With the night of Bethlehem, "the
infinite distance between God and man has been overcome", the promises
of the prophets have been realized and "the light of goodness" has been
lit.
During Christmas midnight mass Benedict XVI words of thanksgiving
became a prayer: "Lord, make your promise come fully true. Break the rods of the oppressors. Burn the tramping boots. Let the time of the garments rolled in blood come to an end. Fulfil
the prophecy that “of peace there will be no end”.
The prayer for
peace was at the heart of the night, during mass prayers were said for
respect of human dignity from conception to natural death, and for
political leaders so they may operate in favour of a peaceful
coexistence between peoples; earlier in the afternoon, the Pope appeared
at the window of his study to bless the Nativity Scene in St. Peter's
Square and light the candle, "light of peace", placed on his windowsill,
according to Polish tradition dear to John Paul II.
In a basilica packed to overflowing with more than ten thousand
people gathered at the Christmas Mass, the Pope spoke of that night in
Bethlehem, when " The infinite distance between God and man is overcome. God
has not only bent down, as we read in the Psalms; he has truly “come
down”, he has come into the world, he has become one of us, in order to
draw all of us to himself. This child is truly Emmanuel – God-with-us. His kingdom truly stretches to the ends of the earth. He has truly built islands of peace in the world-encompassing breadth of the holy Eucharist. Wherever it is celebrated, an island of peace arises, of God’s own peace. This child has ignited the light of goodness in men and has given them strength to overcome the tyranny of might. This child builds his kingdom in every generation from within, from the heart. But
at the same time it is true that the “rod of his oppressor” is not yet
broken, the boots of warriors continue to tramp and the “garment rolled
in blood” (Is 9:4f) still remains. So part of this night is simply joy at God’s closeness. We
are grateful that God gives himself into our hands as a child, begging
as it were for our love, implanting his peace in our hearts. But this joy is also a prayer: Lord, make your promise come fully true. Break the rods of the oppressors. Burn the tramping boots. Let the time of the garments rolled in blood come to an end. Fulfil the prophecy that “of peace there will be no end” (Is 9:7). We thank you for your goodness, but we also ask you to show forth your power. Establish the dominion of your truth and your love in the world – the “kingdom of righteousness, love and peace”.
“At the end of the Christmas Gospel, we are told that a great
heavenly host of angels praised God and said: “Glory to God in the
highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!” (Lk 2:14). The
Church, in the Gloria, has extended this song of praise, which the
angels sang in response to the event of the holy night, into a hymn of
joy at God’s glory – “we praise you for your glory”. We praise you for the beauty, for the greatness, for the your goodness of God, which becomes visible to us this night. The appearing of beauty, of the beautiful, makes us happy without our having to ask what use it can serve. God’s glory, from which all beauty derives, causes us to break out in astonishment and joy. Anyone who catches a glimpse of God experiences joy, and on this night we see something of his light. But the angels’ message on that holy night also spoke of men: “Peace among men with whom he is pleased”.
The
Latin translation of the angels’ song that we use in the liturgy, taken
from Saint Jerome, is slightly different: “peace to men of good will”. The expression “men of good will” has become an important part of the Church’s vocabulary in recent decades. But which is the correct translation? We must read both texts together; only in this way do we truly understand the angels’ song. It
would be a false interpretation to see this exclusively as the action
of God, as if he had not called man to a free response of love. But
it would be equally mistaken to adopt a moralizing interpretation as if
man were so to speak able to redeem himself by his good will. Both
elements belong together: grace and freedom, God’s prior love for us,
without which we could not love him, and the response that he awaits
from us, the response that he asks for so palpably through the birth of
his son. We cannot divide up into independent entities the interplay of grace and freedom, or the interplay of call and response. The two are inseparably woven together. So this part of the angels’ message is both promise and call at the same time. God has anticipated us with the gift of his Son. God anticipates us again and again in unexpected ways. He does not cease to search for us, to raise us up as often as we might need. He does not abandon the lost sheep in the wilderness into which it had strayed. God does not allow himself to be confounded by our sin. Again and again he begins afresh with us. But he is still waiting for us to join him in love. He loves us, so that we too may become people who love, so that there may be peace on earth".
SIC: AN/INT'L