“A world full of hope and goodness is more beautiful. A society that looks to the future confidently and treats people with respect and empathy is more humane” because hope and goodness “touch the heart of the Gospel and indicate how to guide our behaviour”. This is how Pope Francis addressed the British channel BBC listeners, who could listen to his audio message on 28 December during the column “Thought of the Day” on BBC Radio 4 Today.
The Pope had already participated in the 2021 broadcast before the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Glasgow, Scotland. On that occasion, as the media recalls, the Holy Father called on the world to “adopt an urgent change of course” to preserve the planet for future generations. His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, was also the first to intervene in the program, with a pre-recorded message on Christmas Eve 2010.
This time, the occasion is the Christmas season and the Jubilee of Hope, which began on December 24: moments that, explains the Bishop of Rome, exhort us to become “pilgrims of hope” and not to look to the future “with pessimism and resignation.” «Wars, social injustices, the many forms of violence that we experience every day – he points out – must not lead us into the temptation of skepticism and discouragement».
The choice that must be made, then, is that of Love, which makes hearts «ardent and trusting». Those who love, in fact, «even when they find themselves in precarious situations, always look at the world with the sweet gaze of hope».
Goodness in itself, says Francis, «is not a diplomatic strategy», nor «a formal behavior to follow to ensure social harmony or to obtain advantages». On the contrary, it is «a form of love that opens hearts to welcome and helps everyone to be more humble», that is, capable of that humility that «predisposes to dialogue, helps to overcome misunderstandings and generates gratitude». In the end, the Pope reminds us, it is about «taking the things of life with gratitude and not taking them for granted», as the British writer Gilbert Keith Chesterton said.
The message concludes with “a wish for hope” and the hope that, during the Jubilee, we can “exercise kindness as a form of love in relating to others,” bringing “peace, fraternity and gratitude” to the world.
