He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, One of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem. (Isaiah 53:3)Isaiah continues by saying that “this silent servant” will bear our infirmities and endure our sufferings: “He was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins” ( Isaiah 53:4-5). This is the Christ St. Stephen – that first martyr whom we celebrate on December 26 – professed (Acts 7:54-60), the Christ whom we profess: the Christ who takes away our infirmities and bears our diseases (Isaiah 53:4 and Matthew. 8:17) and who through his own suffering shall justify many (Isaiah 53:11). Psalm 22 begins, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why so far from my call of help, from my cries of anguish?” It continues:
But I am but a worm, hardly human; scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they curl their lips and jeer; they shake their heads at me. (Psalm 22:6-7)This is Isaiah’s suffering servant, whom we believe is the Christ, our God, who takes away our suffering, who is our comfort and our healing. These examples from Job, Isaiah, and Psalm 22 remind us that we may not be able to explain the suffering of those mothers who lost their babies around the time of Jesus' birth – and we may not be able to explain the suffering of 2020. Yet, although we may not be able to explain suffering, or while God doesn’t always take away our suffering, we believe in a God who suffers with us. Just one look at the Cross is a reminder of the kind of God we believe in. At the same time, it is this servant that Isaiah describes who will come “to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness” (Isaiah 42:7). In a later chapter, he adds, “to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and release to the prisoners” and “to comfort those who mourn” (as we heard on the Third Sunday of Advent, Isaiah 61:1-2). In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus reads from those same passages from Isaiah and adds: “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:16-21), asserting that he is the one about whom Isaiah was writing. It’s also clear to me that this suffering Christ, who takes on our infirmities and who suffers with us, also takes away our suffering, brings good news to the poor, lets prisoners free, comforts the afflicted, and gives sight to the blind. It is he to whom we must go with our afflictions. He is our comfort, our healing, and our salvation. That is the hope that we profess all during Advent. That is the fulfilled promise that we celebrate at Christmas. This is why at the Christmas Vigil Mass, we will hear Isaiah tell us that “no more shall people call you forsaken or your land desolate, but you shall be my delight” (Isaiah 62:4). And at the Mass at Night, we hear him say that “The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned" (Isaiah 9:2). And again, at the Christmas Mass During the Day, he reminds us that “the LORD comforts his people, he redeems Jerusalem” (Isaiah 52:9). At that same Mass, we will hear from the Gospel of John that:
...the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5)This is what all those stories of suffering in the Bible teach us: Yes, there is darkness, but it will not overcome the light. We need to acknowledge the suffering of others and remember our own suffering so that we can comfort others and then, with our words and actions of hope, reassure them that there is always light. Come back next week, and I will share with you some stories from my experience with the voice of illness.
Pope Francis continued his cycle of catechesis on "Jesus Christ our Hope," as part of the Jubilee 2025. This week he reflected on the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus, writing that the Magi "are men who do not stay still but, like the great chosen ones of biblical history, feel the need to move, to go forth. They are men who are able to look beyond themselves, who know how to look upwards."
In his Wednesday General Audience, Pope Francis continued this cycle of catechesis on "Jesus Christ our Hope," as part of the Jubilee 2025. This week he reflected on the birth of Christ and the visit of the shepherds, saying that "God, who comes into history, does not dismantle the structures of the world, but wants to illuminate them and recreate them from within."
On January 1, 2025, Pope Francis gave the homily at Mass on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God in St. Peter's Basilica.
Pope Francis gave the traditional Christmas message and blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and to the world) from the central loggia of St. Peter's
Pope Francis gave the homily at Midnight Mass, saying that "Hope is not dead; hope is alive and it embraces our lives forever. Hope does not disappoint!"