On September 16, Pope Francis received participants in the Christmas Contest, a musical composition contest open to youth and sponsored by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the Gravissimum Educationis Foundation, and the Republic of San Marino.
Musical composition is “an art that requires, in two words, harmony and creativity, which go together. In this sense, we can say that composing music is a metaphor for life, in which we need both to synchronize harmoniously with others, with society and its rules, and to give space to the originality of each person’s way of being and expressing oneself,” Pope Francis told the young people in an audience in Consistory Hall of the Apostolic Palace.
Harmony and creativity, the Pope added, “are first of all found in Him [Christ], and Christmas shows them in a special and moving way, giving us the Lord’s making Himself small for us, his making Himself man to communicate to us the infinite warmth of His divine love.”
“Please continue to cultivate your grand dreams, your talent and your passion: dreams, talent and passion, together with creativity, will do good for you and for those you encounter on your path,” the Pope concluded.