With Jesus’ birth and
the descent into the world of the Eternal, human time, “although full of
evil, suffering and all sorts of tragedies, from those caused by man’s
wickedness to those due to fateful natural events, has come to encompass
in a final and indelible manner the joyous and liberating novelty of
Christ the Saviour,” said the Pope.
As the present year ends, the Pope
urges everyone to look towards the future with such hope in mind.
In his exhortation for the ‘Te Deum’ of the last day
of the year, pronounced in Saint Peter’s Basilica, Benedict XVI raised
“a hymn of thanks to the Lord for the myriad of graces he gave us, but
also and especially for the one personified Grace, the Father’s living
and personal Gift, that of his favourite Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Precisely, this gratefulness for the gifts received from God during the
time given to us on this earth can help discover the great value set in
time. Marked by annual, monthly, weekly and daily rhythms, it is
inhabited by God’s love, his gifts of grace. It is a time of salvation”
because “the eternal God has come and will stay in man’s time.”
“Therefore, the Eternal comes into time to renew its
roots, freeing man from sin and making him son of God. Already in the
‘beginning’, that is at the time of the world’s creation, and man’s
creation in the world, God’s eternity made it possible for time to
bloom, for human history to run, generation after generation.”
“With Christ’s coming and with his redemption, we are
in the ‘fullness’ of time. [. . .] Christmas reminds us of the
‘fullness’ of time, which is the salvation that renews that Jesus
brought to all men. He reminds us of it, and yet mysteriously but so
truly always delivers it to us anew.”
And, “At the end of this year,
2010, before leaving its days and hours to God and his just and merciful
judgment, I feel a very strong need in my heart to elevate our thanks
to Him and his love for us.”
The Pope mentioned some of tasks of “his” diocese,
that of Rome, in particular highlighting the conclusions reached by the
conference to which he participated.
The latter “showed the centrality of the Holy mass in
the life of each Christian community”.
It also indicated, “how the act
of celebration can exalt the beauty of the divine mysteries and the
spiritual fruits that stem from it. I encourage parish priests and all
priests to implement the pastoral programme, setting up a liturgical
group to animate the celebration, and the catechesis to help everyone
better understand the Eucharistic mystery, from which stems the witness
of charity.
“Nurtured by Christ, we are equally attracted in the
same act of total offering, which led the Lord to donate his life, thus
showing the Father’s immense love. The witness of charity thus possesses
an essential theological dimension and is profoundly united to the
proclamation of the Word. As we celebrate giving thanks to God for the
gifts received during the year, I remember in particular my visit to the
Caritas hostel at Rome’s Termini railway station where, thanks to the
service and generous dedication of numerous volunteers, so many men and
women can touch by hand the love of God.”
“At present, the tough times in which so many families
find themselves is cause for concern and calls upon the entire diocesan
community to be close to those who live in conditions of poverty or
deprivation. May God, who is boundless love, kindle the heart of each
one us with the charity that led him to give us his One Son.”
“Look to the future,” Benedict XVI said in ending his homily. “Look upon it with hope, echoing the last word of the Te Deum, ‘In te, Domine, speravi: non confundar in aeternum! O Lord, in thee have I trusted: let me never be confounded’.”
SIC: AN/INT'L