Millions of people around the world virtually join Pope Francis for Christmas at night, which is celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday.
By Vatican News Staff Writer
With Italy under a new holiday lockdown, Pope Francis celebrated Christmas “during the night” on Thursday evening in an almost empty St. Peter’s Basilica. Millions of people were able to follow the ceremony through radio, television and the various means of social communication.
In his sermon, Pope Francis said, “The birth of Jesus is the ‘newness’ that enables us to be born anew every year and to find in Him the strength necessary to face every trial.”
Jesus was born “for us”
Jesus’ birth, the Pope said, is in front of U.S; and he noted how often the word “for” occurs “on this holy night.”
“But what do these words – ‘to us’ – really mean?” he asked. “They mean that the Son of God, the one who is holy by nature, came to make us God’s children holy by grace.” This is a “wonderful gift,” he said, a gift that is “pure grace,” not dependent on what we can do, but solely on God’s love for us.
“To us” is given a Son
God’s gift to us at Christmas is not just a thing or an object. Instead, Pope Francis said, God gave His only begotten Son, “Who is all His joy.”
And yet, the Pope continued, “our own ingratitude to God, and our injustice toward so many of our brothers and sisters” can make us wonder whether God was right in giving us this gift of His Son. In fact, nothing we can do can make us worthy of this gift.
Rather, it is only out of God’s “infallible love” for us, His “unchanging love that transforms us” that leads God to give us His Son.
A love that reaches our poverty
It is because of God’s infinite love for us that Jesus was born, not in a palace, but in the manger of a stable. Jesus “came into the world as every child comes into the world, weak and vulnerable, so that we can learn to accept our infirmities with tender love … God loves to work miracles through our poverty,” said the Pope.
This is a sign, he continued, “to guide us through life.” In Bethlehem: “God lies in a manger, as if to remind us that we need Him to live, just like the bread we eat. We must be filled with His free, infallible, concrete love. “
Pope Francis emphasized that “the manger, poor in everything yet rich in love, teaches us that true nourishment comes from allowing ourselves to be loved by God and in turn to love others.”
Teach us to love
God came to us at Christmas as a weak and vulnerable child to teach us to love, the Pope said. “God came among us into poverty and need to tell us that by serving the poor, we will show our love for Him.”
Pope Francis concluded his sermon with a prayer to the newborn Savior: “Jesus, you are the child who makes me a child. You love me the way I am, not the way I imagine myself. By embracing you, the child of the manger, I embrace my life once again. By welcoming you, the Bread of Life, I want to give my life too. You, my Savior, teach me to serve. You who have not left me alone, help me comfort your brothers and sisters, because from this evening on, they are all my brothers and sisters. “