sin by taking it upon himself.”
“God so greatly desires to embrace our lives”, the Pope added, that “infinite though he is, he becomes finite for our sake. In his greatness, he chooses to become small; in his righteousness, he submits to our injustice.”
“This,” Pope Francis stressed, “is the wonder of Christmas”.
War in the Holy Land
The Pope’s thoughts also turned to the Holy Land, currently suffering from the Israel-Palestine conflict, and in particular to Bethlehem, the city of Jesus’ birth.
“Tonight,” he said, “our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world.
Pope Francis brought his homily to a close with a prayer.
“Tonight, love changes history. Make us believe, Lord, in the power of your love, so different from the power of the world. Make us, like Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the Magi, gather around you and worship you. As you conform us ever more to yourself, we shall bear witness before the world to the beauty of your countenance.”