Pope: May God be in our hearts and touch our darkened areas

At the time of the Angelus, on Sunday 2 January, Pope Francis called on believers and pilgrims to take advantage of these Christmas days to welcome the Lord into our hearts, not just with words, but with concrete gestures. The pontiff said: “Let us solemnly invite him to be a part of our lives, and above all by introducing him to our dark areas and telling him without fear the social and ecclesial problems of our time, for God loves to dwell among us.”

Sofia Lobos – Vatican

Pope Francis, Sunday, 2 January, prayed the Marian Angelic Prayer, leaning out of the window of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square.

The Pontiff meditated on today’s gospel, according to St. John (genie 1, 14), which presents a beautiful phrase that we always pray at a time Angelus prayer And he is the only one who reveals the meaning of Christmas: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

God: Word and Flesh

These words contain a paradox – as the Holy Father said – because they combine two opposing truths: verb and the meat:

“The verb indicates that Jesus is the eternal Word of the Father, infinite, always present, before all creatures; on the other hand, the flesh refers precisely to our created, fragile, finite, mortal reality”

In this context, Francis noted that before Jesus they were two separate worlds: “Heaven is the opposition to the earth, the infinite resistance to the finite, the soul the opposition to matter.”

In the face of our fragility, God does not hold back

In this sense, the Pope paused to analyze another duality found in the introduction to the Gospel of John: light s the darkness (see v. 5):

“Jesus is the light of God who has entered the darkness of the world. God is light: in him there is no darkness; in us, on the other hand, there is much darkness. Now, with Jesus, we find light and darkness: holiness, guilt, grace and sin.”

But… what does the Bible want to announce with this polarity? It is wonderful for Francis, that is, God’s way of acting:

“Before our fragility, the Lord does not retreat. He does not remain in his blessed eternity and in his infinite light, but draws near, becomes flesh, descends into darkness, and dwells in lands alien to him. Eternity, far from the light is God’s work: to come among us. If we consider ourselves Unworthy, it does not prevent him. If we reject him, he will not tire of looking for us. If we are not ready and willing to have it, please come anyway.”

Let God dwell in our lives, even if they are filthy

Continuing his speech, the pontiff recalls that we often keep our distance from God because we think we are not worthy of Him for various reasons, and although this is true, Peter’s successor asserts that Christmas invites us to see things from the divine point of view:

“God wants to incarnate. If your heart seems so tainted with evil, be turbulent, don’t shut yourself down, don’t be afraid. Think of the stable in Bethlehem. Jesus was born there, in that poverty, to tell you he surely isn’t afraid to visit your heart, and live a disheveled life. Alive. It’s the verb the Bible uses today: it expresses complete participation, great intimacy. That’s what God wants.”

However, for God to dwell in our hearts – added the Holy Father – each individual must make room for him, though not only with words, but with concrete gestures:

“Perhaps there are aspects of life that we keep to ourselves, exclusive, inner places that we fear the Bible will enter, where we do not want to put God in the middle.” Francis emphasized, while calling everyone to take advantage of these Christmas days to welcome the Lord into our hearts.

Let us introduce you to our dark areas

And how can we do it? The Pope suggests two ways: standing in front of the manger, “Because it shows Jesus who comes to live our entire ordinary, tangible life, where everything is not going well, where there are many problems”; We show our conditions there, what we live.

In front of the manger, let us talk with Jesus about our tangible vicissitudes. Let us solemnly invite him into our lives, and especially in the dark areas, to our “inner stables”, –The Bishop of Rome affirmed- He also urged him to “tell him without fear the social and ecclesial problems of our time, for God loves to dwell among us.”

May the Mother of God, in whom the Word became flesh, help us to develop a greater intimate relationship with the Lord, I finish.