On the 24th December, the Minister General, Br. Massimo Fusarelli presided over the Christmas Eve Mass in the Church of St Mary Mediatrice, in the General Curia, which was attended by the friars of the Curia, Sisters from different congregations and faithful who attend the Church. In his homily, the Minister General highlighted the "Light" as the key to the liturgy of the vigil. He began by speaking of St. Paul who addresses Titus saying that God's grace is like a light of love and salvation that shines in the expectation of a definitive glory. In the Gospel he said that pastors are surprised by an unexpected light that illuminates their night and their hard life, a light that guides and gives hope without overpowering. "Today: we are told then that precisely in the midst of the darkness of lost peace, of the tenderness of relationships that crumble, in the midst of the darkness of violence and meaninglessness that perhaps seemed to us archived once and for all; In the midst of all this, a light is already shining."
The following day the Minister celebrated Christmas Mass in Greccio together with Br. Luciano de Giusti, Minister Provincial of the Province of St Bonaventure, and the local community. During his homily he emphasized that God reveals Himself in the humanity of Jesus, especially in His fragility, poverty and humility. He then added that God's light does not eliminate darkness, but shines in the midst of it, inviting us to seek him in the contradictions and difficulties of life, even in times of war and suffering. He then recalled that the example of St. Francis in Greccio highlights the recognition of a God present in creation and in humanity. "Celebrating Christmas again in Greccio brings us back to this amazed gaze of Francis. It feeds, indeed ignites the flame of our faith," he said. In addition, he invited us to pass through our periods of darkness trusting that the divine light is always present even in the most difficult times.
Read the Homily on Christmas Eve
Read the Homily on Christmas Day
