VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Christ is a king who does not crush his subjects but sets them free to serve him and other people, Pope Francis wrote in a talk he prepared but did not deliver because he was hospitalized.
Although the pope's weekly general audience Feb. 19 was canceled and no one was delegated to lead the gathering in the pope's place, the Vatican published the text the pope had prepared.
Pope Francis has been hospitalized since Feb. 14; the Vatican said Feb. 18 that he had been diagnosed with double pneumonia.
During the Holy Year 2025, the pope announced earlier, the general audience talks were to focus on "Jesus Christ our hope," beginning with a look at the Bible stories of Jesus' infancy.
In the text prepared for Feb. 19, Pope Francis described the Three Kings as "pilgrims of hope" who set off from their land to find Jesus.
The poor and humble shepherds are the first to pay homage to Jesus. And the Magi, foreigners, are the next group, the pope noted. "Hence, the Gospels tell us clearly that the poor and foreigners are invited among the first to meet God made child, the savior of the world."
"With great courage," he wrote, they "turned their steps, hearts and goods toward the One who is the hope not only of Israel but of all peoples."
The Magi "are men who are able to look beyond themselves, who know how to look upward" and follow the star, Pope Francis wrote. Herod, on the other hand, shows that "for those attached to power, Jesus is not the hope to be welcomed, but a threat to be eliminated!"
Pope Francis ended his prepared text with a prayer that people would "learn to adore God in his smallness, in his kingship that does not crush but rather sets us free and enables us to serve with dignity."
And like the Magi, he said, "let us offer him the most beautiful gifts, to express our faith and our love."
