Welcome to the Vatican News blog where we bring you the latest updates from the heart of the Vatican. Today, we dive into Pope Francis’s message during the Angelus where he encourages us to face anxieties and false beliefs by looking up to Jesus for hope, especially during challenging times.
Lorena Leonardi – Vatican City
Anxieties, fears, and burdens in personal life or current global events can weigh heavily on us and lead to discouragement. These worries can burden our hearts and make us withdraw into ourselves. However, by making space for Jesus, we can “rediscover hope,” especially as we prepare for Christmas. This is the message Pope Francis shared with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Angelus on the first Sunday of Advent, December 1st.
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There is always a word of hope
Commenting on today’s Gospel, a story filled with cosmic upheaval and anguish, the Pope highlights how even in this context, Jesus offers “a word of hope” to his disciples: “Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near,” He says.
The Master’s concern is that their hearts do not become heavy and that they await the coming of the Son of Man with vigilance. Jesus’ invitation is to lift our heads upward and keep our hearts light and alert.
Looking to heaven to understand earthly matters
In fact, Pope Francis continues, many of Jesus’ contemporaries, faced with “catastrophic events happening around them – persecutions, conflicts, natural disasters – are gripped by anxiety and think that the end of the world is near” and “have hearts weighed down by fear.”
However, Jesus intends to “free them from present anxieties and false beliefs,” showing them how to “stay awake in their hearts,” how to interpret events based on God’s plan, which “works for salvation” even within “the most dramatic events in history.” For this reason, He suggests that they “turn their gaze to Heaven to understand earthly matters.”
God’s love saves us in every moment
Hence, the Pope’s invitation is to make Jesus’ recommendation our own, so that “our hearts do not become heavy”:
At many moments in life, we all ask ourselves: how can we have a “light” heart, an alert heart, a free heart? A heart that is not crushed by sadness? And sadness is ugly… It’s ugly.
Do not give in to discouragement
Pope Francis hopes that we “trust” in the love that “wants to save us” and “draws near” in every situation of our existence.
So, let’s ask ourselves: is my heart burdened by fear, worries, anxieties about the future? Can I look at daily events and historical events with God’s eyes, in prayer, with a broader perspective? Or do I let myself be overcome by discouragement?
Finally, the Pope wishes that the Advent season beginning today can be a “precious opportunity” to lift our gaze to the One who “lightens the heart” and “supports us on the journey.”
