Pope Francis celebrated first vespers for the vigil of the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, in St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday, saying the last day of 2024 is a time to reflect and give thanks for the “universal vocation” of Rome.
“Rome is called to welcome everyone so that everyone can recognize themselves as children of God and brothers and sisters among themselves,” the Holy Father said during a brief homily following the vespers reading (cf. Gal 4:4-5).
According to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, more than 30 million people are expected to visit Rome during the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, which concludes on Jan. 6, 2026.
Expressing his gratitude for the work of thousands of men and women for the opening days of the jubilee year, the pope said their work to welcome pilgrims corresponds to the specific yet universal vocation of the Eternal City to bring people together with “the hope of a fraternal world.”
“It is beautiful to think that our city in recent months has become a construction site for this purpose,” the pope said. “To welcome men and women from all over the world, Catholics and Christians of other confessions, believers of every religion, seekers of truth, freedom, justice and peace, all pilgrims of hope and fraternity.”
Insisting that fraternity is not just an ideology, economic system, or technological progress, the Holy Father said: “The holy Mother of God gives us the answer by showing us Jesus.”
“She, who holds the mystery of Jesus in her heart, also teaches us to read the signs of the times in the light of this mystery,” he said during vespers.
“The hope of a fraternal world is he, the incarnate Son, sent by the Father so that we can all become what we are, that is, children of the Father who is in heaven, and therefore brothers and sisters among ourselves,” he added.
Addressing cardinals, bishops, priests, religious men and women, and laypeople inside the basilica, the pope challenged them to work on the “construction site that involves each of us” during the jubilee.
“This construction site is the one in which, every day, I will allow God to change in me what is not worthy of a son — change! — what is not human, and in which I will commit myself, every day, to live as a brother and sister to my neighbor,” he said.
At the conclusion of his homily, the Holy Father invoked the Mother of God to “help us to walk together, as pilgrims of hope, on the path of fraternity.”
“May the Lord bless us, all of us; may he forgive us our sins and give us the strength to continue on our pilgrimage in the coming year,” he prayed.
Each year, the pope presides at the annual celebration of first vespers (evening prayer) for the vigil of the Jan. 1 solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, followed by the traditional singing of the Te Deum hymn in thanksgiving for the past year.
This article was originally published on Catholic News Agency.
