'We don't know what 2021 has in store for us': Pope Francis calls for commitment to one another in the new year

A lot of lives have been completely flipped upside down during 2020, amidst the pandemic and political and social battles all over the globe. It became easy to only think about one's own suffering, ignoring all those who suffer greater than one's self. 

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By Abigail James (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
1/4/2021 (3 years ago)

Published in Living Faith

Keywords: New Year, New Years Resolution, 2021, Pope Francis, Coronavirus

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - On Sunday, Pope Francis spoke via a live broadcast from the Apostolic Palace, warning against the temptation to ignore the suffering of others during the Coronavirus pandemic. 

"We don't know what 2021 has in store for us, but what each of us and all of us together can do is to commit ourselves a little more to take care of each other and of creation, our common home," the pope said in his January 3, 2021 Angelus address, according to Catholic News Agency.

"Things will get better to the extent that, with God's help, we work together for the common good, putting the weakest and most disadvantaged at the center."

He stated that he understood the temptation many are faced with "to live hedonistically... seeking only to satisfy our own pleasure," was very real. 

"I read something in the newspapers that saddened me greatly: in one country, I forget which, more than 40 aircraft left, to enable people to flee from the lockdown and to enjoy the holidays," expressed Pope Francis. "But those people, good people, did they not think about those who stayed at home, about the economic problems faced by many people who have been floored by the lockdown, about the sick? They thought only about taking a holiday for their own pleasure. This pained me greatly."

During his video, he personally addressed those who begin the new year with greater difficulties than last years' new year, specifically the sick and the unemployed.

"I like to think that when the Lord prays to the Father for us, He does not merely speak: He makes Him see the wounds of the flesh, He makes Him see the wounds He suffered for us," he shared. "This is Jesus: with His flesh He is the intercessor, he wanted to bear even the signs of suffering."