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December 24, 2024This year Christmas is special. Of course, every Christmas is special because it concerns the greatest gift that has ever happened in the history of humanity; God loved the world so much that He gave His Son – says the Gospel of Saint John. At Christmas we remember the birth of the eternal Son of God who took our mortal flesh.
It is a fact that changes everything in our life. God and the world are infinitely distant. God is eternal, infinite. God is perfect love, communion of love between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is light, in him there is no darkness.
We, on the other hand, are limited, we are sinners and imperfect; we are finite and mortal creatures. Often in the world there is darkness, there is no Peace. People are divided. But this is precisely the announcement of Christmas. God has overcome the distance between heaven and earth, between the divine and the human.
This Christmas is special because the Holy Father will open the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica, thus beginning the Holy Year of the Lord. In this jubilee we remember that the Son of God became man in the womb of the Virgin Mary two thousand and twenty-five (2025) years ago; He was born in utter poverty to bring us his wealth, the love of God.
This Holy Year has an interesting title: Pilgrims of Hope. We begin this pilgrimage on Christmas, going towards the Church as the shepherds did to the manger, to participate in the Holy Mass. We recognize that the baby Jesus, in the arms of Mary, is our hope. He is the strength with which we can confidently embrace the future.
As pilgrims of hope, we who are migrants inhabit this land with faith, far from our land of origin but united with Christ and united among ourselves, as Christian community.
During the Holy Year we will have the opportunity to explore into the theme of the Jubilee and experience significant moments to renew our Christian life. Now I invite you to immerse yourselves in the tenderness of Christmas, let us contemplate the birth of Jesus, who brings hope to our hearts.
Christmas does not erase our problems or the difficulties of our daily life, but assures us of God's love for us, it steers us away from loneliness and places us in the great company of God's people. "If I were not yours, O Christ - said an ancient Christian writer - I would feel like a finite creature (Gregory of Nazianzus)". But we are yours, O Jesus, we belong to you.
May the Light of Christmas illuminate your hearts and your families, parents and children. I invite you to feel united also with your loved ones who are far away. If God has overcome the distance between heaven and earth, with his help we can overcome every other distance and be united in the love of Christ.
The Prince of Peace is born: let us pray for peace in the world, let us pray for conflicts and wars to cease. May the love of God prevail in the hearts of all.
I wish you with all my heart a holy Christmas of Peace and Hope.
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