The Preacher of the Papal Household, Franciscan Father Roberto Pasolini, delivered the third and final Advent meditation on the theme of smallness—not as a limitation, but as humility that creates space for encounter.
By Isabella Piro and Deborah Castellano Lubov
The birth of the Son of God, Who was the Word from the beginning but chose to become small and fragile, like an infant who cannot yet speak, encapsulates the strength and greatness of smallness.
Capuchin Franciscan Father Roberto Pasolini, the Preacher of the Papal Household, underscored this in his third and final Advent meditation for the Roman Curia, delivered on December 20 in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall.
The theme chosen for the three reflections is “The Gates of Hope: Toward the Opening of the Holy Year through the Prophecy of Christmas.”
The hidden measure of God’s greatness
Having previously focused on the themes of wonder and trust in his first two reflections earlier this month, Father Pasolini now urged crossing the “threshold of smallness.”
He described it as the key to entering the Kingdom of God—not a limitation or deficiency, but a “humble and silent” strength, like that of a seed germinating and growing in the darkness of the earth.
This smallness, he suggested, is the hidden measure of God’s true greatness, a Lord who humbly lowers Himself to others’ level to accompany them in their growth.
Smallness, Fr. Pasolini explained, is the “parameter” of God’s actions and the “place where His choices and promises come to fruition.” It is a conscious choice motivated by the “desire to create authentic relationships that recognize the other’s right to exist, breathe, and express themselves freely.”
Being small, therefore, means opening “spaces for encounter,” enabling others to be themselves without overshadowing or nullifying their uniqueness.
“Before doing good, be small”
To delve deeper into this delicate yet decisive attribute of God, Father Pasolini reinterpreted the parable of the Last Judgment as recounted in Matthew 25:31–46.
Traditionally, this text is understood to mean that, at the end of time, the Lord will judge humanity based on the measure of fraternal love.
However, the preacher explained that the deeper meaning of the parable reveals that all peoples, including those who are not evangelized, may enter the Kingdom of God through their charity toward the “least of the Lord’s brethren.”
From this, he drew “a great and grave responsibility for Christians”: not only to “do good for others” but also to “allow others to do good,” enabling them to express the best of their humanity.
Smallness, therefore, becomes the criterion of conformity and fidelity to God. “Before doing good,” Pasolini reiterated, “it is both beautiful and necessary to remember to make oneself small.”
Smallness as evangelization
God, Pasolini added, does not merely desire His children to know how to love; He also wants them to let themselves be loved by others.
This means offering others “the opportunity to be good and generous,” a deeper way of loving that allows space for the other to fully manifest their humanity.
Loving one's neighbor, he said, means approaching them with “disarming meekness,” allowing them to “encounter and welcome our fragility” and practicing the “most difficult art—not to love, but to let oneself be loved.”
As such, smallness becomes “a true act of evangelization,” a lifestyle and expression of humanity that is profoundly generative. It enables the other to embody gestures of fraternal love.
The example of St. Francis of Assisi
As an example of this, Father Pasolini cited St. Francis of Assisi, who made smallness the “criterion for following the Lord” and “part of our deepest identity.” He highlighted the encounter between Francis and Sultan Malik al-Kamil.
Although the Sultan did not convert after their dialogue, he welcomed and cared for Francis, using the opportunity provided by the saint to express the best of himself.
“Christians,” Father Pasolini emphasized, “do not have a ‘monopoly’ on goodness” but must also allow others to practice it.
Becoming authentic without judging others
Fr. Pasolini also reflected on another fundamental aspect of the parable of the Last Judgment: its call to suspend premature human judgments before the final judgment of the Lord.
He suggested renaming it the parable of “the end of all judgment,” explaining that if we stop judging others—which is not our role—we can focus on what truly matters: becoming more authentic and gratuitous in our actions.
Gratitude, he stressed, cannot be purchased; it must be freely given.
Complete gratuity
By avoiding opportunistic dynamics and expectations, humanity can embrace the only true path: “complete gratuity.”
This involves breaking free from actions driven by the hope of reciprocity or comparison.
Only then, he explained, can we open ourselves to “profound and concrete happiness,” overcoming the fear of worthlessness and giving ourselves fully, while allowing others to do the same for us.
The value of unconscious goodness
“The unconscious good” is the true key to entering the Kingdom of God—the good we have done without realizing it but that others will recognize.
At the end of time, Fr. Pasolini concluded, the “great surprise” will be discovering that God “had no expectations of us, only the immense desire for us to become like Him in love.”
What will ultimately matter is not the quantity of good or bad deeds, but whether, through them, we have accepted and fully become ourselves.
Embodying smallness to offer hope
As Christmas and the Jubilee approach, Father Pasolini invited everyone to “choose to embody smallness to share the hope of the Gospel.”
He stressed how important this is especially in a world that seems “hostile or indifferent” but is actually waiting to encounter “the merciful face of the Father in the fragile but always lovable flesh of His children.”
Crossing the Holy Door of the Jubilee with “great sincerity,” he added, without pretending to be anything other than what the Church has grown to be over the centuries, “could truly bring great hope.”
The meditation concluded with a prayer for the Holy Year, asking that the Lord’s grace transform humanity into “diligent cultivators of Gospel seeds,” awaiting “the new heavens and the new earth” with trusting hope.
