This morning's General Audience - the final one for 2015 - began at 10:00am (EST+6) in Saint Peter's Square, where the Holy Father met with groups of pilgrims and the faithful from Italy and from every corner of the world.
In his speech, the Pope focused his meditation on the Child Jesus.
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Pope addressed particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. Then, he asked for prayers for the victims of natural disasters that have taken place in the United States, in Great Britain and in South America.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.
Brothers and sisters, good morning!
In this Christmas season, we find ourselves before the Child Jesus. I am sure that in our homes, still many families have set up a crib, continuing this beautiful tradition that dates back to Saint Francis of Assisi and that keeps the mystery of God who became man alive in our hearts.
Devotion to the Child Jesus is widespread. Many saints cultivated this devotion in their daily prayer, and wanted to model their lives on the life of the Child Jesus. I think especially of Saint Teresa of Lisieux, who as a contemplative Carmelite took the name of Teresa of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. She - who is also a Doctor of the Church - lived and bore witness to spiritual infancy which teaches us to be humble like God who made himself small for our sakes, through meditation at the school of the Virgin Mary. This is a great mystery, God is humble! We who are proud, filled with vanity and believe ourselves to be great, are nothing! He, the great one, is humble and made himself a child. This is truly a mystery! God is humble. This is beautiful!
There was a time when, in the divine-human person of Christ, God was a child, and this should have a special meaning for our faith. It's true that his death on a cross and his resurrection are the greatest expression of his redemptive love, but don't forget that his entire earthly life was revealing and a source of teaching. During the Christmas season, we remember his infancy. In order to grow in our faith, we need to contemplate especially the Child Jesus. Sure, we do not know any details about this period in his life. The rare indications that we have refer to the giving of his name eight days after his birth, at the presentation in the Temple (cf Lk 2:21-28); and to the visit of the Magi with the resulting flight into Egypt (cf Mt 2:1-23). Then there is a big jump to the age of twelve years, when Mary and Joseph go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover, and instead of returning with his parents, he remains in the Temple, speaking with the teachers of the law.
As you can see, we know very little about the Child Jesus, but we can learn a lot from Him if we look at the life of children. It is a good thing for parents and grandparents to have - looking at their children, at what they do.
First, we discover that children want our attention. Why do they want us to focus on them? Because they are proud? No! Because they need to feel protected. We also need to keep Jesus at the centre of our lives and to know, although it seems paradoxical, that we have a responsibility to protect him. He wants to be held in our arms, he wants to be cared for and to be able to fix his gaze on our gaze. It also brings a smile to the Child Jesus to be able to demonstrate our love and our joy to him because he is among us. His smile is a sign of love that gives us the certainty of being loved. Children, in fact, love to play, but to allow a child to play means that we must abandon our own logic and enter into their logic. If we want to have fun, we need to understand what they like, and not be egotistical and make them do the things that we ourselves like to do. This is a lesson for us. Before Jesus, we are called to abandon our own pretexts of autonomy - and this is the heart of the problem: our pretext of autonomy - in order to welcome the true form of freedom which is the knowledge of the person whose presence we share and to be able to serve him. This child is the Son of God who comes to save us. He came among us to show us the Father's face which is rich in love and mercy. Let us therefore hold the Child Jesus in our arms, putting ourselves at his service: he is the source of love and of serenity. This is a good thing for us to do today, when we go back home, to stand beside the crib and to kiss the Child Jesus and say: Jesus, I want to be humble like you, humble like God is, and to ask him for this grace.
At the conclusion of his catechesis, the Holy Father's teaching was summarized and presented in various languages and he himself offered greetings to each group of the faithful that was present. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including the pilgrimage groups from Norway, the Philippines and the United States of America. I thank the choirs for their praise of God in song. With prayerful good wishes that the the Church’s celebration of the Jubilee of Mercy will be a moment of grace and spiritual renewal for all, I invoke upon you and your families an abundance of joy and peace in the Lord. Happy New Year!
Having concluded his greetings to the faithful, the Holy Father then asked for special prayers to be offered for victims of disasters in various parts of the world:
I invite you to pray for the victims of disasters which in recent days have taken place in the United States, in Great Britain and in South America, especially in Paraguay, resulting in unfortunate victims, many of whom have been displaced due to extensive damage. May the Lord comfort those peoples, and may fraternal assistance come to their aid in their time of need.
In his speech, the Pope focused his meditation on the Child Jesus.
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Pope addressed particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. Then, he asked for prayers for the victims of natural disasters that have taken place in the United States, in Great Britain and in South America.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.
Catechesis of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the General Audience
Brothers and sisters, good morning!
In this Christmas season, we find ourselves before the Child Jesus. I am sure that in our homes, still many families have set up a crib, continuing this beautiful tradition that dates back to Saint Francis of Assisi and that keeps the mystery of God who became man alive in our hearts.
Devotion to the Child Jesus is widespread. Many saints cultivated this devotion in their daily prayer, and wanted to model their lives on the life of the Child Jesus. I think especially of Saint Teresa of Lisieux, who as a contemplative Carmelite took the name of Teresa of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. She - who is also a Doctor of the Church - lived and bore witness to spiritual infancy which teaches us to be humble like God who made himself small for our sakes, through meditation at the school of the Virgin Mary. This is a great mystery, God is humble! We who are proud, filled with vanity and believe ourselves to be great, are nothing! He, the great one, is humble and made himself a child. This is truly a mystery! God is humble. This is beautiful!
There was a time when, in the divine-human person of Christ, God was a child, and this should have a special meaning for our faith. It's true that his death on a cross and his resurrection are the greatest expression of his redemptive love, but don't forget that his entire earthly life was revealing and a source of teaching. During the Christmas season, we remember his infancy. In order to grow in our faith, we need to contemplate especially the Child Jesus. Sure, we do not know any details about this period in his life. The rare indications that we have refer to the giving of his name eight days after his birth, at the presentation in the Temple (cf Lk 2:21-28); and to the visit of the Magi with the resulting flight into Egypt (cf Mt 2:1-23). Then there is a big jump to the age of twelve years, when Mary and Joseph go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover, and instead of returning with his parents, he remains in the Temple, speaking with the teachers of the law.
As you can see, we know very little about the Child Jesus, but we can learn a lot from Him if we look at the life of children. It is a good thing for parents and grandparents to have - looking at their children, at what they do.
First, we discover that children want our attention. Why do they want us to focus on them? Because they are proud? No! Because they need to feel protected. We also need to keep Jesus at the centre of our lives and to know, although it seems paradoxical, that we have a responsibility to protect him. He wants to be held in our arms, he wants to be cared for and to be able to fix his gaze on our gaze. It also brings a smile to the Child Jesus to be able to demonstrate our love and our joy to him because he is among us. His smile is a sign of love that gives us the certainty of being loved. Children, in fact, love to play, but to allow a child to play means that we must abandon our own logic and enter into their logic. If we want to have fun, we need to understand what they like, and not be egotistical and make them do the things that we ourselves like to do. This is a lesson for us. Before Jesus, we are called to abandon our own pretexts of autonomy - and this is the heart of the problem: our pretext of autonomy - in order to welcome the true form of freedom which is the knowledge of the person whose presence we share and to be able to serve him. This child is the Son of God who comes to save us. He came among us to show us the Father's face which is rich in love and mercy. Let us therefore hold the Child Jesus in our arms, putting ourselves at his service: he is the source of love and of serenity. This is a good thing for us to do today, when we go back home, to stand beside the crib and to kiss the Child Jesus and say: Jesus, I want to be humble like you, humble like God is, and to ask him for this grace.
At the conclusion of his catechesis, the Holy Father's teaching was summarized and presented in various languages and he himself offered greetings to each group of the faithful that was present. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including the pilgrimage groups from Norway, the Philippines and the United States of America. I thank the choirs for their praise of God in song. With prayerful good wishes that the the Church’s celebration of the Jubilee of Mercy will be a moment of grace and spiritual renewal for all, I invoke upon you and your families an abundance of joy and peace in the Lord. Happy New Year!
Having concluded his greetings to the faithful, the Holy Father then asked for special prayers to be offered for victims of disasters in various parts of the world:
I invite you to pray for the victims of disasters which in recent days have taken place in the United States, in Great Britain and in South America, especially in Paraguay, resulting in unfortunate victims, many of whom have been displaced due to extensive damage. May the Lord comfort those peoples, and may fraternal assistance come to their aid in their time of need.
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