Pope Francis: from the nursery comes the call to share with the little ones

Last updated: Thu 31 Mar 2022 PM

Pope Francis met with the artists and organizers of the traditional Christmas concert in the Vatican. Music is also a channel of fraternity and peace among peoples, according to the Pope, who calls for sharing the joy of the birth of Jesus with the little ones.

Cecilia Seppia - Vatican City

God comes where there is hunger and thirst for peace, justice, freedom and love; God also comes on the notes of a Christmas song, between the keys of a piano, through the languages of music and poetry, painting, sculpture, theatre and cinema. It is with this certainty that the Pope welcomed to the Vatican the artists who tomorrow, 14 December, will perform on the main stage of Paul VI Hall as part of the now traditional Christmas concert in the Vatican.

"The time before Christmas calls us all to ask ourselves several questions: what am I waiting for in my life? What is the great desire of my heart? And you too, with your songs, you bring out or reappear in the minds of so many people that healthy human "tension". After all, it is God who has put this desire, this "thirst" in our hearts. And He comes to meet us on this road. Certainly not in the vain compulsion to have it and to appear, no, God does not come, and we do not meet him".

The revolution of love

In his speech, the Pope returned to the humble power of the crib to which he wanted to dedicate this year's Apostolic Letter Admirabile signum in order to rediscover in homes, families and streets the simple and admirable sign of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God. Thinking precisely of the crib and the Nativity scene that it represents, Francis exhorted artists not to allow themselves to be deceived by wealth and by so many proposals of ephemeral happiness:

"Born in the crib, God Himself undertakes the only true revolution that gives hope and dignity to the poor and marginalised: the revolution of love, the revolution of tenderness. From the crib, Jesus proclaims, with gentle power, the call to share with the little ones as a way towards a more human and fraternal world, where no one is excluded and marginalized".

Education and human relations

The other call is not to be proud, to know how to gather the disarming strength that emerges from every small gesture of good will, to be bearers of that beauty which, as Saint Paul VI said, is an antidote to not sinking into despair, that precious fruit that withstands the wear and tear of time and unites the generations that make them communicate with admiration:

"That is why we are all called to build a 'global village of education', where those who live there create a network of human relationships, which are the best remedy against all forms of discrimination and isolation. In this village, education and art meet through the languages of music and poetry, painting and sculpture, theatre and cinema. All these expressions of human creativity can be "channels" for fraternity and peace among the peoples of the human family, as well as for dialogue among religions".

See you in the Paul VI Hall

The 27th edition of the Christmas concert in the Vatican will be broadcast on television on the night of 25 December. The event is promoted by the Congregation for Catholic Education and this year relaunches Pope Francis' commitment to the Amazon region, which was at the centre of the recent Synod of Bishops. With the slogan "Let's network for the Amazon", the concert also supports two projects of the Pontifical Foundation Scholas Occurrentes and the Don Bosco Valdocco Onlus Missions, for which the Pope expressed his deep gratitude.

Source: Vatican News