Today's General Audience began at 10:30 local time in Saint Peter's Square, where the Holy Father, Pope Francis met with groups of pilgrims and the faithful who had come from various parts of Italy and all corners of the world.
Today's was the last General Audience of the year. From March 27 until now, Pope Francis has conducted thirty General Audience gatherings, for which the Prefecture of the Papal Household has distributed 1,548,500 entrance tickets, but often the estimated numbers of participants far surpassed that number, even by as many as 100,000 persons. On many occasions, jumbotrons were placed in Piazza Pio XII (not far from Castel Sant'Angelo) and the Via della Conciliazione was transformed into a pedestrian way up to and including the Via Traspontina.
In his discourse, spoken this morning in Italian, the Pope focused his meditation on the mystery of Christmas which is approaching. When the catechesis was complete, syntheses of the Holy Father's teaching were presented in various languages and then the Pope addressed special greetings to various groups of pilgrims.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the imposition of the Apostolic Blessing.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning,
Our meeting is taking place in the spiritual climate of Advent, made even more intense by the Holy Christmas Novena, which we are living in these days and which leads us to the Christmas celebrations. Because of this I would like to reflect with you today on the day of the birth of Jesus, a feast of trust and hope, which overcomes uncertainty and pessimism. And the reason for our hope is this: God is with us and God has confidence in us again! But think well about this: God is with us and God has confidence in us again. This God-Father is generous! He comes to dwell with men, chooses the earth as his dwelling to be together with man and have himself found where man spends his days in joy and sorrow. Therefore, the earth is no longer only a vale of tears, but a place where God himself has pitched his tent; it is the place of God’s encounter with man, of God’s solidarity with men.
God willed to share our human condition to the point of becoming one with us in the person of Jesus, who is true man and true God. However, there is something that is even more surprising. The presence of God in the midst of humanity was not enacted in an ideal, idyllic world, but in this real world, marked by so many good and evil things, marked by divisions, wickedness, poverty, arrogance and wars. God has chosen to inhabit our history as it is, with all the weight of its limitations and dramas. By doing so, He has demonstrated in an unsurpassable way his merciful inclination filled with love for human creatures. He is the God-with-us; Jesus is God-with-us. Do you believe this? Let us make this profession together: Jesus is God-with-us! Jesus is God-with-us always and forever in the sufferings and griefs of history. Jesus’ birth is the manifestation that God has aligned himself once and for all on the side of man, to save us, to raise us from the dust of our miseries, of our difficulties, of our sins.
From whence comes the great gift of the Babe of Bethlehem: He brings us spiritual energy, an energy that helps us not to sink in our toils, in our despairs, in our sadnesses because it is an energy that warms and transforms the heart. Jesus’ birth, in fact, brings us the good news that we are loved immensely and individually by God, and not only does He make this love known to us, but he gives it to us and communicates it to us!
From the joyful contemplation of the mystery of the Son of God born for us, we can draw two considerations.
The first is that if at Christmas, God reveals himself not as one who is on High and who controls the universe, but as one who abases himself, who descends to earth small and poor, it means that to be like him we must not put ourselves above others, but rather lower ourselves, putting ourselves at the service of others, making ourselves little with the little and with the poor. But it is not nice to see a Christian who does not want to lower himself, who does not want to serve. A Christian who shows off everywhere is nasty: he is not a Christian, he is a pagan. A Christian serves, lowers himself. Let us work so that these brothers and sisters of ours will not feel alone!
The second consequence: if God, through Jesus, involved himself with man to the point of becoming like one of us, it means that whatever we have done to a brother or a sister we have done to Him. Jesus himself reminded us of this: he who fed, welcomed, visited, loved one of the littlest and poorest among men, did it to the Son of God.
Let us entrust ourselves to the maternal intercession of Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, so that she will help us this Holy Christmas, now soon approaching, to recognize in the face of our neighbour, especially the weakest and most marginalized persons, the image of the Son of God made man.
Syntheses of this teaching were then presented in various languages, after which the Holy Father offered particular greetings to groups of pilgrims who had gathered for the General Audience. To English-speaking pilgrims, the Pope said:
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims present at today’s Audience including those from England, Australia and the United States. I thank the members of Up with People for their musical entertainment. Upon you and your families I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace!
Today's was the last General Audience of the year. From March 27 until now, Pope Francis has conducted thirty General Audience gatherings, for which the Prefecture of the Papal Household has distributed 1,548,500 entrance tickets, but often the estimated numbers of participants far surpassed that number, even by as many as 100,000 persons. On many occasions, jumbotrons were placed in Piazza Pio XII (not far from Castel Sant'Angelo) and the Via della Conciliazione was transformed into a pedestrian way up to and including the Via Traspontina.
In his discourse, spoken this morning in Italian, the Pope focused his meditation on the mystery of Christmas which is approaching. When the catechesis was complete, syntheses of the Holy Father's teaching were presented in various languages and then the Pope addressed special greetings to various groups of pilgrims.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the imposition of the Apostolic Blessing.
Address of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the General Audience
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning,
Our meeting is taking place in the spiritual climate of Advent, made even more intense by the Holy Christmas Novena, which we are living in these days and which leads us to the Christmas celebrations. Because of this I would like to reflect with you today on the day of the birth of Jesus, a feast of trust and hope, which overcomes uncertainty and pessimism. And the reason for our hope is this: God is with us and God has confidence in us again! But think well about this: God is with us and God has confidence in us again. This God-Father is generous! He comes to dwell with men, chooses the earth as his dwelling to be together with man and have himself found where man spends his days in joy and sorrow. Therefore, the earth is no longer only a vale of tears, but a place where God himself has pitched his tent; it is the place of God’s encounter with man, of God’s solidarity with men.
God willed to share our human condition to the point of becoming one with us in the person of Jesus, who is true man and true God. However, there is something that is even more surprising. The presence of God in the midst of humanity was not enacted in an ideal, idyllic world, but in this real world, marked by so many good and evil things, marked by divisions, wickedness, poverty, arrogance and wars. God has chosen to inhabit our history as it is, with all the weight of its limitations and dramas. By doing so, He has demonstrated in an unsurpassable way his merciful inclination filled with love for human creatures. He is the God-with-us; Jesus is God-with-us. Do you believe this? Let us make this profession together: Jesus is God-with-us! Jesus is God-with-us always and forever in the sufferings and griefs of history. Jesus’ birth is the manifestation that God has aligned himself once and for all on the side of man, to save us, to raise us from the dust of our miseries, of our difficulties, of our sins.
From whence comes the great gift of the Babe of Bethlehem: He brings us spiritual energy, an energy that helps us not to sink in our toils, in our despairs, in our sadnesses because it is an energy that warms and transforms the heart. Jesus’ birth, in fact, brings us the good news that we are loved immensely and individually by God, and not only does He make this love known to us, but he gives it to us and communicates it to us!
From the joyful contemplation of the mystery of the Son of God born for us, we can draw two considerations.
The first is that if at Christmas, God reveals himself not as one who is on High and who controls the universe, but as one who abases himself, who descends to earth small and poor, it means that to be like him we must not put ourselves above others, but rather lower ourselves, putting ourselves at the service of others, making ourselves little with the little and with the poor. But it is not nice to see a Christian who does not want to lower himself, who does not want to serve. A Christian who shows off everywhere is nasty: he is not a Christian, he is a pagan. A Christian serves, lowers himself. Let us work so that these brothers and sisters of ours will not feel alone!
The second consequence: if God, through Jesus, involved himself with man to the point of becoming like one of us, it means that whatever we have done to a brother or a sister we have done to Him. Jesus himself reminded us of this: he who fed, welcomed, visited, loved one of the littlest and poorest among men, did it to the Son of God.
Let us entrust ourselves to the maternal intercession of Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, so that she will help us this Holy Christmas, now soon approaching, to recognize in the face of our neighbour, especially the weakest and most marginalized persons, the image of the Son of God made man.
Syntheses of this teaching were then presented in various languages, after which the Holy Father offered particular greetings to groups of pilgrims who had gathered for the General Audience. To English-speaking pilgrims, the Pope said:
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims present at today’s Audience including those from England, Australia and the United States. I thank the members of Up with People for their musical entertainment. Upon you and your families I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace!
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