Christmas is a time for turning the power of fear into the power of charity, Pope Francis said today.
He compared refugees fleeing from war to the Holy Family at the time of Christ's birth.
"So many other footsteps are hidden in the footsteps of Joseph and Mary," he said in his homily at Midnight Mass at St Peter's in Rome.
"We see the tracks of entire families forced to set out in our own day. We see the tracks of millions of persons who do not choose to go away but, driven from their land, leave behind their dear ones. In many cases this departure is filled with hope, hope for the future; yet for many others this departure can only have one name: survival.
"Surviving the Herods of today, who, to impose their power and increase their wealth, see no problem in shedding innocent blood. Mary and Joseph, for whom there was no room, are the first to embrace the One who comes to give all of us our document of citizenship."
His message focused on welcoming the stranger in our midst.
In Bethlehem, said Pope Francis, a small chink opens up for those who have lost their land, their country, their dreams – for those overcome by the asphyxia produced by a life of isolation.
"The faith we proclaim tonight makes us see God present in all those situations where we think he is absent. He is present in the unwelcomed visitor, often unrecognisable, who walks through our cities and our neighbourhoods, who travels on our buses and knocks on our doors. This same faith impels us to make space for a new social imagination, and not to be afraid of experiencing new forms of relationship, in which none have to feel that there is no room for them on this earth.
"Christmas is a time for turning the power of fear into the power of charity, into power for a new imagination of charity. The charity that does not grow accustomed to injustice, as if it were something natural, but that has the courage, amid tensions and conflicts, to make itself a 'house of bread', a land of hospitality."
The Archbishop of Westminster, at Midnight Mass in London, spoke of trying to maintain good dialogue, where "sincere disagreement" is not made out to be insult or harassment, and reasoned principles are not construed as prejudice. Faith is not a "narrowing" of the human spirit, but the complete opposite of this, he said.
In this current age, he said, there is a mood or insistence that the most important thing is to live by the strength of our own convictions. There is conflict in the air as opposed to dialogue, "hostility, not willingness to accommodate and talk".
Cardinal Nichols said:"May I suggest, then, that as we approach the crib, either literally or in spirit, on this holy night and in the days to come, we go hand in hand with those we love and those who give us hope.
"Join hands with them, even if you do it only in your heart because they are far away, or because they are now separated from you by death. Come to this child together, come to the Incarnate Word of God, who alone, in his divine nature, will conquer death, and who, as one of us, so longs to share this gift with you. He uniquely will speak to your heart, and in him you will find the fulfilment of all your love and a reawakening of hope. In him you will find the sure path to take in this life."
Quoting Pope Francis, the Cardinal said: "Christmas is the feast of faith, a faith in God that opens us to all that lies beyond the narrow confines of our self-assertion. Faith in God is not, as some would portray, a narrowing of the human mind or spirit. It is precisely the opposite. For faith in God, present in Jesus, stretches us, enlightens us, and often springs surprises upon us. Such faith, like love, sees that which is invisible and lives by it."
Pix: Pope Francis serves Christmas Eve Mass at midnight on December 24, 2017 at St Peter's basilica in the Vatican. Credit: Sefano Spaziani/UPI via PA
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