GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE
FRANCIS
Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 21 December 2016
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| PHOTO: L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO |
Christian
hope - 3. Christ’s birth is the source of hope
Dear
Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
We have recently begun a
catechetical journey on the theme of hope, which is so very appropriate in the
Season of Advent. The Prophet Isaiah has guided us up to this point. Today,
just days before Christmas, I would like to reflect more specifically on the
moment in which, so to speak, hope came into the world, with the
incarnation of the Son of God. It was also Isaiah who foretold the birth of the
Messiah in several passages: “Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a
son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (7:14); and also: “there shall come
forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his
roots” (11:1). In these passages, the meaning of Christmas shines through: God
fulfills the promise by becoming man; not abandoning his people, he draws near
to the point of stripping himself of his divinity. In this way God shows his
fidelity and inaugurates a new Kingdom, which gives a new hope to
mankind. And what is this hope? Eternal life.
When we speak of hope, often
it refers to what is not in man’s power to realize, which is invisible. In
fact, what we hope for goes beyond our strength and our perception. But the
Birth of Christ, inaugurating redemption, speaks to us of a different hope, a
dependable, visible and understandable hope, because it is founded in God. He
comes into the world and gives us the strength to walk with him: God walks with
us in Jesus, and walking with him toward the fullness of life gives us the
strength to dwell in the present in a new way, albeit arduous. Thus for a
Christian, to hope means the certainty of being on a journey with Christ toward
the Father who awaits us. Hope is never still; hope is always journeying, and
it makes us journey. This hope, which the Child of Bethlehem gives us, offers a
destination, a sure, ongoing goal, salvation of mankind, blessedness to those
who trust in a merciful God. Saint Paul summarizes all this with the
expression: “in this hope we were saved” (Rom 8:24). In other words, walking in
this world, with hope, we are saved. Here we can ask ourselves the question,
each one of us: am I walking with hope or is my interior life static, closed?
Is my heart a locked drawer or a drawer open to the hope which enables me to
walk — not alone — with Jesus?
In Christian homes, during the
Season of Advent, the Nativity scene is arranged, according to
the tradition which dates back to Saint Francis of Assisi. In its simple way,
the Nativity scene conveys hope; each one of the characters is immersed in this
atmosphere of hope.
First of all we note the place
in which Jesus was born: Bethlehem. A small village in Judea where,
thousands of years earlier, David was born, the shepherd boy chosen by God to
be the King of Israel. Bethlehem is not a capital city, and for this reason is
preferred by divine Providence, who loves to act through the little ones and
the humble. In that birthplace was born the highly anticipated “Son of David”,
Jesus, in whom the hope of God and the hope of man meet.
Then we look to Mary,
Mother of hope. With her ‘yes’ she opened the door of our world to God: her
maiden’s heart was full of hope, wholly enlivened by faith; and thus God chose
her and she believed in his word. She, who for nine months was the Ark of the
new and eternal Covenant, in the grotto, contemplates the Child and sees in him
the love of God, who comes to save his people and the whole of humanity.
Next to Mary is Joseph,
a descendant of Jesse and of David; he too believed in the words of the angel,
and looking at Jesus in the manger, reflects on the fact that that Child has
come from the Holy Spirit, and that God himself commanded him to call [the
Child] ‘Jesus’. In that name there is hope for every man and woman, because
through that son of woman, God will save mankind from death and from sin. This
is why it is important to contemplate the Nativity scene!
In the Nativity scene there
are also shepherds, who represent the humble and poor who await the
Messiah, the “consolation of Israel” (Lk 2:25), and the “redemption of
Jerusalem” (2:38). In this Child they see the realization of the promises and
hope that the salvation of God will finally arrive for each of them. Those who
trust in their own certainties, especially material, do not await God’s
salvation. Let us keep this in mind: our own assurance will not save us; the
only certainty that will save us is that of hope in God. It will save us
because it is strong and enables us to journey in life with joy, with the will
to do good, with the will to attain eternal happiness. The little ones, the
shepherds, instead trust in God, hope in him and rejoice when they recognize in
that Child the sign indicated by the angels (cf. Lk 2:12).
The very choir of
angels proclaims from on high the great design that the Child
fulfills: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom
he is pleased” (2:14). Christian hope is expressed in praise and gratitude to
God, who has initiated his Kingdom of love, justice and peace.
Dear brothers and sisters, in
these days, contemplating the Nativity scene, we prepare ourselves for the
Birth of the Lord. It will truly be a celebration if we welcome Jesus, the seed
of hope that God sets down in the furrows of our individual and community
history. Every ‘yes’ to Jesus who comes, is a bud of hope. Let us trust in this
bud of hope, in this ‘yes’: “Yes, Jesus, you can save me, you can save me”. Happy Christmas of hope to all!
Special greetings:
I greet the English-speaking
pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from
Australia, Japan and the United States of America. I pray that each of you, and
your families, may experience a blessed Advent, in preparation for the coming
of the newborn Saviour at Christmas. God bless you!
I greet the Scouts who have
brought the flame from the Crib of the Nativity in Bethlehem. I invite everyone
to pray and to commit themselves to works of mercy so that Christmas may be a
personal encounter with the Lord and give rise in us to good intentions to
foster solidarity.
Lastly I address a special
greeting to young people, to the sick and to newlyweds.
Dear young people, prepare yourselves for the mystery of the
Incarnation with the faithful obedience and humility that Mary had. You, dear sick
people, draw from her that strength and ardour for Jesus who comes among
us. And you, dear newlyweds, contemplate the example of the Holy
Family of Nazareth, in order to practice the same virtues on your journey of
family life.
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