“MUSIC IS LIKE A BRIDGE THAT LEADS US TO GOD”
Here’s a video of last night’s Concert with the Poor in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall. When Michael Buble sang LOVE and the audience joined in, as he asked them to do, Pope Leo joined the singalong!
In the song, the letters V and E of the word LOVE mean “very, very extraordinary” and that is exactly what the concert was!
At the end of the concert, Leo XIV addressed the 8,000 guests, including 3,000 poor, the evening’s special guests. His very words struck us like the beauty and power of the music we just heard.
Pope Leo began, “This evening, as the melodies touched our hearts, we felt the inestimable value of music: not a luxury for the few, but a divine gift accessible to everyone, rich and poor, learned and simple. Therefore, as I greet each one of you, I feel a special joy in welcoming you, brothers and sisters, for whom we have experienced this concert today: thank you for your presence!”
He went on to say, “Our gratitude naturally goes to those who have performed the music and songs with art and passion: the Choir of the Diocese of Rome, led by Mastro Monsignor Marco Frisina, together with the Nova Opera Orchestra. And I cannot forget the Nova Opera Foundation and all the partners who made this event possible. I address a special “thank you” to the artist Michael Bublé for his presence among us this evening, and to Ms. Serena Autieri.
“Dear friends, music is like a bridge that leads us to God. It is capable of transmitting feelings, emotions, even the deepest stirrings of the soul, lifting them up and transforming them into an imaginary stairway connecting earth and heaven. Yes, music can lift our hearts! Not because it distracts us from our sufferings, because it numbs us or makes us forget the problems and difficult situations of life, but because it reminds us that we are not just this: we are far more than our problems and our troubles, we are God’s beloved children!
It is not a coincidence that the feast of Christmas is very rich in traditional songs, in every” language and every culture. It is as though this Mystery could not be celebrated without music, without hymns of praise. After all, the Gospel itself tells us that while Jesus was being born in the stable in Bethlehem, there was a great concert of angels in heaven! And who listened to that oncert? To whom did the angels appear? To the shepherds, who were keeping watch at night to guard their flock (cf. Lk 2:13-
“Dear friends, in this time of Advent, let us prepare ourselves to meet the Lord who is coming! Let us ensure that our hearts are not weighed down, that they are not preoccupied with selfish interests and material concerns, but rather that they are awake, attentive to others, to those in need; let us be ready to listen to the song of God’s love, which is Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus is God’s song of love for humanity. Let us listen to this song! Let us learn it well, so that we too can sing it with our lives.”
How very, very extraordinary Pope Leo’s words!
“Music reminds us that we are not just this: we are far more than our problems and our troubles, we are God’s beloved children!”
“Let us be ready to listen to the song of God’s love, which is Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus is God’s song of love for humanity.”
Joan's Rome 