We are close to you, dear brothers and sisters, in a particularly intense prayer. Tonight I would like the Christian communities in those places to feel that the whole Church is very close to them. I think with concern of the Holy Places, and especially of the town of Bethlehem where sadly, because of the troubled political situation, the evocative rites of Christmas cannot be celebrated with their usual solemnity. In spirit, I embrace that blessed land that saw the blossoming of imperishable joy for the world. My thoughts return to the stable, where I was given the grace to pause in prayer. With deep emotion I think back to the days of my Jubilee pilgrimage in the Holy Land. May fire of God's love be enkindled in heartsĤ. All of this took place in Bethlehem: a Mother gave birth “a man entered the world” (Jn 16:21), the Son of man. From the Virgin’s womb was born a Child, a manger became the cradle of immortal Life.Ĭhristmas is the festival of life, because you, Jesus, born like all of us, have blessed the moment of birth: a moment which symbolically represents the mystery of human life, joining labour to expectation, pain to joy. On this night we celebrate the mystery of Bethlehem, the mystery of an incomparable night which is, in a sense, within time and beyond time. By your birth, you have turned time into the “today” of salvation. Once and for all your holiness made all time holy: the days, the centuries, the millennia. You came to birth from the womb of a Woman blessed among all women, you “the Son of the Most High”.
On this night, time opens to eternity, because you, O Christ, are born among us, coming from on high.
Today “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). This proclamation, with its inexhaustible power to renew us, echoes once more on this holy night with special force: this is the Christmas of the Great Jubilee, a living remembrance of Christ’s two thousand years, of his wondrous birth, which marked the new beginning of history. It is as if the Church had never ceased to repeat day after day during the Jubilee year: “Today is born our Saviour”. The Christian people keep watch the entire world keeps watch on this Christmas night which is linked to that unforgettable night a year ago, when the Holy Door of the Great Jubilee was opened, the Door of grace opened wide for all.Ģ. It rings out for those keeping watch, like the shepherds in Bethlehem two thousand years ago it rings out for those who have responded to Advent’s call and who, waiting watchfully, are ready to welcome the joyful tidings which in the liturgy become our song: “Today is born our Saviour”. On this night, the ancient yet ever new proclamation of the Lord’s birth rings out. “Today is born our Saviour” (Responsorial Psalm) Here is a translation of his homily, which was given in Italian.ġ. The Pope also recalled that "this is the Christmas of the Great Jubilee, a living remembrance of Christ's 2,000 years, of his wondrous birth, which marked the new beginning of history". More than 50,000 pilgrims participated, despite the constant rain. From the Virgin's womb was born a Child, a manger became the cradle of immortal Life", the Holy Father said on Christmas Eve, at Midnight Mass which he celebrated in St Peter's Square.
"On this night we celebrate the mystery of Bethlehem, the mystery of an incomparable night which is, in a sense, within time and beyond time. May the light of this night shine upon the future
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