Archbishop Aldo Cavalli presided over the Midnight Holy Mass in Medjugorje: God became man out of love

The Midnight Holy Mass in the Church of St. James in Medjugorje was presided over by Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, the Apostolic Visitor with a special role for the parish of Medjugorje. Before this Holy Mass at 6 p.m., the Holy Mass of Christmas Eve was celebrated, then a live nativity scene was staged in front of the church by the members of the Cenacolo community, and the prayer vigil began with adoration of Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar at 10:30 p.m.

"Why did God become one of us? Why did God become man?" Archbishop Cavalli asked at the beginning of his homily, in which he reflected on the mystery of the incarnation, and invited us to reflect on this mystery together through the Bible because it is the best way to explain God, to explain Jesus.

He then explained that the Holy Bible's first answer to the question of why did God become man is - Out of love!

"The Gospel of John says that God so loved the world that he became one of us. He became one of us because he loves us. He became one of us because he loves me and you, my friend. That is the first great motive, but to love a person means to wish them well. To love a person means to bless them, to speak well of them. To love a person means to help them. All these verbs that we have mentioned – to love, to serve, to speak well of them, to bless… – have a common denominator in one word that in the Bible we call to serve. He who loves, serves," said Archbishop Cavalli. In explaining what it means to serve in the Bible, he used Chapter 13 of the Gospel of John, which speaks of the beginning of the Last Supper when Jesus washes the feet of his disciples, which he said was impossible at that time, because at that time only slaves who were worthless washed their feet, so Peter's reaction when he said that the Master would not wash his feet is understandable.

"He who loves, serves! But in order to serve, we need to have something to give. If I remain half-hearted, average, I do not love. In order to love, I need to grow in all human and spiritual qualities," said Archbishop Cavalli, repeating that God became one of us because he loves us and serves us "like a slave," and continuing that the cross is the Bible's second answer to the question of why God became one of us?

"Jesus died on the cross like the two thieves who were crucified with him," said Monsignor Cavalli, emphasizing Mary's greatness in front of her tortured son.

"People passed by, insulted him, belittled him, but Mary was there," said Archbishop Cavalli, explaining that Jesus died like the other two thieves, but that His death was understood only with the Holy Spirit.

"With the Holy Spirit, they saw with different eyes. That body that was worthless in the eyes of others was the body of the Son of God. There was the body of the Son of God among us. And they understood within the Holy Scriptures the great thing that Jesus did and they summed it up in one word of that time – Redeemer. That body is the body of my Redeemer”, said Archbishop Cavalli and explained that at that time Israel was divided among large families that owned land, and when someone in the family did the wrong thing, sold land, went into debt, the head of the family was supposed to take over his debts, pay them in order to enable that person and make him worthy as before. The head who would pay that debt, take it upon himself and release that person from debt was called a redeemer and here we understand the meaning of that word.

“The apostles in the Holy Spirit looked at the cross with the eyes of God. He died like the other two, but he was not like the others, and he died like that because he did a great, immeasurable thing, because he took our sins upon himself. They understood that He took upon Himself the sins that I have committed, that I am committing and that I will commit," said Archbishop Cavalli, emphasizing that He forgives our sins as soon as we look at Him, but we need to ask for forgiveness in our freedom.

"And here is confession. I kneel in the confessional, I ask for forgiveness and His death on the cross is present, this mystery is present over me," said Archbishop Cavalli, who at the end asked himself once again: "Why did God become like us, why did He become one of us?" He then answered: "Out of love for each of us, He took our sins upon Himself in order to erase them and grant us grace, it is not our merit but grace. In that immense love, He took upon Himself all our sins and destroyed them with His death on the cross."

At the end of the Holy Mass, the parish priest of Medjugorje, Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić, wished all the faithful happy and blessed Christmas.