“May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace”.
Pope Leo opened the homily at his first Mass of 2026 by reflecting on this blessing from the Book of Numbers, taken from the day’s first reading.
The blessing, he said, was addressed to the people of Israel, who had just been liberated from slavery in Egypt, and had been offered a “rebirth”, an “open road toward the future”.
In this way, the Pope noted, the day’s liturgy reminds us that “every day can be the beginning of a new life, thanks to God’s generous love, his mercy and the response of our freedom.”
We should thus view the coming year, the Pope urged the roughly 5,500 faithful in attendance, as “an open journey to be discovered”.
Mary and an ‘unarmed’ God
The day’s liturgy marked both the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and the World Day of Peace.
In his homily, the Pope explored the tight relationship between the two celebrations. With Mary’s co-operation, he said, God arrived amongst us “naked and defenceless”, a “newborn in a cradle.”
“He does this”, the Pope explained, to teach us that the world is not saved by violence but by “tirelessly striving to understand, forgive, liberate and welcome everyone, without calculation and without fear.”
“In Mary’s divine motherhood”, the Pope emphasised, two ‘unarmed realities’ come together: “that of God, who renounces every privilege of his divinity to be born in the flesh, and that of a human person who, trustingly and fully, embraces God’s will.”
