This morning's General Audience began at 9:25am in the Paul VI Hall where the Holy Father, Pope Francis met with groups of pilgrims and the faithful from Italy and from all corners of the world.
In his speech, the Pope focused his mediation on the significance of the Lord Jesus' Nativity.
After having summarized His catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father offered particular greetings to each group that was present.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Benediction.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today, I want to focus with you on the significance of the Lord Jesus' Nativity, which we are living in faith and celebrating during these days.
The construction of the manger scene is, above all a liturgy, with its biblical readings and traditional songs, which have helped us to re-live here the day on which a Saviour is born for us, who is Jesus Christ the Lord (Lk 2:11).
In our times, especially in Europe, we are witnessing a sort of distortion of Christmas: in the name of false respect which is not Christian, which often hides a will to hide a desire to marginalize the faith and to stop any reference in today's feast to the birth of Jesus. But in reality, this is the only true meaning of Christmas! Without Jesus, there can be no Christmas; there can be another celebration, but not Christmas. And if He is at the centre, then everything else that surrounds him, including the lights, the sounds, various local traditions including typical foods, all combine to create a party atmosphere, but with Jesus as our focus. If we take Him away, the light goes out and everything else loses its meaning.
Through the proclamation of the Church, we, like the shepherds in the gospel (cf Lk 2:9), are drawn to search for and to find the true light, the light of Jesus who having made mankind like us, shows himself in a surprising way: born to a poor unknown girl, who brought him into the world within a stall, with the help of her husband ... The world around them did not notice anything but in heaven, the angels who knew about it rejoiced! This is how the Son of God is presented to us even today: as the gift of God for a humanity that is immersed in the night and lethargic - as though they are sleeping (cf Is 9:1). Even today we witness the fact that humanity often prefers darkness, because we know that light would reveal all those actions and thoughts that would make our consciences blush or leave them tarnished. Therefore we prefer to stay in the darkness and not disturb our bad habits.
Therefore we can also ask ourselves what it means to welcome the gift of God that is Jesus. As He himself taught us through his life, it means day by day to become a free gift for those who we meet as we travel our own paths. This is the reason why at Christmas we exchange gifts. The true gift for us is Jesus, and like Him, we want to be gifts for others. It is as though we want to be gifts for others, so we exchange gifts, as signs, to signal to ourselves and to others this attitude that Jesus teaches us: He who was sent by the Father, was a gift for us, and we are gifts for one another.
The apostle Paul offers us a key to help us understand this, when he writes - this passage that Paul wrote is beautiful - The grace of God appeared, bringing salvation for all mankind and teaching us to live in the world with sobriety, justice and piety (Titus 2:11-12). The grace of God has appeared in Jesus, the face of God, which the Virgin Mary brought into the light like every child in this world, but who did not come from the earth, this child came from Heaven, from God. In this way, through the incarnation of the Son, God showed us the way to a new life, based not on egoism but on love. The birth of Jesus is the greatest gesture of our heavenly Father's love.
And finally, one more important aspect: in the events of Christmas, we can see how the history of humanity, which is affected by the powerful of this world, is visited by the history of God. And God involves those who, confined to the margins of society as the first recipients of his gift, which is to say - the gift - the salvation that Jesus brings. With those who are small and despised, Jesus establishes a friendship that continues through time and that nurtures the gift of hope for a better future. To these people, represented in the shepherds of Bethlehem, a great light appeared (Lk 2:9-12). They were marginalized, frowned upon, despised, and to them this great news appeared first. With these persons, with the small and the despised, Jesus established a friendship that continues through time and that nourishes the gift of hope for a better future. To these people, represented by the shepherds of Bethlehem, a great light appeared, which led them directly to Jesus. With them, in every time, God wants to build a new world, a world in which there are no more rejected, maltreated or destitute people.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us open our minds and hearts to welcome this grace. Jesus is the gift of God for us and, if we welcome him, we too will be able to become gifts for others - to be gifts for God and for others - first of all for those who have never experienced attention and tenderness. But how many people, in their daily lives, have never experienced a hug, loving attention, a gesture of tenderness ... Christmas motivates us to share these gifts. In this way, Jesus comes and is born again to life in every one of us, and through us he continues to be a gift of salvation for those who are small and excluded.
The Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized in various languages and he offered greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from the United States of America. May each of you, and your families, cherish the joy of this Christmas season, and draw near in prayer to the Prince of Peace who has come to dwell among us. God bless you all!
In his speech, the Pope focused his mediation on the significance of the Lord Jesus' Nativity.
After having summarized His catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father offered particular greetings to each group that was present.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Benediction.
Catechesis of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the General Audience
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today, I want to focus with you on the significance of the Lord Jesus' Nativity, which we are living in faith and celebrating during these days.
The construction of the manger scene is, above all a liturgy, with its biblical readings and traditional songs, which have helped us to re-live here the day on which a Saviour is born for us, who is Jesus Christ the Lord (Lk 2:11).
In our times, especially in Europe, we are witnessing a sort of distortion of Christmas: in the name of false respect which is not Christian, which often hides a will to hide a desire to marginalize the faith and to stop any reference in today's feast to the birth of Jesus. But in reality, this is the only true meaning of Christmas! Without Jesus, there can be no Christmas; there can be another celebration, but not Christmas. And if He is at the centre, then everything else that surrounds him, including the lights, the sounds, various local traditions including typical foods, all combine to create a party atmosphere, but with Jesus as our focus. If we take Him away, the light goes out and everything else loses its meaning.
Through the proclamation of the Church, we, like the shepherds in the gospel (cf Lk 2:9), are drawn to search for and to find the true light, the light of Jesus who having made mankind like us, shows himself in a surprising way: born to a poor unknown girl, who brought him into the world within a stall, with the help of her husband ... The world around them did not notice anything but in heaven, the angels who knew about it rejoiced! This is how the Son of God is presented to us even today: as the gift of God for a humanity that is immersed in the night and lethargic - as though they are sleeping (cf Is 9:1). Even today we witness the fact that humanity often prefers darkness, because we know that light would reveal all those actions and thoughts that would make our consciences blush or leave them tarnished. Therefore we prefer to stay in the darkness and not disturb our bad habits.
Therefore we can also ask ourselves what it means to welcome the gift of God that is Jesus. As He himself taught us through his life, it means day by day to become a free gift for those who we meet as we travel our own paths. This is the reason why at Christmas we exchange gifts. The true gift for us is Jesus, and like Him, we want to be gifts for others. It is as though we want to be gifts for others, so we exchange gifts, as signs, to signal to ourselves and to others this attitude that Jesus teaches us: He who was sent by the Father, was a gift for us, and we are gifts for one another.
The apostle Paul offers us a key to help us understand this, when he writes - this passage that Paul wrote is beautiful - The grace of God appeared, bringing salvation for all mankind and teaching us to live in the world with sobriety, justice and piety (Titus 2:11-12). The grace of God has appeared in Jesus, the face of God, which the Virgin Mary brought into the light like every child in this world, but who did not come from the earth, this child came from Heaven, from God. In this way, through the incarnation of the Son, God showed us the way to a new life, based not on egoism but on love. The birth of Jesus is the greatest gesture of our heavenly Father's love.
And finally, one more important aspect: in the events of Christmas, we can see how the history of humanity, which is affected by the powerful of this world, is visited by the history of God. And God involves those who, confined to the margins of society as the first recipients of his gift, which is to say - the gift - the salvation that Jesus brings. With those who are small and despised, Jesus establishes a friendship that continues through time and that nurtures the gift of hope for a better future. To these people, represented in the shepherds of Bethlehem, a great light appeared (Lk 2:9-12). They were marginalized, frowned upon, despised, and to them this great news appeared first. With these persons, with the small and the despised, Jesus established a friendship that continues through time and that nourishes the gift of hope for a better future. To these people, represented by the shepherds of Bethlehem, a great light appeared, which led them directly to Jesus. With them, in every time, God wants to build a new world, a world in which there are no more rejected, maltreated or destitute people.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us open our minds and hearts to welcome this grace. Jesus is the gift of God for us and, if we welcome him, we too will be able to become gifts for others - to be gifts for God and for others - first of all for those who have never experienced attention and tenderness. But how many people, in their daily lives, have never experienced a hug, loving attention, a gesture of tenderness ... Christmas motivates us to share these gifts. In this way, Jesus comes and is born again to life in every one of us, and through us he continues to be a gift of salvation for those who are small and excluded.
The Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized in various languages and he offered greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from the United States of America. May each of you, and your families, cherish the joy of this Christmas season, and draw near in prayer to the Prince of Peace who has come to dwell among us. God bless you all!
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