Vatican City, Jan 1, 2021 / 09:37 am (CNA).- The Virgin Mary’s motherly care encourages us to use our God-given time for building up the world and peace, not destroying it, Pope Francis said on New Year’s Day.

“The reassuring and comforting gaze of the Holy Virgin is an encouragement to make sure that this time, granted us by the Lord, might be spent for our human and spiritual growth,” the pope said Jan. 1, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.