Love conquers fear. These are some of the teachings of Pope Francis as we move into the new year and the first steps of 2020.

We refer to speech to the Roman Curia on the occasion of Christmas and to the messages for the workshop World Peace Day and for the workshop World Day of the Sick.

Overcoming fear by trusting in God

In his speech to the Roman Curia, on the occasion of the Christmas greetings (21-XII-2019), Francis stressed that love conquers fear. Even the fear of change, which is necessary to be faithful.

Francis has taken his cue from the thought of Newman. The saintly English cardinal writes: "Here on earth to live is to change, and perfection is the result of many transformations" (cf. The development of Christian doctrine). And on another occasion: "There is nothing stable apart from you, my God (...). I know, my God, that a change must take place in me if I want to contemplate your face"(Meditations and Prayers).

According to the Bible, too, the human heart needs to travel a path of conversion: "Paradoxically," the Pope observes, "it needs to depart in order to remain, to change in order to be faithful. Today, in the midst of a serious anthropological, faith and ecological crisis, we have this need.

"The problem - Francis picks up here an argument from the encyclical Laudato si'-is that we do not yet have the necessary culture to face this crisis and it is necessary to build leaderships that lead the way".

It is in this perspective that the Pope places the reform of the Curia, giving orientations and criteria that in some way serve for the Christian and ecclesial renewal of all of us, in the midst of what Benedict XVI called a "profound crisis of faith" and "eclipse of the sense of God".

Concretely, he offers three proposals. First: for the tradition (the submission of faith) to remain alive, a renewed evangelization is necessary, because it is necessary to recognize that "today we are not the only ones who produce culture, nor the first ones, nor the most listened to". The faith is not - especially in Europe, but even in a large part of the West - an obvious budget of common life, and is even frequently denied, marginalized and ridiculed.

A second point is the importance of communication in a digitalized culture, which favors images over listening and reading, and in this way affects the way we learn and the development critical sense (cf. Christus vivit, 86). This requires of us, says the Pope, a greater coordination and work as a team, in order to promote the development integral human .

Thirdly, taking the Incarnation of the Son of God as a living model , "humanity is the distinctive core topic to read the reform". Attention to the core topic: "Humanity - says Francis - calls, questions and provokes, that is, it calls to go out and not to be afraid of change". Here is the third proposal.

For this, some circumstances provide a whole bath of realism: 1) "in the present there are people who irremediably need time to mature"; 2) "there are historical circumstances that must be handled on a daily basis, since during the reform the world and events do not stop"; 3) "there are legal and institutional issues that must be resolved gradually, without magic formulas or shortcuts"; 4) history and human error must be taken into account; retreating into the past may be more comfortable but it is not the best thing to do; it is necessary to overcome the temptation of rigidity and fear of change, since this leads to an imbalance that does not financial aid but hinders.

It is necessary - the Pope concludes - to open oneself to the path of faith, trust, courage and divine love "which inspires, directs and corrects the transformation, and defeats the human fear of leaving what is certain in order to launch oneself into the mystery", and thus be able to participate in the salvation that God offers to each person and to the world.

Peace and Education in freedom and responsibility

The message for the LIII workshop world peace -published on December 8, 2019-, celebrated on January 1, opens under the sign of hope, and is concretized as "dialogue, reconciliation and ecological conversion".

In this message the Pope alludes to his speech on nuclear weapons (Nagasaki, 24-XI-2019) to warn that today we are still in a war of fear, an extension of the "cold war". Francis warns that this "can only" be overcome by changing the mentality in favor of solidarity and co-responsibility. "Nuclear deterrence - he affirms - can only create an illusory security": an unstable equilibrium on the edge of the abyss, enclosed within the walls of indifference and the throwaway culture.

To get out of this logic - he proposes - it is necessary to advance on the path of dialogue and fraternity. And for this, to revalue the report and appeal to the moral conscience and the will staff and politics. "The world does not need empty words, but convinced witnesses, artisans of peace open to dialogue without exclusion or manipulation".

This highlights, as St. Paul VI pointed out, the importance of Education not only in rights, but also in duties and responsibilities, in self-control and in the limits of our own freedom (cf. Apostolic Letter Octogesima adveniens, 1971, n. 24). Interesting this quotation in the present moment of our culture.

An instrument to advance in this line: "The patient work based on the power of the word and the truth can awaken in people the capacity for compassion and creative solidarity".

Together with this, it is necessary to rely on the power of reconciliation and forgiveness (thanking for the forgiveness of sins offered to us in the Sacrament of Penance) and of gratuitousness, both at staff and public level.

Christ has reconciled all things to God (cf. Col 1:20), "and he asks us," says Francis, "to put away all violence in our thoughts, words and actions, both towards our neighbor and towards creation".

Identifying with Christ to care for the sick

The XXVIII workshop World Day of the Sick will be celebrated next February 8 under the theme of Jesus: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:28). In his message (3-I-2020), Francis highlights the attitude of Jesus, who calls for closeness to him and offers his mercy.

Jesus does this first and foremost with his own life, because only he who experiences suffering and need first hand will know how to be a comfort to others.

For this reason, it is necessary to put ourselves in the place of the sick person in order to provide the care (medical, but also relational, intellectual, affective and spiritual) that he or she requires, as well as his or her family. Both those who care for the sick and the sick themselves must keep in mind that "Christ has not given us prescriptions, but by his passion, death and resurrection he frees us from the oppression of evil".

For this reason, the sick must be able to find, especially in Christians, people who, healed by God's mercy in their fragility, know how to help them "to carry their cross, making of their wounds skylights through which they can look beyond their illness to the horizon" and thus receive light and fresh air to carry on with their lives.

Clearly, everything begins with respect for the dignity and life of each person. For this, Christian professionals may sometimes have to resort to their right to conscientious objection.

At final, prayer and discernment, listening and responding, with love that overcomes fear. This is the path that Christians must travel with serenity and joy in order to contribute to the new evangelization, to peace and to the care of others. It is also to open it up to future generations.