Pope General Audience: English Summary

Dear brothers and sisters: In a few days it will be Christmas.  In this busy season, we might ask ourselves how the Lord himself would like us to keep this feast.  If we look at the first Christmas, we see that it is full of God’s surprises.  Mary is visited by an angel; Joseph is told to take her in, to become a father to her Child and to flee with the Holy Family to Egypt.  But the greatest surprise of all is that God himself becomes a little Child, born in humility and poverty.  Christmas changes our world.  It speaks to us of God’s self-giving love that should inspire the way we live and relate to one another.  It tells us that we best celebrate the Saviour’s birth by imitating Mary’s trusting faith and Joseph’s quiet openness to God’s will, and by opening our hearts to the Lord, who asks us to make room for him in our busy lives.  Amid the bustle of our Christmas preparations, may we not forget the very One whose birth we are celebrating!  And in worshiping the Son of God, born in the poverty of our flesh, may we be mindful of the poor and those in need all around us.  This Christmas, may you and your families experience the joy and peace proclaimed by the angels, and be ever more open to God’s wonderful surprises!