When people recognise the truth that they are all children of God and that moral law exists for the benefit of all, they become peacemakers, Pope Benedict XVI said.

"Peace -- this great aspiration in the heart of every man and woman -- is built day by day with the support of everyone," the pope said Jan 1 as he celebrated Mass for the feast of Mary, Mother of God and for World Peace Day.

The Mass in St Peter's Basilica and the recitation of the Angelus afterward in St Peter's Square featured people from around the world dressed in their native costumes. Many carried peace banners.

During the Mass, the offertory gifts were given to Pope Benedict by two boys and a girl from Germany dressed as the Magi and participants from Mexico , Peru , Pakistan , Vietnam and Democratic Republic of Congo.

In the prayers -- read in Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Polish, Spanish and Portuguese -- the congregation asked God to help the Churches of the East and West work together for peace and asked God to bless international organisations committed to peacemaking.

Specific prayers were offered for "the martyred populations of Palestine , the land of Jesus and of his mother, Mary," and for areas of Africa and Asia still experiencing conflict.

In his homily, Pope Benedict called attention to the Gospel of Luke's description of the shepherds hearing the angels announce the birth of Christ and setting off to adore him.

The pope said the shepherds, "in their poverty and simplicity, obedient to the command of the angels and docile to the will of God," are a model of "the man who lets himself be enlightened by truth, in that way becoming capable of building a world of peace."

"In the face of continuing situations of injustice and violence that continue to oppress different areas of the earth and before those things that present themselves as new and insidious threats to peace -- terrorism, nihilism and fanatical fundamentalism -- it becomes necessary more than ever to work together for peace," Pope Benedict said.

While all people are called to work for peace, he said, peacemaking is a "permanent mandate" for all those who believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Christians contribute to peacemaking when they proclaim that "the recognition of the full truth of God is the first and indispensable condition for the consolidation of the truth of peace," he said.

Pope Benedict said humanity needs a "jump-start of courage and trust in God and in man in order to choose to follow the path of peace."

Continuing his reflection during his midday Angelus address, the pope said Christians are called to meditate on the Bible and allow its truths to challenge situations of sin, violence and injustice present in the modern world.

"When man lets himself be enlightened by the splendour of truth", the pope said, "He becomes a peacemaker with interior courage."

During the Christmas season, "we learn a great lesson: To welcome the gift of peace, we must open ourselves to the truth that is revealed in the person of Jesus, who taught us both the content and means of peace, which is love," the pope said.

By sending his son to become a human and to die for all men and women, God "also showed us the path of peace: dialogue, forgiveness and solidarity. This is the only path to true peace," Pope Benedict said.

(CNS)