Justice and peace: Sharing the joy of Christmas with rich and poor

"How often do we complain, do we lament and think that our sins, our limits cannot be forgiven. And there, the voice of the Lord comes and says: "I console you, I am near you", and takes us with tenderness. The powerful God who created the heavens and the earth, the God-hero, to put it this way, our brother, who let himself be led to the cross to die for us, is able to caress us and say: "Don't cry".

The four "neighborhoods" of diocesan priests.  "Being close to God in prayer", "being close to the bishop, always close to the bishop: without the bishop the Church does not move forward, without the bishop the priest can be a leader but he will not be a priest.  Third closeness: to be near fellow priests, near to eachother”.  "And the fourth closeness: closeness to the people of God".

In the prayer composed for the Immaculate, Francis said that "it is not the same to be a sinner and to be corrupt: it is very different. It is one thing to fall, but then, repent, confess and get up again with the help of God's mercy. Another thing is the hypocritical connivance with evil, the corruption of the heart, which is impeccable outside, but inside it is full of bad intentions and petty selfishness”.

Francis reflects on the spirit of service expressed in Mary’s response to the Angel who asked her to become the mother of Jesus. This afternoon he will pay homage to the Immaculate. At the Angelus Francis invites prayers for tomorrow’s will in Paris to find solutions to the conflict in Ukraine.

Francis meets  non-governmental organizations of Catholic inspiration, which have gathered in the last two days in Rome.  "We need more imagination, new ways of encountering culture".

In the speech prepared for "Aggiornamenti Sociali" a Italian Jesuits magazine, Francis states that the preferential option "before rushing to their aid, this option requires that we be on their side, even when we look at the dynamics of society."

The proposal is in a message signed by Francis and Al-Tayeb delivered yesterday to the UN General Secretary who expressed his appreciation and support for the initiative.

"We cannot build our lives on passing things, on appearances, on pretending that all is well. Let's go to the rock, where there is our salvation. And we will all be happy there. All".

Francis writes to the UN Climate Conference in Madrid. 4 years on from the signing of the Paris agreement the awareness of climate change " is still rather weak, unable to respond adequately to that strong sense of urgency for rapid action called for by the scientific data at our disposal." And current studies "show how far words are from concrete actions".

"Faith is trusting abandonment into the hands of a trustworthy God Who makes Himself known not through occult practices but through revelation and with freely-give love". The memory of Father Popieluszko, killed by the communist police. In the meeting with the Governing Council of Solidarnosc the relations between Church and State.

"The Spirit chooses the small, always", Francis said. “It cannot enter the big, the proud, the self-sufficient". Theologians "know everything, but are incapable of doing theology because theology is done on the knees, becoming small.”

Francis’ Message for World Day of Persons with Disabilities, which this year has as its theme "The future is accessible". "I think of people of every age, especially the elderly who, also due to disabilities, are at times considered a burden, a “cumbersome presence”, and risk being discarded, of being denied concrete job prospects for the construction of their future".

Receiving a group of young French business people, Francis pointed out the need for a "conversion" and "concrete changes of habits and style" that will “concretely effect change and, little by little, educate the world of work to a new style ”.

Francis celebrated Mass for Rome’s Congolese Catholic Community on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the city’s Congolese Catholic Chaplaincy. He lamented that fighting is taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, “fuelled also by the outside, amid the silence of many, fighting fuelled by those who enrich themselves by selling weapons.”