Crib on St Peter’s Square in Rome
From Poe Leo XIV’s message during Christmas Night :
The Gift of new Life for a wounded World
For the Successor of Peter, we must learn from the Wisdom of Christmas: “God does not give us something, but Himself, in order to redeem us from all our sins and purify us to make us his people.” Through the child Jesus, “God gives the World new Life: his own, for everyone. This is not a solution to all problems,” but “a Love Story that involves us all,” the Pope stated. Leo XIV reassured the faithful that, in the face of the people’s expectations, “He sends a Child, so that he may be the Word of Hope”; in the face of the suffering of the poor, “He sends a defenseless being, so that he may be the strength to rise again”; in the face of violence and oppression, “He kindles a gentle Light that illuminates all the children of this World with Salvation.”
Christmas, a time of Gratitude and of Mission
“The Birth of Jesus rekindles in us the gift and the commitment to bring hope to where it has been lost,” for “with Him, joy blossoms, Life is transformed, Hope does not disappoint,” Pope Francis said a year ago on Christmas Eve. Leo XIV still remembers these words of his Predecessor. “It was with these Words that the Holy Year began. Now that the Jubilee is drawing to a close,” he declared, “Christmas is for us a Time of Gratitude and Mission. Gratitude for the Gift received, Mission to bear witness to it in the World.”
Merry and Holy Christmas to all, with much Peace and Love!