In today's world of uncertainty and suffering, joy would seem impossible. Those who believe in peace today and have chosen the unarmed path of Jesus and the martyrs are often ridiculed, pushed out of public discourse, and often accused of favoring adversaries and enemies. Christians, however, do not have enemies, but brothers and sisters, who remain such even when they don't understand each other.

Pope Leo said this in the Angelus of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr: that of Saint Stephen "is the face of someone who does not walk away from history indifferent, but faces it with love."

"The Mystery of Christmas," the Pope continued, "brings us this joy: a joy motivated by the tenacity of those who already live in fraternity, of those who already recognize around them, even in their adversaries, the indelible dignity of sons and daughters of God. This is why Stephen died forgiving, like Jesus: for a strength truer than that of arms."

"It is a gratuitous force," he emphasizes, "already present in everyone's heart, which is reactivated and communicated irresistibly when someone begins to look at their neighbor differently, to offer them attention and recognition. Yes, this is being reborn, this is coming back to the light, this is our Christmas!" Thus, Christians can counter "care with arrogance, faith with mistrust."

(Unioneonline)

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