Pope Francis reflected on the Christmas of Jesus and God’s “style” of showing himself to the world in the baby with the thought of St. The Pope announced on the same day that he published the Apostolic Letter “All to Love”, whose title is taken from the saint’s writings.
(Vatican News Network) coincides with the liturgical Christmas period and commemorates the 400th anniversary of the death of Bishop San Francesco di Sales (San Francesco di Sales) and the saints of the Church. What to reflect on during the catechism of the Public Audience. The Pope also announced that on the same day he would publish his Apostolic Letter for the 400th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Saint Francis.
“The title of the Pastoral Letter, All to Love,” said the Pope, is taken from a unique expression of the Holy Bishop of Geneva. Indeed, he wrote in “On the Love of God”: ‘In the In the Holy Church, everything belongs to love, lives in love, acts for love and from love.’ May we all walk on such a beautiful path.”
The Pope mentioned that in a letter written by St. Francis of Saint Francis about the birth of Jesus, he imagined King Solomon “on a great throne of ivory encrusted with pure gold and carved, exceeding the All the kings of the world, as it is written” (cf. 1 Column 10:18-20, 23). But the Holy Bishop a hundred times preferred “to see the dear little Holy Child in a manger than the kings on their thrones”. “Jesus, the King of the world was never on the throne, never,” the Pope commented.
“Jesus was born in a stable, that’s how we see him described. He was swaddled in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger; and finally he died on a cross, wrapped in a shroud, and placed in a tomb. Fact In fact, the St. Luke’s obsession with the details of the manger when describing the birth of Jesus shows that the manger is extremely important, not only as a logistical detail, but also as a symbolic element in understanding the birth in Bethlehem. What kind of a man is that Messiah, what kind of king, and who is Jesus.”
The Pope emphasized that the mystery of the emptiness of Jesus is manifested in the center of the Nativity scene, where lies the Child Jesus. This is the “sign” that God is willing to give us at Christmas (cf. Lk 2:12): “shows us God’s ‘style’, which is closeness, mercy and tenderness”. God “does not advertise himself to us” and draws us to him not by force but by love. The pope then quoted another letter from St. Francis de Salisbury. Whatever our state of mind, hardness or weakness, “we must allow ourselves to be drawn to this little Holy Child who descended from heaven,” the saint wrote.
“God has found a way to attract us, whatever our circumstances: he attracts us with love. It is not a possessive and selfish love, as human love unfortunately often does. His Love is a pure gift, a pure favor, all and only for us, for our good. In doing so, He draws us with this defense-defensive, even undefensive love. Because when we see this in Jesus With such simplicity, we too will drop the weapons of pride and go to Him humbly, asking for salvation, for forgiveness, for light in our lives, so we can move forward.”
The Pope went on to explore another element, the poverty chosen by Jesus, with the Holy Bishop commemorated by the Church that day. The saint saw in the Child Jesus “the complete renunciation of all possessions, all splendor of this world“. Speaking of our experience in this special period, the Pope said, “Let us be careful not to become a caricature of Christmas”. Today we see that there is also “another kind of Christmas”, which has become “the secular caricature of Christmas”, which reduces Jesus’ Christmas “to a festival of consumption and hypocrisy”.
The Pope said that festivals need to be celebrated, but this is not celebrating Christmas. Jesus’ Christmas is another matter. “God’s love is not sweet talk, as Jesus’ manger shows us. God’s love is not a false kindness in which the pursuit of liking and comfort is hidden. Those of us who have lived through war and hunger Readers are well aware of this: Christmas is certainly a time of merriment and celebration, but lived in simplicity and frugality”.
Looking up at the baby Jesus in the manger, St. Francis Salleche said two days before his death that he saw in Jesus that he accepted everything that happened around him, completely dependent on his mother, without any Require. He wrote: “Therefore, we should not desire anything, nor should we reject anything, but bear what God will give us, whether it is cold or the ravages of time.”
The Pope concluded: “Dear brothers and sisters, there is an important teaching here, which is taught by the Holy Child Jesus through the wisdom of St. , to accept what God has given us. But be careful! It is always and only out of love, because God loves us and always and only wants us to gain.”
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