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Pope Benedict XVI- General Audiences |
General
Audience
On Peter Lombard
"Grow in Appreciation of the Beauty and Harmony of our Faith"
H.H. Benedict XVI
December 30, 2009
www.zenit.org
Dear brothers and sisters,
With the Christmas novena that we are celebrating in these days, the
Church invites us to live intensely and profoundly the preparation for
the birth of the Savior, which is nearly upon us.
The desire that all of us have in our hearts is that, in the midst of
the frenetic activity of our days, the coming feast of Christmas gives
us serene and profound joy to enable us to touch the goodness of our God
with our hands and to fill us with new energy.
To better understand the meaning of the birth of the Lord, I would like
to briefly refer to the historical origin of this solemnity. In fact,
the liturgical year of the Church did not initially develop beginning
with the birth of Christ, but rather from faith in the Resurrection.
Because of this the most ancient feast of Christianity is not Christmas,
but Easter: The resurrection of Christ is at the base of Christian
faith; it is at the base of the proclamation of the Gospel and gives
birth to the Church. Therefore to be Christians means to live in the
mode of Easter, connecting ourselves to the dynamic that comes from
baptism, which brings death to sin to live with God (cf. Romans 6:4).
The first one to clearly affirm that Jesus was born on Dec. 25 was
Hippolytus of Rome in his commentary on the Book of the prophet Daniel,
written around 204. One exegete observes, moreover, that on this day was
celebrated the Dedication of the Temple of Jerusalem, instituted by
Judas Maccabeus in 164 B.C.. The concurrence of dates would come to mean
that with Jesus, appearing as light of God in the night, advent of God
to this earth, the consecration of the temple is truly fulfilled.
Within Christianity, the feast of Christmas took on a definite form in
the fourth century, when it took the place of the Roman feast of "sol
invictus," the invincible sun. Thus was shown that the birth of Christ
is the victory of true light over the darkness of evil and sin. Yet, the
unique and intense spiritual atmosphere that surrounds Christmas
developed in the Middle Ages, thanks to St. Francis of Assisi, who was
profoundly in love with Jesus as man, with God-with-us.
His first biographer, Thomas of Celano, in the "Vita Seconda," narrates
that St. Francis, "above the other solemnities, celebrated with
ineffable attention the birth of Baby Jesus, and he called the feast of
feasts the day on which God, become a small child, nursed at a human
breast" (Fonti Francescane, No. 199, p. 492).
From this particular devotion to the mystery of the Incarnation came the
famous celebration of Christmas in Greccio. Most probably, St. Francis
was inspired to have this celebration by his pilgrimage to the Holy Land
and by the manger of St. Mary Major in Rome. What moved the Poor Man of
Assisi was the desire to experience in an actual, concrete and living
way the humble greatness of the event of Baby Jesus' birth, and to
communicate his joy to everyone.
In the first biography, Thomas of Celano speaks of the night of
Bethlehem in Greccio in a lively and moving manner, offering a decisive
contribution to the spreading of this most beautiful Christmas
tradition, the Nativity scene. The night of Greccio, in fact, has given
back to Christianity the intensity and the beauty of the feast of
Christmas, and has educated the people of God to learn its most
authentic message, its particular warmth, and to love and adore the
humanity of Christ.
This particular approach to Christmas has brought a new dimension to
Christian faith. Easter had focused attention on the power of God who
overcomes death, inaugurates new life and teaches us to hope in the
world to come. With St. Francis and his nativity, the defenseless love
of God was shown, his humility and goodness, which in the incarnation of
the Word is manifested to man so as to teach a new way to live and to
love.
Celano narrates that, on that Christmas night, Francis was given a
marvelous vision. He saw a little child lying still in a manger; the
child woke up because Francis approached. And he adds: "This vision was
not different than real life, since through the work of his grace acting
by way of his holy servant Francis, the Child Jesus was resurrected in
the hearts of many, people who had forgotten him, and this was deeply
impressed on his loving memory" (Vita prima, op. cit., n. 86, p. 307).
These lines describe very well how Francis' living faith in and love for
the humanity of Christ have been transmitted to the Christian feast of
Christmas: the discovery that God reveals himself in the tiny fingers of
the Child Jesus. Thanks to St. Francis, the Christian people have been
able to perceive that at Christmas, God truly has become Emmanuel,
God-with-us, from whom no barrier or distance can separate us. In this
Child, God has come so near to each one of us, so close, that we can
address him with confidence and maintain with him a trusting
relationship of deep affection, as we do with a newborn.
In this Child, in fact, God-Love is manifested: God comes without
weapons, without strength, because he does not aim to conquer, we could
say, from without, but rather wants to be welcomed by man in liberty.
God becomes a defenseless Child to conquer man's pride, violence and
desire to possess. In Jesus, God took up this poor and defenseless
condition to conquer with love and lead us to our true identity. We
should not forget that the greatest title of Jesus Christ is precisely
that of "Son," Son of God. Divine dignity is indicated with a term that
makes reference to the humble condition of the manger in Bethlehem,
though corresponding uniquely to his divinity, which is the divinity of
the "Son."
His condition as a Child also shows us how we can find God and enjoy his
presence. It is in the light of Christmas that we can understand the
words of Jesus: "Unless you turn and become like children, you will not
enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3).
He who has not understood the mystery of Christmas has not understood
the decisive element of Christian existence. He who does not welcome
Jesus with the heart of a child cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. This
is what Francis wanted to remind Christianity of his age and of every
age, until today.
Let us pray to the Father so that he concedes to our hearts this
simplicity that recognizes the Lord in this Child, precisely as Francis
did in Greccio. Then, we too can experience what Thomas of Celano said
happened to those present in the event in Greccio -- referring to the
experience of the shepherds on the holy night (cf. Luke 2:20) -- "Each
one returned to his house filled with an ineffable joy" (Vita prima, op.
cit., n. 86, p. 479).
This is the wish that I affectionately express to all of you, to your
families and loved ones. Merry Christmas to everyone!
[Translation by ZENIT]
[The Holy Father then addressed the people in several languages. In
English, he said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In these last days before Christmas, the Church invites us to
contemplate the mystery of Christ’s Birth and to experience the joy and
hope which the newborn Saviour brings into our world. Gazing on the
Christ Child lying in the manger, we contemplate the love of a God who
humbly asks us to welcome him into our hearts and into our world. By
coming among us as a helpless Child, God conquers our hearts not by
force, but by love, and thus teaches us the way to authentic freedom,
peace and fulfilment. This Christmas, may the Lord grant us simplicity
of heart, so that we may recognize his presence and love in the lowly
Babe of Bethlehem, and, like the shepherds, return to our homes filled
with ineffable joy and gladness.
I offer a warm welcome to the English-speaking visitors present at
today’s Audience, especially the groups from the Philippines and the
United States. In these holy days, may you and your families draw ever
closer to the Lord and experience his heavenly gifts of love, joy and
peace. Merry Christmas!
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