VATICAN CITY (CNS) ─ Preparing the way of the Lord means taking concrete steps to help usher in God's kingdom of peace, Pope Leo XIV said on his first Advent Sunday back at the Vatican after his trip to Turkey and Lebanon.
Leading the recitation of the Angelus prayer Dec. 7, the pope spoke about his trip as well as about the Advent Mass readings that emphasize the call to conversion and the hope that dawned with the birth of Jesus.
"In the 'Our Father' we pray each day: 'Thy kingdom come,' as Jesus himself taught us," the pope told the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square for the midday prayer.
"With this invocation we turn toward the new thing that God has in store for us, recognizing that the course of history is not already written by the powerful people of this world," he said. "Let us, then, put our thoughts and energy at the service of God who came not to reign over us, but rather to free us. This is the 'gospel,' the truly good news that motivates and draws us in."
In the first reading at Mass, Isaiah prophesies that when the Messiah comes, "the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them."
"Sisters and brothers, how much the world needs this hope," the pope said. "Nothing is impossible to God."
"Let us prepare ourselves for his kingdom, let us welcome it," he said. "The little child, Jesus of Nazareth, will lead us! He who placed himself in our hands, from the night of his birth to the dark hour of his death on the cross, shines upon our history as the rising Sun."
The new day has already begun, the pope said, and it calls people to walk in the light of the Lord.
Pope Leo told the crowd about his trip to Turkey Nov. 27-30, mainly to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea with Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and the leaders of other Christian churches, and his trip to Lebanon Nov. 30-Dec. 2.
The pope noted that he was speaking about the trip on the 60th anniversary of the declaration made between St. Paul VI and Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras, "which put an end to the mutual excommunications" their predecessors had issued more than 900 years earlier.
"We give thanks to God and renew our dedication to journeying toward the full visible unity of all Christians," the pope said.
And he also spoke about meeting the small Catholic communities of Turkey. "Through patient dialogue and service to those who suffer, they witness to the Gospel of love and the logic of God who manifests himself in littleness," he said.
For the second part of the trip, the pope said, "the Lebanese people were waiting for a word and a presence of consolation, but it was they who comforted me with their faith and their enthusiasm" despite recent political and economic crises and ongoing military strikes by Israel trying to destroy the Hezbollah militia.
"Lebanon continues to be a mosaic of coexistence" among Muslims, Christians and Druze, "and it comforted me to hear many testimonies in this regard," he said.
And in the country with the world's highest per capita number of migrants and refugees, the pope said, "I met people who announce the Gospel by welcoming refugees, visiting the imprisoned and sharing food with those in need."
"All that has happened in these recent days in Turkey and Lebanon teaches us that peace is possible and that Christians in dialogue with men and women of other faiths and cultures can contribute to building it up," Pope Leo said. "Let us not forget that peace is possible!"
