Pope Leo Urges Prayers for Peace and Vulnerable Families

Vatican, Dec 28, 2025: During the Angelus on the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Pope Leo reflected on how families can shine as a beacon of hope in a society often weighed down by loneliness, despair, divisions and conflict.

“In the light of the Lord's Christmas, let us continue to pray for peace. Today, in particular, let us pray for families suffering because of war, for children, the elderly, and the most vulnerable. Let us entrust ourselves together to the intercession of the Holy Family of Nazareth,” Pope Leo said.

In his reflection, the Pope explained that Christian families can become a light in today’s society — which is marked not only by conflicts but also by isolation and discord — by looking to the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt soon after Jesus’ birth, as they fled King Herod’s persecution.

“Unfortunately, the world always has its 'Herods,' its myths of success at any cost, of unscrupulous power, of empty and superficial well-being, and it often pays the price in the form of loneliness, despair, divisions and conflicts,” Pope Leo said.

“Let us not allow these mirages to suffocate the flame of love in Christian families.”

He encouraged families instead to hold fast to Gospel values through prayer, by receiving the sacraments — especially Confession and Communion — and by fostering “healthy affections, sincere dialogue, fidelity, and the simple and beautiful concreteness of everyday words and gestures.”

He called families to become a “light of hope” and “a school of love and an instrument of salvation in God’s hands.”

Pope Leo grounded his reflection in the Gospel reading of the day from Matthew, which recounts how an angel appeared to Joseph and instructed him to flee to Egypt, as King Herod sought to locate and kill the infant Jesus.

The Pope described Herod as “a cruel and bloodthirsty man” who lives in deep loneliness and constant fear of losing his power.

“In his kingdom, God is performing the greatest miracle in history, in which all the ancient promises of salvation are fulfilled, but he cannot see this because he is blinded by the fear of losing his throne, riches, and privileges,” the Pope explained.

He stressed, however, that “it is precisely this hardness of heart” that further “highlights the value of the presence and mission of the Holy Family.”

“In the despotic and greedy world represented by the tyrant, it is the birthplace and cradle of the only possible answer of salvation, that of God who, in total gratuitousness, gives Himself to men without reserve and without pretension,” he said.

The Pope also highlighted Joseph’s obedience to God’s plan, noting that in Egypt “the flame of domestic love, to which the Lord has entrusted His presence in the world, grows and gains strength in order to bring light to the whole world.”

At the conclusion of his message, Pope Leo asked the Lord, through the intercession of Mary and Joseph, to bless families across the world, so that by following Christ’s example “they may be for all an efficacious sign of His presence and His endless charity.”

Courtesy: Vatican News