Christmas 2020 Greeting from Pope Francis to the Roman Curia
It is a reflection with a eminently spiritual background that Pope Francis expressed this year to the Cardinals and members of the Roman Curia on the occasion of the exchange of Christmas greetingson December 21. On this basis, he built a broad reflection around the "meaning of the crisisThe "pandemic" the world is experiencing as a result of the pandemicThe Church, but which encompasses all spheres of history at the same time, including, of course, the Church and its members.
As we have been accustomed to since its inauguration, with the first years in which it began to list the famous "...".diseases"In this year as well, the Pope invited those who render an operative service to the spread of the Gospel through the Vatican organs to broaden their horizons. the Pontiff did not skimp on his fatherly counselThis time, it is aimed at overcoming any form of conflict, or rather, at extract from the many crisis situations the best seeds for evangelization.
Crises in salvation history
We were talking about the spiritual background, with ample reference to the crises experienced by so many of us. biblical characters who, with their ability to recognize the signs of the times, were the great protagonists of salvation history. From Abraham, who was in crisis because he had to leave his land; or Moses, who had lost his self-confidence; to Elijah, who was gripped by doubt about the messianic identity of Jesus; to the emblematic Paul of Tarsus, who was in crisis about his security and became the one who later pushed the Church beyond the confines of Israel. Even Christ himself, through the many experiences of crisis lived in the temptations, in Gethsemane in solitude, or on the Cross feeling abandoned.
The key to hope
There is an element that the Pope sees in the teaching of all these experiences, and it is that of the hopeThe first is to show how we cannot stop at a superficial analysis of situations, even tragic ones, because this would be unrealistic. God, in fact, "continues to grow the seeds of his Kingdom among usas evidenced by the numerous testimonials of work "...".humble, discreet, silent, loyal, professional, honest"that many do in the Roman Curia itself.
In the light of the Gospel
The crises, therefore, must be seen in the light of the Gospel - that among other things "is the first to put us in crisisthat is, as a time of the Spirit, in which we learn to nourish "..." - that is, as a time of the Spirit, in which we learn to nourish "...".an intimate confidence that things are about to take on a new shape, arising exclusively from the experience of a Grace hidden in the darkness". For as Sirach says, "gold is tested by fire, and men are welcome in the crucible of pain.".
Critical situations are then welcome, including "scandals, falls, sins, contradictions, short-circuits in witnessing"as long as they are taken as something that makes us "dying to a certain way of being, reasoning and acting that does not reflect the Gospel". The crisis, in fact, "is movement, it is part of the journey".
Here the Pope recalls, for example, the reform of the Roman Curia, warning that it should not be understood as ".a patch from an old dress"or the simple drafting of a new Document, but rather to ensure that "our fragility should not become an obstacle to the proclamation of the Gospel.".
One of the obstacles to this acting in grace and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit that Pope Francis warns of in his address is represented by the "conflictswhich always create contrast, competition and antagonism: the guilty on one side and the righteous on the other, as well as dividing the Church into categories, betraying its true nature, "...".a Body perpetually in crisis precisely because it is alive".
What to do during the crisis?
In addition to accepting it as a time of grace -suggests the Pope-, we must not tire of praying with confidencewith great peace and serenity, waiting in hope, as the Apostle to the Gentiles reminds us, and keeping us away from conflicts (gossip, gossip, self-references).
Pope Francis' latest invitation to all members of the Roman Curia and their collaborators is. that this Christmas they take a generous interest in the poorbecause "to truly know God, one only needs to know those who welcome the poor who come from below with their misery.".
