Christmas Season 2020: Hope shines brightest in darkness - Archbishop Gomez

By Vatican News English Section

Celebrating the birth of the Child Jesus, who brings the light of hope and salvation into the world, Archbishop José Horacio Gómez, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), says Christmas is a time of new beginnings.

In his Christmas message, the Archbishop of Los Angeles invites us to welcome the newborn Saviour into our hearts and into our world.

Christmas Message of Archbishop José Horacio Gómez

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I want to wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas.

This has been a long and challenging you for all of us. But in this season of joy and hope we know that our Redeemer lives.

Every Christmas is a new beginning for our lives, and for the whole world. When we see the Child in the manger, we know how much God loves us. This Child is born for you and for me and for every person. This is so amazing, isn't it?

To think that our God loves us so much that He comes into the world just as we do, as a tiny baby in His mother's arms. God created you out of love. This is why you were born: because God loves you. He wants you to know His love. He wants you to share His love with everyone around you. He wants to spread His love in everything you do in your life. This is a beautiful new beginning that we have at Christmas.

Let Christ enter in

This holy season, when our God comes to be with us as a little child, let us allow Jesus to come again – into our hearts and enter into our world.

Let Him enter into your life, share your burdens and joys with Him, feel His love, listen for His voice.

I wish you and your family a blessed and holy Christmas filled with joy and a beautiful hope.

And I entrust you all to the tender heart of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. May she help us to make the birth of her Son a new beginning – for you and for me, and for the whole world.