Pope Francis: The hope of a fraternal world is Jesus – Vatican News

By Christopher Wells

Pope Francis has led the Church in giving thanks to God for the blessings of 2024, presiding at the chanting of the Te Deum at the conclusion of First Vespers for the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God.

Mary, the Pope said in his homily, helps us to read the “signs of the times” in light of the mystery of Jesus.

Rome: called to welcome everyone

On the eve of 2025, the Holy Father recalled the extensive works that Rome has seen this past year in preparation for the Jubilee. These works, valuable in themselves, are especially significant insofar as they correspond to Rome’s particular vocation “to welcome everyone so that everyone might recognize themselves as a son or daughter of God and as brothers and sisters of one another.”

We thank God especially, the Pope said, because he has allowed us to work “in this great cause, with this broad horizon that is the hope of fraternity.”

“The hope of the world lies in fraternity,” Pope Francis proclaimed, while expressing his joy that the City of Rome has in recent months been preparing to welcome men and women from all over the world, including not only Catholics but “other Christians; believers in every religion, and seekers of truth, freedom, justice, and peace – all pilgrims of hope and fraternity.”

Pope Francis presides at First Vespers for the Solemnity of Mary, the Most Holy Mother of God

Jesus, the foundation of human fraternity

But, he asked, is human fraternity just another slogan, or can it be built on a solid foundation?

Mary, “the Holy Mother of God, gives us the answer,” he said, “by showing us Jesus.” “The hope of a fraternal world is Him,” Pope Francis proclaimed, “the incarnate Son, sent by the Father so that we may all become what we are, that is, children of the Father Who is in heaven, and therefore brothers and sisters among ourselves.”

And so, the Pope said, while we admire the many works that have been completed for the Jubilee, we must recognize that the “decisive building site” is in each one of us: the place where each of us works to allow God to change “what in me is unworthy of a son or daughter… and in which I will commit myself, every day, to live as a brother and sister to my neighbour.”

The Holy Father concluded his homily with the prayer that “Mary, our holy Mother, might help us to walk together, as pilgrims of hope, on the path of fraternity.”