At New Year’s Mass, Pope Leo XIV urged believers to view 2026 as a “journey to be discovered,” embracing freedom, mercy, and divine tenderness.
Newsroom (02/01/2026 Gaudium Press ) As the first dawn of 2026 broke over St. Peter’s Basilica, the rhythmic chant of the liturgy filled the cavernous space. Inside, Pope Leo XIV celebrated the new year’s first public Mass on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God—an ancient feast that honors both divine motherhood and human renewal. Before a congregation of roughly 5,500 faithful, he extended a blessing drawn from the Book of Numbers: “May the Lord bless you and keep you… May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.”
Opening his homily, the Pope reflected on this passage’s meaning for a people stepping into the unknown. Just as Israel had been freed from Egyptian slavery to embark on an open road toward promise, he said, so too are modern believers called to begin anew. “Every day,” the Pope declared, “can be the beginning of a new life, thanks to God’s generous love, his mercy, and the response of our freedom.” The coming year, he urged, should be seen as “an open journey to be discovered.”
For Pope Leo XIV, the new year is not simply a calendar ritual; it is a spiritual frontier. Drawing on the story of Israel’s liberation, he contrasted the “comforts” of slavery—security at the expense of freedom—with the risk and wonder of life lived in trust. In stepping into uncertainty, the Pope suggested, humanity glimpses divine companionship: “Through grace, we can venture forth free and bearers of freedom, forgiven and bringers of forgiveness.”
The heart of his message rested on Mary’s quiet strength. By her willing “yes,” the Pope said, Mary gave a human face to divine love—the “unarmed and disarming” face of God, seen first in the fragility of the manger. This image, he noted, stands in deliberate contrast to worldly power. “The world is not saved by sharpening swords,” he said, “but by striving to understand, forgive, liberate, and welcome everyone.”
The Pope’s language echoed his earlier World Day of Peace message, in which he described God as “naked and defenseless as a newborn in a cradle.” In this, he found both a challenge and a model: believers must embody mercy not by domination but through listening, humility, and compassion. Mary, he added, “laid aside every defense,” surrendering her freedom so that divine love could take root in the world.
Pope Leo’s reflections also carried the resonance of his predecessors. He cited Saint Augustine’s reminder that the Creator, in becoming human, accepted hunger and vulnerability to redeem humanity. He recalled Saint John Paul II’s description of the shepherds in Bethlehem as witnesses to “the disarming tenderness of the Child” and the transformative simplicity of the Holy Family. In their awe, he said, we can learn how to “become mirrors of God’s goodness for one another.”
As the Mass closed, the Pope invited believers to approach the Nativity scene once more—not as a symbol of nostalgia, but as the epicenter of peace “where the unarmed and disarming faces of God and humanity meet.” From that place of quiet wonder, he called the faithful to set out “glorifying and praising God for all that we have seen and heard.”
Standing beneath Michelangelo’s dome, as sunlight pierced the basilica’s high windows, Pope Leo XIV offered a final prayer for the journey ahead: that 2026 might unfold not as a series of steps into the unknown, but as a pilgrimage into grace—an open road illuminated by the radiant, unarmed face of God.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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