“Our joyful contemplation of the mystery of
Christmas should make us realize that, as God has become one of us,”
“Christ's birth is the manifestation that God is once and for all, on
mankind's side, to save, to raise us up again from the dust of our
miseries, our difficulties, our sins.” Christmas is the sign that inspires all Christians to follow in God’s footsteps: “God lowers Himself, descends to earth small and poor; then it means that to be like Hi, we must not put ourselves above others, but rather lower ourselves, place ourselves at the service of others, be small with small and poor with the poor,” Francis said at the last General Audience of 2013 held in St. Peter’s Square this morning.
The Pope reflected on the Nativity of Jesus, “the feast of confidence and hope that overcomes uncertainty and pessimism.”
The reason for our hope, he said, is this: “God is with us, and God still trusts us! But think about this: God is with us and God still trusts in us! But God the Father is generous eh? God comes to dwell with men, choosing the Earth as his home to be with man himself and so He can be found there where man spends his days in joy or in pain. Therefore, earth is no longer just a 'valley of tears', but is the place where God himself has pitched His tent, it is the meeting place between God and men, of solidarity between God and men.”
"God wanted to share our human condition to the point of becoming one with us in the person of Jesus, who is true God and true man But there is something even more amazing.”
God "pitched his tent" not in an ideal world, but "in this real world, marked by many good and bad things, marked by divisions, evil, poverty, oppression and war.” He “chos[e] to live our story as it is, with all the weight of its limitations and its dramas. In doing so, he demonstrated in an unsurpassable way, his merciful inclination, full of love for humans.”
“He is God-with-us: do you believe this?” the Pope asked the crowd, to which they responded “Yes!” “But,” the Holy Father continued, “let us make this confession: Jesus is God-with-us! All together: Jesus is God-with-us!” Francis thanked faithful for their enthusiastic response.”
"Jesus is God-with-us, always and forever with us in the sufferings and sorrows of history. Christ's birth is the manifestation that God is once and for all, on mankind's side, to save, to raise us up again from the dust of our miseries, our difficulties, our sins.”
"This is where the great gift of the Child of Bethlehem comes: He brings us spiritual energy, an energy that helps us not to drown in our labours, our despair, our sadness, because it is an energy that warms and transforms the heart. The birth of Jesus, in fact, brings us the good news that we are loved immensely and individually by God, and not only does He bring us this love, He gifts it to us, He communicates it!"
"We can derive two considerations from the joyful contemplation of the mystery of the Son of God born for us,” Francis observed.
“The first is that if, at Christmas, God does not reveal himself as someone on high who dominates the universe, but as someone who lowers Himself: God lowers Himself, descends to earth small and poor; then it means that to be like Hi, we must not put ourselves above others, but rather lower ourselves, place ourselves at the service of others, be small with small and poor with the poor.”
The Pope, who made the poor a priority of his pontificate, commented: “But, it is a bad thing when you see a Christian who does not want to lower his or herself, who does not want to serve, a Christian who struts around, this is bad, no? That's not a Christian, that is pagan! A Christian serves, lowers himself ... May our brothers and sisters never feel alone! May our presence at their side express solidarity not only with words but with the eloquence of gestures that God is near to all.”
"Second, if God, through Jesus, involves Himself with the man to the point of becoming one of us, it means that whatever we do to a brother and sister we do to Him, as Jesus reminds us: those who cared for, welcomed, visited, loved the smallest and poorest of men, will have done as much for the Son of God. On the contrary, those who have rejected, forgotten, ignored the smallest and poorest of men, will have neglected and rejected God himself (Matthew 25:35-46).
The Pope ended the Audience with the following invitation: "Let us entrust ourselves to the maternal intercession of Mary, Mother of Jesus, that she may help us in this Holy Christmas, which is almost upon us, to recognize in the face of our neighbour, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized people , the image of the Son of God made man . Mary sustain us in our aim to give all our love, our kindness and generosity. In this way we will be a reflection and an extension of the light of Jesus which, from the cave of Bethlehem, continues to radiate in the hearts of mankind, offering the joy and peace to which we aspire in the depths of our being.”