And Mary: the Question that is the Answer

(Lk 2:15-20)

We ask ourselves: in this time, what can make us intimate with the Lord?

The shepherds experience the preference of a real and excessive Love, by blessing of the eccentric - and Wonder.

Preference that is not granted in exchange for merits, but because of needs.

Lk wants to emphasise that - by praising and glorifying God (v.20) just as the Angels do - the imperfect and defaulters paradoxically find themselves closer to the divine throne than the ever-arrogant position of the sterile pious.

We, too, become aware of a Father who, instead of incinerating us because of our insecurities, not only shrouds us in light (v.9), but builds his Newness on those very insecurities.

We all thought we were born to be dutiful and obedient children. Instead of putting us under stress, the Father wants us to rediscover the pleasure and wonder of gratuitousness and being together. Regardless of obligations, ways, times, places, duties, reverences, prostrations and kissing of any kind!

God knows that we are surrounded by spheres, urges, moves, chores, which take us away. But neither does he demand a minimum of his own, for he does not act like the wayward child who wants the big slice of cake at snack time [corresponding to his rank].

The relationship with Him is not a continual effort, to be laboriously kept up with. It is a lightening, and even strengthening in the counterweights.

In Advent we have already emphasised: that of the coming Lord is a Ray that does not enter the horizon of normal expectations, adapting itself to our outer dreams - those that live of expected goals, and then become a torment.

Throughout life, the encounter with such a wise Light that pierces the darkness of night is in the difficulties that force us to shift our gaze, in the failure that compels us to regenerate creativity, in the bewilderment that makes us contact new ways of being.

The life of Faith does not endure the demon of perfection imagined by archaic religions.

They willingly replace all gratuitousness with a sense of adult duty - which inevitably gives birth to nerve-wracking and even compensatory strategies [thank God, today less and less hidden].

According to Chinese thought, in order to gain polish and escape a polluted and worn-out servility, the saints 'are taught by beasts the art of avoiding the harmful effects of domestication, which life in society imposes'.

Indeed: 'Domesticated animals die prematurely. And so do men, whom social conventions forbid to obey spontaneously the rhythm of universal life'.

"These conventions impose continuous, self-interested, exhausting activity [whereas it is appropriate] to alternate between periods of slow life and jubilation".

"The saint does not submit himself to retreat or fasting except in order to achieve, through ecstasy, to escape for long journeys. This liberation is prepared by life-giving games, which nature teaches".

"One trains oneself for the paradisiacal life by imitating the amusements of animals. To sanctify oneself, one must first brutalise oneself - that is to say, learn from children, from beasts, from plants, the simple and joyful art of living only in view of life."

[M. Granet, The Chinese Thought, Adelphi 2019, kindle pp. 6904-6909].

The shepherds immediately place both guilt and the obligatory time of fulfilment in the background of their real existence, retaining their charge and enthusiasm.

In this way, for us too, nothing in life seems an insurmountable wall any more - apart from the prejudice of the righteous [those of the 'conditional': the 'ifs', the 'buts'].

Even routine does not take away energy and willpower - how come? Because spontaneous souls have no need to concern themselves with the external look, with pleasing the opinion of others; and so on.

Without even realising it, having no artificial screens to hold up, the genuine can face life head-on, and get off on the right foot.

Thus, attracting great opportunities for change.

They may not go too deep, but they listen to needs.

And they expand their space without asking permission from those who will never grant it; they sense the essentials that flow from freedom of mind and code.

Their 'having to be' has no artificial expectations: it is simple attunement with nature and with themselves.

A decisive position, because on such a ray they are able to see the weak side as a container of great strength, which activates capacities capable of building a whole other destiny.

They do not pose the problem of having to look good, or of not being what they are. Then of not being able to give themselves time in abundance, and of being seen to be tidy and good-natured, without discomfort; in harmony with everyone. 

They follow their story, and without too many expectations or intentions, they learn to trust the flow of events, even intimate ones.

They know how to welcome all their inner states as worthy guests, without feeling guilty.

In their own motives, they are clear. So they do not fall into neuroses.

The encounter with serene Authenticity has retrained them.

Light that has conquered self-esteem.

They feel empowered instead of targets. And the regained confidence makes them open and welcoming towards others.

They have realised that they must rely on deeper knowledge than that inoculated by the prejudices of decision-makers.

God is the exact opposite of the veterans' catechism: it is only the encounter with Him that purifies - not the apparent vice versa.

We too wish to open ourselves to the new Mystery. Experience that is preparing the womb of our souls at this time.

We are in a transhumance full of discoveries and adventures: we can learn how to be with what is coming and reinterpret it, learning to walk on our own legs and putting our attitudes into action.

Side by side with the shepherds, who ceaselessly put energies back into circulation - our lives can turn out to be much richer than the affair of the precise and impeccable.

We want to turn routine into an adventure that glimpses the authentic Sacred in the small Seed that inhabits us.

We will do this without too much efficiency: perhaps we will also build a regenerating highland refuge, to train intuition - and from there recreate the Vision, and the world.

No one should feel inadequate, excluded from the action of God's Love and the ability to radiate it.

As in the Gospel of Easter morning, we can peer into the darkness and intuit even amidst signs of death the great energies of Life.

The world of shadows is no longer in the same trim as before.

Among the humbled, even Mary is astonished, but seeks to understand and makes her own way. Indeed, she understands that the Answer is already in the Question.

Comparing within herself Word and events around her Son, she realises that in the 'problem' (which surprised her) there was already the energy of the 'solution'.

Who is Jesus?

The contrast between the extraordinary figure of the awaited and misunderstood Messiah, and the obtuseness of the elusive judgement of popular doctrines, ended up leaving things as they were.

Indeed, worse: it enclosed the Mystery - the most normal one in the world [but one that remains forever]: the humanity of God.

And he lost his 'whereabouts'.

He could not understand the Person of Christ from the things he knew or by trying to frame him in the familiar criteria of the First Testament; in the common feeling, with the magical models of the time.

His Master pupil could not be satisfied with an improvement of the situation.

He had to replace it, announcing the Truth of the Father; of the authentic man and woman.

Proposing a germ of an alternative world to the ruthless and pyramidal society; the one that establishes what to think and say, how one must be and behave.

God intends to bring out and enhance the intuition of consciences more than to impose duties or cravings for analysing behaviour.

This is the incredible.

Each religious group enclosed the Messiah in its own interpretative model, consonant with an environment tinged with ancient hopes: defence of goods and customs, well-being at the expense of others, expansion, prodigies.

The children's revolution poses an issue that seeks its Way Elsewhere - after all around the corner, but not relegated 'inside' a corner.

For to question the Person of Christ is already to begin to overcome petty, habitual interpretations, and to embrace the irruption of God.

The ever-childlike Lord will overturn the fortunes, the destiny of man's kingdom, and its claims that cage the soul, immobilising life.

The knowledge of his story, the adhesion to his Person, and the Action of the Spirit, will not allow the fixed thoughts, attachments, clichés, window dressing that then impregnate the whole soul, depriving it of intoxication and fruitfulness, to persist in Mary's mind.

It is in the Son that she becomes a Mother, a totally personal Presence, a new Sense.

Maternity hers, of innate Wisdom, which opens horizons: in the Church she is leading us to different Dreams of being.

Woman who wants to express herself by humanising us.

(Lk 2:1-20)

The (humanising) quantum leap of the Incarnation

(Lk 2:1-14)

In ancient literature, only the events of public life were considered significant, certainly not those of childhood - even of the greats of history.

Paul and Mark, the earliest New Testament authors, did not consider it appropriate to refer to the events of the Lord's human birth, adolescence and hidden life.

In the earliest times, the sole and substantial reference was the presence of God through the new and authentic Passover, now in Christ completely devoid of sensational epics.

Even for the last of the Gospels, God's dwelling among men and his elevation (on the scaffold of rejection) has nothing glorifying and luminous in a trivial and marginal sense. Rather of permanent depth.

But the early Christians were faced with major objections: thus they were forced to give a theological answer, and present the centre of the churches' Message [salvation in Christ] in a different way.

The first objection, raised by the followers of the Baptist; in short: "You say that Jesus is the true Messiah, but do you not remember that he was a pupil of our teacher?".

The second, from the pagans: "You claim that Jesus is the Son of God, but how is it that he was born like all other men, in a normal way, of a woman?".

The need then arose for an apologetic on the part of the family and non-public story of Christ, prior to his Manifestation.

The Infancy Gospels are not intended to provide historical news and details - as some apocryphal gospels fancifully do. They are testimony to popular faith consolidated in community liturgies.

The new Word is a proclamation of a News to us that encompasses the entire life of the Master.

In His all-human life He revealed the divine condition - right from His Baptism, with the testimony of the rent heavens; and from His birth itself.

But the entire narrative and literary background is used by the evangelists to outline a kind of synthetic narrative of 'circumstances' designed to convey the meaning of the figure of the 'Son of Man'.

In this way, in fact, he liked to call himself Jesus - who became Lord: as he was announced in the apostolic preaching, and lived in the communities.

In this logic, Lk leads us to Bethlehem, the village of Israel's promises - to emphasise a contrast with the expected Davidic Messiah.

Christ is [paradoxically] his descendant - yet alone, abandoned in the unclean place of a manger.

The Message for those far from the ceremonial also breaks the mould of greatness: 'a Saviour has been born for you today' (v.11).

A call for all the little ones of the earth, and an appeal-happy news also for the unnamed.

In several passages, in order to emphasise the Lord as the culmination and overcoming of the First Testament, Lk and Jn parallel Christ and the Baptist.

Here too the purpose is to proclaim the superiority of the Son of God over the last of the prophets, anchored in the 'religious' idea of the Most High as Lawgiver and Judge.

The Father does not annotate or make enquiries: he only transmits life and continues to generate it, always new.

God, the Creator and Redeemer of our intelligence and freedom, is revealed in his whole story, meaning, and Word, already from Christmas and not only from the beginning of public life.

With Him we are no longer bound to a subordinate relationship of blind obedience, but one of sympathy, collaboration, resemblance.

In the Child with open arms, it is the Father himself who winks at us and recognises himself in our helpless precariousness, poor among the poor; even an accomplice.

Not mighty sullen, equipped with everything, watchful and pretentious.

A revelation unthinkable for ancient philosophies and religions, including the albeit dignified thinking of John [the Baptizer was famous and considered more convincing than Jesus himself - even when he took off].

On the level of the Faith that was to overcome devout or rigid ideologies, the new Rebbe proposed an unbelievable identification with any institution or creed.

He proclaimed the identity between the divine condition and the fullness of humanisation.

The belligerent instincts of the violent and triumphant had nothing to do with God. Rather, He recognised Himself in the class of the helpless and voiceless.

Therefore, the Father could not be a protector who demanded recognition, but a Parent who always wants to grow.

By recognising and uniting with us, the Eternal One expands life; He does not humiliate it, nor does He shrink it.

This is what we call Incarnation, in the proper sense.

Every gift of Heaven does not fall by the sympathy of the gods, blind fortune, or their random predilection; nor by merit and fulfilment, but by need. 

Now the needs of woman and man drive the Exodus and pass through a dimension of completion, of fullness of being that exceeds the pre-human, revealing a God among us and with us.

The Eternal One who comes down, comes, and knocks, asks to be welcomed, not obeyed.

The face of a disembodied, sympathetic, welcoming Child - sometimes in tears - is the trait of the authentic person, who replaces the old man, all of a piece, resembling the god of war.

The Most High does not demand submission, nor does he demand that we meet him halfway, setting up useless scaffolding to climb us to Heaven - as with the tower-of-Babel type religion, inexorably destined to collapse.

With the unveiling of the new Face of the true God and true man, new times begin.

We are no longer called to live according to the Almighty: we live of the Father and in Him, with the Son, for us and our brothers.

Here is the Light from below and above together, which pierces the darkness of this night.

That Child breaks the artificial veins, puts us back in touch with the energies of the primordial.

It extinguishes the thoughts and torments that perhaps [by "demerit"] we had to endure.

It breaks the isolation; it opens the dreaming part of the old, chronic, closed man, who would not want the leap.

In such an open gaze, Jesus the brother comes to find our consciousness.

The divine condition breaks through to position itself in the imagination.

It demands space... to make us lose our minds - so it pushes away from continuities and rigid controls, offering a full, new existence.

Christmas aurora

The place for us

(Lk 2:15-20)

In the cages of our devotion, perhaps there is still no place for Jesus who offers himself. He continues to be born a child like the others, distant and poor, rejected.

Only those on the margins of society seem capable of waiting, openness to the mystery, and searching: keeping watch at night (v.8), passing by and seeing (v.15), coming in haste (v.16), praising (v.20).

The Mother is already making her way from the religiosity of the fathers to the Faith in the Father: Contemplative who listens, meets her deepest states and tries not to miss anything.

Those who are nobodies but feel anxious searching and prayerful hearts can sing a new song.

In this way, he will be able to decipher the signs of the divine Presence inscribed in events, and welcome Christ into his inner dwelling (v.7) [cf. commentary on the Prologue of John].

In the simplicity of the Son - in the Freedom of children - the Eternal God points out to the wretched and abandoned multitudes a new Way, capable of valuing the limits and even the eccentricities of each one.

Throughout the first century, both in Palestine and Asia Minor [Johannine and Lucan churches] the different schools of theology and servants of God - of traditional Judaism, of Jesus, of the Baptist - confronted each other in alternative ways.

Where there were communities of Jews, there was no lack of controversy between Christians and various (more or less radical) observers of the religion of the fathers - as well as people who had been baptised by John, or at least in contact with his pupils. The Master and the first apostles had also been.

Rather than confusion, there was real competition between the group of Christ's disciples and those of the Baptizer.

This, even though both proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God, and proposed social justice and the forgiveness of sins in practical life - instead of through rituals and sacrificial gestures at the Temple in Jerusalem.

Yet, thanks to the Son of God, the apostles grasped the depth of the Father's heart, which never resembles a justicialist, but works exclusively for the good and the promotion of life.

Hence in Faith they themselves achieved inexplicable recoveries - precisely by gratuitously integrating people's weak sides - without works of mortification of the insecure woman and man, nor claiming impossible preventive perfections.

Even today, precisely from the dark sides of our personality, the Father creates in the Spirit of the Beatitudes his Newness, which turns the tables.

A completely unexpected change, impossible to imagine and propose; at least on the basis of prejudices or established ideas - all of which compete with self-esteem and joie de vivre.

The God of unconditional and guilt-dispelling love was precisely the exclusive prerogative of the new people of Faith in Christ, who had overcome the accusatory, moralistic and fussy cloaks of tradition.

Even then, diversity brought into play the question of the purifications required by creeds and identity rites.

Jesus seemed completely alien to the mentality of cultic ablutions.

It was the habit of life with Him that regenerated souls in the round, even from the eccentricities of each one.

Precious uniquenesses, interpreted as a sign of vocational exceptionality. 

He taught the wretched and those condemned by religion how to get back on their feet by appealing to the possibility of encountering the different faces lurking in each one's soul: taking them on and investing them rather than denying them.

Personalities all... not pre-emptively sterilised; even by the extravagant expressions, or by the unconscious, shaky, unexpressed sides - in which Jesus taught to discover the traits of the personal missionary Call.

And it is from here - it seems incredible - that we too are sent to the Annunciation.

All this remains fundamental every day.

Indeed, the pious proposals may present themselves in very dignified forms - but they remain only outposts of the new quality leap.

The latter, capable of astonishment and all humanising: without the tare of feeling marked for life by external opinions.

Obviously, these forms of familial looseness and immediacy towards the Eternal God aroused the envy of the veterans still caged in the old fears of retribution and the heap of works of law.

In no fulfilment, but only in Christ, did his friends and brothers recognise the Voice of the loving God.

He does not distinguish between the pure and the impure, the able and the unable, friend and foe; veterans, the elect, the predestined, and the not.

In short, in our real life we do not wait for a phenomenon that continually disturbs and oppresses us, filling us with fears and deviations to be corrected [that sap all energies].

Let us only look for a Friend who allows us to express ourselves in an unprecedented way and have a long - even undeserved - hope.

Let us be like the shepherds: no one has ever understood what convinced them, except the astonishment of the unpredictable gratuitousness (vv.15-18.20).

Paradoxically ready to found a new people - without too many regulations - starting from how and where each one found himself.

By now we too no longer need the imprimatur of sectarianism.

Our most childish oddities [cf. commentary on the Prologue of John] can bring the human condition closer to the divine condition.

So they have the approval of the Lord of all cosmos.

Genealogy

Dear brothers and sisters of Rome and of the whole world!

Christ is born for us! Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to the people he loves. May the echo of the proclamation of Bethlehem, which the Catholic Church makes resound in all continents, beyond all boundaries of nationality, language and culture, reach everyone. The Son of the Virgin Mary is born for all, he is the Saviour of all.

Thus an ancient liturgical antiphon invokes him: 'O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, hope and salvation of the peoples: come and save us, O Lord our God. Veni ad salvandum nos! Come and save us! This is the cry of the man of all times, who feels he cannot make it alone to overcome difficulties and dangers. He needs to put his hand in a greater and stronger hand, a hand that reaches out to him from on high. Dear brothers and sisters, this hand is Christ, born in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary. He is the hand that God stretched out to humanity, to bring it out of the quicksand of sin and set it on its feet on the rock, the firm rock of his Truth and Love (cf. Ps 40:3).

Yes, this is what the name of that Child means, the name that, by God's will, Mary and Joseph gave him: his name is Jesus, which means "Saviour" (cf. Mt 1:21; Lk 1:31). He was sent by God the Father to save us above all from the deep evil, rooted in man and history: that evil that is separation from God, the presumptuous pride of doing one's own thing, of competing with God and replacing Him, of deciding what is good and what is evil, of being the master of life and death (cf. Gen 3:1-7). This is the great evil, the great sin, from which we men cannot save ourselves except by relying on God's help, except by crying out to Him: "Veni ad salvandum nos! - Come and save us!".

The very fact of raising this invocation to Heaven already puts us in the right position, puts us in the truth of ourselves: for we are those who have cried out to God and have been saved (cf. Esth [Greek] 10:3f). God is the Saviour, we the ones in danger. He is the physician, we the sick. To recognise Him, is the first step towards salvation, towards getting out of the labyrinth in which we ourselves shut ourselves up with our pride. Lifting our eyes to Heaven, stretching out our hands and calling for help is the way out, provided there is Someone who listens, and who can come to our rescue.

Jesus Christ is proof that God has heard our cry. Not only that! God has such a strong love for us that He cannot remain in Himself, that He comes out of Himself and comes into us, sharing our condition to the full (cf. Ex 3:7-12). The response God gave in Jesus to the cry of man infinitely exceeds our expectation, reaching such solidarity that it cannot be only human, but divine. Only the God who is love and the love that is God could choose to save us through this path, which is certainly the longest, but it is the one that respects his and our truth: the path of reconciliation, of dialogue, of collaboration.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, on this Christmas 2011, let us turn to the Child of Bethlehem, to the Son of the Virgin Mary, and say: "Come and save us!" We repeat this in spiritual union with so many people in particularly difficult situations, and as the voice of the voiceless.

Together we invoke divine succour for the peoples of the Horn of Africa, who suffer from hunger and famine, sometimes aggravated by a persistent state of insecurity. May the international community not fail to help the many refugees from that region, who are sorely tried in their dignity.

May the Lord bring comfort to the peoples of South-East Asia, particularly of Thailand and the Philippines, who are still in grave distress as a result of the recent floods.

May the Lord come to the aid of humanity wounded by the many conflicts, which still today stain the planet with blood. May he, who is the Prince of Peace, grant peace and stability to the Land he has chosen to come into the world, and encourage the resumption of dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. Bring an end to the violence in Syria, where so much blood has already been shed. Promote full reconciliation and stability in Iraq and Afghanistan. Grant renewed vigour in building the common good to all parts of society in North African and Middle Eastern countries.

May the birth of the Saviour sustain the prospects for dialogue and cooperation in Myanmar, in the search for shared solutions. May the birth of the Redeemer grant political stability to the countries of the African Great Lakes Region and assist the efforts of the people of South Sudan to protect the rights of all citizens. 

Dear brothers and sisters, let us turn our gaze to the Grotto of Bethlehem: the Child we contemplate is our salvation! He has brought the world a universal message of reconciliation and peace. Let us open our hearts to him, let us welcome him into our lives. Let us repeat to Him with confidence and hope: "Veni ad salvandum nos!"

[Pope Benedict, Urbi et Orbi Message 25 December 2011].

Today he is born for you

Dear brothers and sisters,

"A child has been born for us, a son has been given to us" (Is 9:5). What Isaiah, looking far into the future, says to Israel as consolation in its anguish and darkness, the Angel, from which emanates a cloud of light, announces to the shepherds as present: "Today, in the city of David, a Saviour is born for you, who is Christ the Lord" (Lk 2:11). The Lord is present. From this moment, God is truly a "God with us". He is no longer the distant God, who, through creation and through consciousness, can somehow be sensed from afar. He has entered the world. He is the Near. The risen Christ has said this to his own, to us: "Behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Matthew 28: 20). For you the Saviour is born: what the Angel announced to the shepherds, God now recalls to us through the Gospel and its messengers. This is news that cannot leave us indifferent. If it is true, everything has changed. If it is true, it concerns me too. Then, like the shepherds, I too must say: Come, I want to go to Bethlehem and see the Word that happened there. The Gospel does not tell us the story of the shepherds without purpose. They show us how to respond in the right way to the message that is also addressed to us. What then do these first witnesses of God's incarnation tell us?

First of all, it is said of the shepherds that they were vigilant people and that the message could reach them precisely because they were awake. We must wake up, for the message to reach us. We must become truly vigilant people. What does this mean? The difference between one who dreams and one who is awake consists first of all in the fact that the one who dreams is in a particular world. He is enclosed with his self in this dream world that is his alone and does not connect him with others. Waking up means leaving this particular world of the self and entering into the common reality, into the truth that, alone, unites us all. Conflict in the world, mutual irreconcilability, stems from the fact that we are enclosed in our own interests and personal opinions, in our own tiny private world. Selfishness, that of the group as well as that of the individual, keeps us prisoners of our own interests and desires, which conflict with the truth and divide us from one another. Wake up, the Gospel tells us. Come out into the great common truth, into the communion of the one God. To wake up thus means to develop sensitivity for God; for the silent signs with which He wants to guide us; for the many signs of His presence. There are people who say that they are 'religiously devoid of a musical ear'. The perceptive capacity for God seems almost a dowry that is denied to some. And indeed - our way of thinking and acting, the mentality of today's world, the range of our various experiences are apt to reduce our sensitivity for God, to make us 'devoid of a musical ear' for Him. And yet in every soul is present, in a hidden or open way, the expectation of God, the capacity to encounter Him. To achieve this vigilance, this awakening to the essential, we want to pray, for ourselves and for others, for those who seem to be "devoid of this musical ear" and in whom, nevertheless, the desire for God to manifest Himself is alive. The great theologian Origen said: If I had the grace to see as Paul saw, I could now (during the Liturgy) contemplate a great host of angels (cf. Lk 23:9). Indeed - in the Sacred Liturgy, the Angels of God and the Saints surround us. The Lord himself is present in our midst. Lord, open the eyes of our hearts, that we may become vigilant and visionary, and so we may bring your nearness to others!

Let us return to the Christmas Gospel. It tells us that the shepherds, having heard the Angel's message, said to one another: "'Let us go up to Bethlehem' ... They went, without delay" (Lk 2:15f.). "They hastened" says the Greek text literally. What had been announced to them was so important that they had to go immediately. In fact, what they had been told there was totally beyond the ordinary. It changed the world. The Saviour was born. The long-awaited Son of David came into the world in his own city. What could have been more important? Of course, they were also driven by curiosity, but above all by excitement about the great thing that had been communicated to them, the little ones and seemingly unimportant men. They hurried - without delay. In our ordinary life things are not like that. The majority of men do not consider the things of God to be a priority, they do not immediately press upon us. And so we, in the vast majority, are quite willing to put them off. First we do what appears urgent here and now. In the list of priorities, God is often found almost at the last place. This - one thinks - can always be done. The Gospel tells us: God has top priority. If something in our lives deserves to be hurried without delay, it is, then, God's cause alone. A maxim of the Rule of St Benedict says: 'Put nothing before the work of God (i.e. the divine office)'. The liturgy is the first priority for monks. Everything else comes next. At its core, however, this phrase applies to every man. God is important, the most important reality in our lives. It is precisely this priority that the shepherds teach us. From them we want to learn not to let ourselves be crushed by all the urgent things of everyday life. From them we want to learn the inner freedom to put other occupations - however important they may be - on the back burner in order to move towards God, to let Him into our lives and our time. Time committed to God and, from Him, to our neighbour is never time wasted. It is the time in which we truly live, in which we live the very being of human persons.

Some commentators point out that first the shepherds, the simple souls, came to Jesus in the manger and were able to meet the Redeemer of the world. The wise men who came from the East, the representatives of those with rank and name, came much later. The commentators add: this is quite obvious. The shepherds, in fact, lived next door. They only had to "cross" (cf. Lk 2:15) as one crosses a short space to go to one's neighbours. The wise, on the other hand, lived far away. They had to travel a long and difficult way to Bethlehem. And they needed guidance and direction. Well, even today there are simple and humble souls who live very close to the Lord. They are, so to speak, His neighbours and can easily go to Him. But most of us modern men live far from Jesus Christ, from the One who became man, from the God who came among us. We live in philosophies, affairs and occupations that fill us up completely and from which the path to the manger is very long. In many ways God must repeatedly nudge us and give us a hand, so that we can find our way out of the tangle of our thoughts and our busyness and find our way to Him. But for everyone there is a way. For everyone the Lord has signs that are suitable for each one. He calls all of us, so that we too can say: Come, let us "cross over", let us go to Bethlehem - to that God, who has come to meet us. Yes, God has come towards us. Alone we could not reach Him. The way is beyond our strength. But God has descended. He comes to meet us. He has travelled the longest part of the way. Now He asks us: Come and see how much I love you. Come and see that I am here. Transeamus usque Bethleem, says the Latin Bible. Let us go beyond! Let us go beyond ourselves! Let us be wayfarers to God in many ways: in being inwardly on our way to Him. And yet also in very concrete ways - in the liturgy of the Church, in service to our neighbour, where Christ is waiting for me.

Let us again listen directly to the Gospel. The shepherds tell each other why they are setting out: "Let us see this event". Literally the Greek text says: "We see this Word, which happened there". Yes, such is the novelty of this night: the Word can be seen. For it has become flesh. That God of whom no image is to be made, because any image could only reduce him, indeed misrepresent him, that God has made himself, Himself, visible in the One who is his true image, as Paul says (cf. 2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15). In the figure of Jesus Christ, in all his living and working, in his dying and rising, we can see the Word of God and thus the mystery of the living God himself. God is like this. The Angel had said to the shepherds: "This is the sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger" (Lk 2:12; cf. 16). God's sign, the sign given to the shepherds and to us, is not an exciting miracle. The sign of God is His humility. The sign of God is that He makes Himself small; He becomes a child; He lets Himself be touched and asks for our love. How we men long for a different, imposing, irrefutable sign of God's power and greatness. But his sign invites us to faith and love, and therefore gives us hope: this is how God is. He possesses power and He is Goodness. He invites us to become like Him. Yes, we become like God, if we let ourselves be moulded by this sign; if we learn, ourselves, humility and thus true greatness; if we renounce violence and use only the weapons of truth and love. Origen, following a word of John the Baptist, saw the essence of paganism expressed in the symbol of the stones: paganism is a lack of sensitivity, it means a heart of stone, which is incapable of loving and perceiving God's love. Origen says of pagans: "Devoid of feeling and reason, they turn into stones and wood" (in Lk 22:9). Christ, however, wants to give us a heart of flesh. When we see Him, the God who became a child, our hearts are opened. In the Liturgy of the Holy Night, God comes to us as man, so that we may become truly human. Let us listen to Origen again: "Indeed, what would it profit you that Christ once came in the flesh, if He did not come to your soul? Let us pray that He may come to us daily and that we may say: I live, but I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20)" (in Lk 22:3).

Yes, for this we want to pray on this Holy Night. Lord Jesus Christ, you who were born in Bethlehem, come to us! Enter into me, into my soul. Transform me. Renew me. Make me and all of us from stone and wood into living persons, in whom your love becomes present and the world is transformed. Amen.

[Pope Benedict, Homily of the Night 24 December 2009].

The shepherds found

"A holy day has dawned for us: come all to worship the Lord; today a splendid light has descended upon the earth" (Christmas Day Mass, Gospel Acclamation).

Dear brothers and sisters! "A holy day has dawned for us. A day of great hope: today the Saviour of mankind has been born! The birth of a child normally brings a light of hope to those who anxiously await it. When Jesus was born in the cave in Bethlehem, a 'great light' appeared on earth; a great hope entered the hearts of those who awaited him: 'lux magna', sings the liturgy on this Christmas Day. It was certainly not 'great' in the manner of this world, for it was first seen only by Mary, Joseph and a few shepherds, then by the Magi, old Simeon, the prophetess Anna: those whom God had chosen. Yet, in the concealment and silence of that holy night, a splendid and everlasting light was kindled for every man; the great hope that brought happiness came into the world: "the Word became flesh and we have seen his glory" (Jn 1:14)

"God is light," says St John, "and in him there is no darkness" (1 John 1:5). In the Book of Genesis we read that when the universe originated, "the earth was formless and deserted and darkness covered the abyss". "God said, 'Let there be light!' And the light was" (Gen 1:2-3). The creative Word of God is Light, the source of life. Everything was made through the Logos and without Him nothing was made of everything that exists (cf. Jn 1:3). That is why all creatures are fundamentally good, and bear within themselves the imprint of God, a spark of His light. However, when Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, Light itself came into the world: "God from God, Light from Light", we profess in the Creed. In Jesus, God took on what was not and remained what He was: "omnipotence entered into an infant body and was not removed from the government of the universe" (cf. Augustine, Serm 184, 1 on Christmas). He who is the creator of man became man in order to bring peace to the world. That is why, on Christmas night, the hosts of Angels sing: "Glory to God in the highest / and peace on earth to men whom he loves" (Lk 2:14).

"Today a splendid light has descended upon the earth". The Light of Christ is the bearer of peace. At the night Mass, the Eucharistic liturgy opened with precisely this hymn: "Today true peace has descended to us from heaven" (Entrance Antiphon). Indeed, only the "great" light that appeared in Christ can give men "true" peace: that is why every generation is called to welcome it, to welcome the God who became one of us in Bethlehem.

This is Christmas! A historical event and mystery of love, which for over two thousand years has challenged men and women of every age and place. It is the holy day on which the "great light" of Christ, bearer of peace, shines forth! Of course, to recognise it, to welcome it requires faith, it requires humility. The humility of Mary, who believed the word of the Lord, and was the first to adore, bent over the manger, the Fruit of her womb; the humility of Joseph, a righteous man, who had the courage of faith and preferred to obey God rather than protect his own reputation; the humility of the shepherds, the poor and anonymous shepherds, who welcomed the announcement of the heavenly messenger and hurried to the cave where they found the newborn child and, filled with astonishment, adored it, praising God (cf. Lk 2:15-20). The little ones, the poor in spirit: these are the protagonists of Christmas, yesterday and today; the protagonists of God's history, the tireless builders of his Kingdom of justice, love and peace.

In the silence of the night in Bethlehem Jesus was born and was welcomed by caring hands. And now, at this Christmas of ours, when the joyful announcement of his redemptive birth continues to resound, who is ready to open the door of their hearts to him? Men and women of our age, to us too Christ comes to bring light, to us too he comes to give peace! But who keeps watch, in the night of doubt and uncertainty, with an awake and prayerful heart? Who waits for the dawn of the new day, keeping the flame of faith burning? Who has time to listen to his word and allow himself to be enveloped by the charm of his love? Yes! It is for all his message of peace; it is to all that he comes to offer himself as a sure hope of salvation.

May the light of Christ, who comes to enlighten every human being, finally shine forth, and be consolation for those who find themselves in the darkness of misery, injustice, war; for those who are still denied their legitimate aspiration to a more secure livelihood, health, education, stable employment, a fuller participation in civic and political responsibilities, free from all oppression and sheltered from conditions that offend human dignity. Victims of bloody armed conflicts, terrorism and violence of all kinds, which inflict untold suffering on entire populations, are particularly the most vulnerable, children, women and the elderly. While ethnic, religious and political tensions, instability, rivalries, injustice and discrimination, which tear at the internal fabric of many countries, exacerbate international relations. And in the world, the number of migrants, refugees, and displaced persons is growing, also because of frequent natural disasters, often the consequence of worrying environmental disasters.

On this day of peace, our thoughts go above all to where the clang of arms resounds: to the martyred lands of Darfur, Somalia and the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the borders of Eritrea and Ethiopia, to the entire Middle East, in particular Iraq, Lebanon and the Holy Land, to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to the Balkan region, and to the many other crisis situations, often unfortunately forgotten. May the Child Jesus bring relief to those in trial and instil in those in government the wisdom and courage to seek and find humane, just and lasting solutions. To the thirst for meaning and value that the world feels today, to the search for well-being and peace that marks the life of all humanity, to the expectations of the poor Christ, true God and true Man, responds with his Christmas. Let individuals and nations not be afraid to recognise and welcome Him: with Him "a splendid light" illuminates the horizon of humanity; with Him opens "a holy day" that knows no sunset. May this Christmas truly be for all a day of joy, hope and peace!

"Come all and adore the Lord". With Mary, Joseph and the shepherds, with the Magi and the innumerable host of humble worshippers of the newborn Child, who down the centuries have welcomed the mystery of Christmas, let us too, brothers and sisters of every continent, let the light of this day spread everywhere: let it enter our hearts, brighten and warm our homes, bring serenity and hope to our cities, give peace to the world. This is my wish for you who listen to me. A wish that becomes a humble and trusting prayer to the Child Jesus, that his light may dispel all darkness from your lives and fill you with love and peace. May the Lord, who has made his face of mercy shine forth in Christ, satisfy you with his happiness and make you messengers of his goodness. Merry Christmas!

[Pope Benedict, Urbi et Orbi Message 25 December 2007].

The Logos became Flesh

"Verbum caro factum est" - "The Word became flesh" (Jn 1:14).

Dear brothers and sisters, who are listening to me from Rome and from the whole world, with joy I announce to you the message of Christmas: God became man, he came to dwell among us. God is not far away: he is near, indeed, he is the "Emmanuel", God-with-us. He is not a stranger: he has a face, that of Jesus.

It is a message that is always new, always surprising, because it goes beyond our wildest hopes. Above all, because it is not just an announcement: it is an event, a happening, that credible witnesses have seen, heard, touched in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth! Being with Him, observing His deeds and listening to His words, they recognised in Jesus the Messiah; and seeing Him resurrected, after He had been crucified, they were certain that He, true man, was at the same time true God, the only-begotten Son come from the Father, full of grace and truth (cf. Jn 1:14).

"The Word became flesh". Faced with this revelation, the question once again arises in us: how is this possible? The Word and the flesh are opposite realities; how can the eternal and omnipotent Word become a frail and mortal man? There is but one answer: Love. He who loves wants to share with the beloved, wants to be united with him, and Sacred Scripture presents us with precisely the great story of God's love for his people, culminating in Jesus Christ.

In reality, God does not change: He is true to Himself. The one who created the world is the same one who called Abraham and revealed his name to Moses: I am who I am ... the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ... a merciful and gracious God, rich in love and faithfulness (cf. Ex 3:14-15; 34:6). God does not change, He is Love from everlasting and for ever. He is in Himself Communion, Unity in the Trinity, and His every work and word aims at communion. The incarnation is the culmination of creation. When Jesus, the Son of God made man, was formed in Mary's womb by the will of the Father and the action of the Holy Spirit, creation reached its apex. The ordering principle of the universe, the Logos, began to exist in the world, in a time and a space.

"The Word became flesh". The light of this truth is manifested to those who accept it with faith, because it is a mystery of love. Only those who open themselves to love are enveloped in the light of Christmas. So it was on the night of Bethlehem, and so it is also today. The incarnation of the Son of God is an event that happened in history, but at the same time goes beyond it. In the night of the world, a new light shines, which can be seen by the simple eyes of faith, by the meek and humble heart of those who await the Saviour. If truth were only a mathematical formula, it would in a sense impose itself. If, on the other hand, Truth is Love, it demands faith, the 'yes' of our heart.

And what, indeed, does our heart seek, if not a Truth that is Love? It is sought by the child, with its questions, so disarming and stimulating; it is sought by the young person, in need of finding the profound meaning of his or her life; it is sought by the man and woman in their maturity, to guide and sustain their commitment in the family and at work; it is sought by the elderly person, to give fulfilment to earthly existence.

"The Word became flesh". The proclamation of Christmas is also light for the peoples, for the collective journey of humanity. The 'Emmanuel', God-with-us, has come as King of justice and peace. His Kingdom - we know - is not of this world, yet it is more important than all the kingdoms of this world. It is like the leaven of humanity: if it were missing, the force that drives true development would fail: the drive to work together for the common good, to selfless service of neighbour, to peaceful struggle for justice. Believing in the God who wanted to share our history is a constant encouragement to engage in it, even in the midst of its contradictions. It is a reason for hope for all those whose dignity is offended and violated, because the One who was born in Bethlehem came to free man from the root of all slavery.

May the light of Christmas shine once again in the Land where Jesus was born, and inspire Israelis and Palestinians to seek a just and peaceful coexistence. May the consoling proclamation of the coming of Emmanuel soothe the pain and console the dear Christian communities in Iraq and throughout the Middle East in their trials, giving them comfort and hope for the future, and inspire the leaders of nations to active solidarity with them. Let this also be done in favour of those in Haiti who are still suffering from the consequences of the devastating earthquake and the recent cholera epidemic. Likewise let us not forget those in Colombia and Venezuela, but also in Guatemala and Costa Rica, who have suffered the recent natural disasters.

May the birth of the Saviour open up prospects of lasting peace and genuine progress for the peoples of Somalia, Darfur and Côte d'Ivoire; promote political and social stability in Madagascar; bring security and respect for human rights to Afghanistan and Pakistan; encourage dialogue between Nicaragua and Costa Rica; and foster reconciliation in the Korean Peninsula.

May the celebration of the birth of the Redeemer strengthen the spirit of faith, patience and courage in the faithful of the Church in mainland China, so that they may not lose heart in the face of restrictions on their freedom of religion and conscience and, persevering in fidelity to Christ and His Church, keep the flame of hope alive. May the love of 'God with us' grant perseverance to all Christian communities suffering discrimination and persecution, and inspire political and religious leaders to commit themselves to full respect for the religious freedom of all.

Dear brothers and sisters, "the Word became flesh", he came to dwell among us, he is the Emmanuel, the God who became close to us. Let us contemplate together this great mystery of love, let us let our hearts be enlightened by the light that shines in the grotto of Bethlehem! A Happy Christmas to all!

[Pope Benedict, Urbi et Orbi Message 25 December 2010].

1. “Today is born our Saviour” (Responsorial Psalm)

On this night, the ancient yet ever new proclamation of the Lord’s birth rings out. 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”.

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.

2. It is as if the Church had never ceased to repeat day after day during the Jubilee year: “Today is born our Saviour”. 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. Today “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14).

“Today”. On this night, time opens to eternity, because you, O Christ, are born among us, coming from on high. You came to birth from the womb of a Woman blessed among all women, you “the Son of the Most High”. Once and for all your holiness made all time holy: the days, the centuries, the millennia. By your birth, you have turned time into the “today” of salvation.

3. “Today is born our Saviour”.

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. From the Virgin’s womb was born a Child, a manger became the cradle of immortal Life.

Christmas 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. All of this took place in Bethlehem: a Mother gave birth; “a man entered the world” (Jn 16:21), the Son of man. The mystery of Bethlehem!

4. With deep emotion I think back to the days of my Jubilee pilgrimage in the Holy Land. My thoughts return to the stable, where I was given the grace to pause in prayer. In spirit, I embrace that blessed land that saw the blossoming of imperishable joy for the world.

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. Tonight I would like the Christian communities in those places to feel that the whole Church is very close to them.

We are close to you, dear brothers and sisters, in a particularly intense prayer. We share your anxiety for the destiny of the entire region of the Middle East. May the Lord hear our plea! From this Square, the centre of the Catholic world, let the angels’ proclamation to the shepherds ring out once more with new strength: “Glory to God in the highest heavens and peace on earth to those whom he loves” (Lk 2:14).

Our confidence cannot be shaken, nor can our wonder at what we are celebrating ever fade. Today is born the One who brings peace to the world.

5. “Today is born our Saviour”.

The Word cries in a manger. His name is Jesus, which means “God saves”, because “he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21).

It is not a palace which sees the birth of the Redeemer, destined to establish the eternal and universal Kingdom. He is born in a stable and, coming among us, he kindles in the world the fire of God’s love (cf. Lk 12:49). This fire will not be quenched ever again.

May this fire burn in our hearts as a flame of charity in action, showing itself in openness to and support of our many brothers and sisters sorely tried by want and suffering!

6. Lord Jesus, whom we contemplate in the poverty of Bethlehem, make us witnesses to your love, that love which led you to strip yourself of divine glory, in order to be born among us and die for us.

As the Great Jubilee moves into its final phase, pour out your Spirit upon us, that the grace of the Incarnation may inspire in every believer a determination to respond more generously to the new life received in Baptism.

Grant that the light of this night, brighter than day, may be cast upon the future and guide the steps of humanity in the way of peace.

You, O Prince of peace, You, O Saviour born for us today, be with your Church on the road which stretches before us into the new millennium!

[Pope John Paul II, Midnight Homily 24 December 2000]

1. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Is 9:1).

This prophecy of Isaiah never ceases to touch us, especially when we hear it proclaimed in the liturgy of Christmas Night. This is not simply an emotional or sentimental matter. It moves us because it states the deep reality of what we are: a people who walk, and all around us – and within us as well – there is darkness and light. In this night, as the spirit of darkness enfolds the world, there takes place anew the event which always amazes and surprises us: the people who walk see a great light. A light which makes us reflect on this mystery: the mystery of walking and seeing.

Walking. This verb makes us reflect on the course of history, that long journey which is the history of salvation, starting with Abraham, our father in faith, whom the Lord called one day to set out, to go forth from his country towards the land which he would show him. From that time on, our identity as believers has been that of a people making its pilgrim way towards the promised land. This history has always been accompanied by the Lord! He is ever faithful to his covenant and to his promises. Because he is faithful, “God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all” (1 Jn 1:5). Yet on the part of the people there are times of both light and darkness, fidelity and infidelity, obedience, and rebellion; times of being a pilgrim people and times of being a people adrift.

In our personal history too, there are both bright and dark moments, lights and shadows. If we love God and our brothers and sisters, we walk in the light; but if our heart is closed, if we are dominated by pride, deceit, self-seeking, then darkness falls within us and around us. “Whoever hates his brother – writes the Apostle John – is in the darkness; he walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 Jn 2:11). A people who walk, but as a pilgim people who do not want to go astray.

2. On this night, like a burst of brilliant light, there rings out the proclamation of the Apostle: “God's grace has been revealed, and it has made salvation possible for the whole human race” (Tit 2:11).

The grace which was revealed in our world is Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, true man and true God. He has entered our history; he has shared our journey. He came to free us from darkness and to grant us light. In him was revealed the grace, the mercy, and the tender love of the Father: Jesus is Love incarnate. He is not simply a teacher of wisdom, he is not an ideal for which we strive while knowing that we are hopelessly distant from it. He is the meaning of life and history, who has pitched his tent in our midst.

3. The shepherds were the first to see this “tent”, to receive the news of Jesus’ birth. They were the first because they were among the last, the outcast. And they were the first because they were awake, keeping watch in the night, guarding their flocks. The pilrim is bound by duty to keep watch and the shepherds did just that. Together with them, let us pause before the Child, let us pause in silence. Together with them, let us thank the Lord for having given Jesus to us, and with them let us raise from the depths of our hearts the praises of his fidelity: We bless you, Lord God most high, who lowered yourself for our sake. You are immense, and you made yourself small; you are rich and you made yourself poor; you are all-powerful and you made yourself vulnerable.

On this night let us share the joy of the Gospel: God loves us, he so loves us that he gave us his Son to be our brother, to be light in our darkness. To us the Lord repeats: “Do not be afraid!” (Lk 2:10). As the angels said to the shepherds: “Do not be afraid!”. And I also repeat to all of you: Do not be afraid! Our Father is patient, he loves us, he gives us Jesus to guide us on the way which leads to the promised land. Jesus is the light who brightens the darkness. He is mercy: our Father always forgives us. He is our peace. Amen.

[Pope Francis, midnight homily 24 December 2013]

God bless us and may the Virgin protect us!

 From today, 17 to 23 December, the "major Advent holidays", "privileged Advent holidays", begin, characterised by a distinctive element which are the "O antiphons" recited or sung during Vespers. They all begin with the invocation "O" followed by a messianic title taken from the prophecies of the Old Testament to express the expectation of the Saviour: Today the 17th proclaims "O Wisdom", on the 18th "O Adonai" and so on each day culminating on 23 December with "O Emmanuel". On these days the liturgy is more solemn with specific readings and prayers that orient the faithful towards the birth of Christ. Happy preparation for the Holy Christmas of. Christ!

For this period I have prepared the commentaries for the Fourth Sunday of Advent 22 December, for the Christmas Masses (night and day), for the Feast of the Holy Family Sunday 29 December, for the Feast of the Mother of God, 1 January, for the Epiphany, 6 January, and for the conclusion of Christmas time on the Sunday of the Baptism of Jesus 12 January. Today I send the commentaries for 22 December 2024 IV Sunday of Advent.

First Reading from the book of the prophet Micah 5, 1-4a

 *In certain moments it becomes difficult to hope 

The prophets in the Old Testament always have recourse to two types of language: that of rebukes and warnings for those who forget the Covenant with God and its demands, because with their own hands they prepare for ruin; that of support for those who remain faithful to the Covenant so that they do not lose heart in the face of adversity. The first reading today clearly recalls the language of encouragement, and one senses that the people are going through a critical period, almost on the verge of throwing in the towel because they have the impression that they have been abandoned by God.  He even goes so far as to say that all the promises of happiness renewed over the centuries were just fine words, since the ideal king foretold and promised was never born and perhaps never will be. It is unclear whether the author of this text is the prophet Micah because it is not clear exactly in which historical period we are in. If it is Micah, a peasant prophet like Amos and a disciple of Isaiah, we are in the 8th century B.C. in the region of Jerusalem, at a time when the Assyrian empire posed a great threat and the kings of Israel bore little resemblance to the Messiah-king they were expecting: it was therefore easy to fall into the temptation of feeling abandoned. For reasons of language, style and vocabulary, one is inclined to believe that this is a much later text and inserted later in the book of Micah. In this case, the discouragement is motivated by the fact that, after the Babylonian exile and uninterrupted foreign domination, the throne of Jerusalem no longer existed and therefore there was no descendant of David. The prophet takes up the promise that a king will be born from David's descendants who will be a shepherd, will reign with justice and will bring peace; a peace that will cover the whole of humanity in time: 'His origins are from ancient times, from the remotest days' and in space: 'They will dwell securely, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth'. This emphasis on universalism (v. 3) suggests that this preaching (included in the book of Micah) does not belong to the prophet Micah, but to one of his later disciples, since the universalism of God's plan and the strict monotheism that characterises it were only understood during the exile in Babylon. All the more reason to remember the promises concerning the Messiah, and the prophet (whether it is Micah or another does not change the meaning) encourages God's people by saying that even if you feel forsaken, you must be certain that God's project will be fulfilled; 'the day will surely come when she who is to give birth will come' because God is faithful to his promises. Speaking of 'she who is to give birth', he insisted that that moment was only a time of apparent abandonment in the course of human history. Furthermore, by proclaiming: 'And you, Bethlehem Ephratah, so small to be among the villages of Judah, out of you shall come forth the one who is to rule Israel', the prophet recalled that the promised Messiah - prophecy from Nathan to David (2Sam.7) - would be a true descendant of David, because in Bethlehem the prophet Samuel, on God's command, went to choose a king from among the eight sons of Jesse (1Sam.16). For Jews accustomed to the sacred scriptures, Bethlehem immediately evoked the promise of the Messiah, and the prophet joins Bethlehem with the term 'Ephratah' meaning 'fruitful', the name of one of the clans in the Bethlehem region.  Later the whole of Bethlehem is identified with Ephratah and even so the prophet is keen to bring out the contrast between the great and proud Jerusalem and the humble hamlet of Bethlehem, 'the smallest among the clans of Judah' because it is in littleness and frailty that the power of God is manifested, who chooses the small to realise great projects. This prophecy of Micah about the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem was well known to the Jewish people, as is evident in the episode of the Magi visiting Jesus (Mt 2:6): the evangelist Matthew recounts that the scribes quoted Micah's passage to King Herod to direct them to Bethlehem.  At the time, Jesus' contemporaries knew that he was the Nazarene and it was inconceivable that a Galilean was the Messiah. The fourth evangelist also notes that when discussions began about the identity of Jesus, some said: 'Perhaps he is the Christ', but others replied: 'the Christ cannot come from Galilee, Micah said it clearly' (Jn 7:40-43). The short text of the first reading closes as follows: "He himself will be peace": shalom is the peace that only the Messiah can give to humanity

Responsorial psalm 79 (80) 2ac. 3bc, 15-16, 18-19

 *God takes care of his vineyard  

The mention of the cherubim, in Hebrew Kéroubim (Two cherubim towered over the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem), statues of winged animals with the head of a man and the body and legs of a lion, symbolise the throne of God.  "From thee nevermore shall we depart, make us live again and we shall call upon thy name": we are in a penitential celebration and "nevermore" constitutes a resolution: "From thee nevermore shall we depart" means that the people recognise their unfaithfulness and consider their evils as a consequence. The rest of the psalm will detail these misfortunes, but already here it says: "Awaken your power and come and save us", which indicates a deep need to be saved. In difficulties the people turn to their God who has never forsaken them and plead with him, invoking him with two titles: the shepherd of Israel and the vinedresser, images that evoke solicitude, constant attention, inspired by daily life in Palestine, where shepherds and vinedressers were central figures in economic life. The first metaphor is that of the Shepherd of Israel. In the court language of the countries of the ancient Middle East, the title of shepherd was attributed to kings; in the Bible, however, it is first and foremost attributed to God, and they called the kings of Israel 'shepherds of the people' only by proxy since the true shepherd of Israel is God. In Psalm 22/23 we read: "The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want. In the book of Genesis, when Jacob blesses his son Joseph, he invokes "the God in whose presence my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, the God who has been my shepherd from the time I existed until now" (Gen 48:15). And when he blesses his twelve sons, he does so "in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel" (Gen 49:24). Isaiah also uses this image: "Behold your God!... Like a shepherd, he shepherds his flock, with his arm he gathers the lambs, he carries them on his breast, he gently leads the mother sheep" (Isaiah 40:9-11). And the people of Israel are God's flock as we read in Psalm 94/95: 'Yes, he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock he leads with his hand'. It is a psalm that is a meditation on the Exodus where Israel first experienced God's solicitude because, without him, they would not have survived. For God gathered his people as a shepherd gathers his flock, enabling them to overcome every obstacle. And today in the responsorial psalm when it says: 'You, shepherd of Israel, listen', it is to the fundamental experience of the Exodus and the liberation from Egypt that we refer.

In the second metaphor, the psalm calls God the vinedresser: "God of hosts return! Look down from heaven and see: visit this vineyard, protect what your right hand has planted'. The psalm is inspired by Isaiah's Song of the Vineyard: "I want to sing for my beloved the song of my beloved for his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He had spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted fine vines in it. In the midst of it he had built a tower and he had also dug a vat' (Is 5:1-2). This is probably a popular song, which was sung at weddings as a symbol of the young bridegroom's care for his beloved, and this psalm takes up the image to describe God's solicitude as we read in verses (9-12) not taken up in the responsorial psalm: "You uprooted a vineyard from Egypt, you drove out the nations to plant it. You prepared the ground for it, you rooted it so that it filled the land. Its shadow covered the mountains, its branches the highest cedars; it extended its shoots as far as the sea and its buds as far as the River".  The Exodus, the entry into the Promised Land, the Covenant with God, the conquest of the land and the expansion under David's reign, in all these glories Israel recognises the work of God, of his continuous presence and care. The growth of Israel was so extraordinary that we can speak of an age of glory: "His shadow covered the mountains, his branches the highest cedars", thinking of David's conquests that extended the borders of the kingdom to unprecedented heights. 

The honeymoon did not last long because already in Isaiah the song recounted a happy love at the beginning, which ended badly because of the unfaithfulness of the beloved (cf. Is 5:2-4). And in the end, the vinedresser abandons his vineyard (cf. Is 5:5-6). In today's psalm we find the same adventure of a betrayed love: Israel is spoken of and its infidelities are idolatry with all kinds of transgressions of God's Law that bring consequences as one can well understand when reading the whole psalm.  I limit myself only to a few verses not found in the responsorial psalm. "Why have you cut down its hedge? Everyone who passes by plunders it; the boar of the forest devastates it, and the animals of the fields graze it' (Ps 80:13-14). And shortly afterwards:

"It is destroyed, set on fire" (v. 17). And again: "You have made us the mockery of our neighbours, our enemies laugh at us" (v. 7). In other words, we are in a period of foreign occupation and who the enemies are, the story does not say; they are, however, compared to the animals that ravage the vineyard - such as wild boars, considered unclean animals. Israel acknowledges the guilt for which it was punished by God and the psalm pleads for forgiveness, saying: 'How long wilt thou remain angry against the prayers of thy people? You have made us eat bread of tears, you have given us tears in abundance to drink' (v. 5-6). The psalm reflects the state of theology at the time when it was believed that everything, happiness as well as misfortune, was the work of God.  Certainly today, thanks to patient divine pedagogy, there has been progress in the understanding of revelation and we have understood that God respects human freedom and certainly does not control every detail of history. However, this psalm offers a magnificent lesson in faith and humility: the people recognise their infidelities and make a firm resolution never to repeat them again:

"From you never again shall we depart" and turns to God imploring the power of conversion:

"Let us live and we will call upon your name".

Second Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews 10, 5-10

 *Availability is worth more than all sacrifices

In these few lines, this expression occurs twice: "Behold, I come... to do your will, O God", taken from Psalm 39/40, a psalm of thanksgiving. A brief commentary on this psalm begins by describing the mortal danger from which Israel was delivered: "With patience I hoped in the Lord: he stooped over me, he heard my cry. He brought me out of the pit of death, out of the mud and mire; he established my feet on the rock, he made my steps sure'. After giving thanks for the deliverance from Egypt, he continues: "On my lips he has placed a new song, a praise to our God"; then: "You wanted neither sacrifice nor offering, but you gave me a body. You did not like either holocausts or sacrifices for sin. Then I said: 'Behold, I come, my God, to do your will'". The message is clear: the best way to give thanks is to offer God not sacrifices, but the willingness to do his will. The response that God expects is: 'Here I am', typical of God's great servants. Abraham, called by God at the time of Isaac's sacrifice, answered simply: 'Here I am' and his willingness is an example for the children of Israel (Gen 22): although Isaac was not immolated, willingness is worth more than all sacrifices. Moses answers 'Here I am' before the burning bush and his willingness transformed a simple shepherd even clumsy in speech into the great leader of Israel. Samuel, centuries later, in the time of the Judges, with his 'Here I am' became Israel's great prophet (1 Sam 3:1-9) who as an adult had the courage to say to King Saul: 'Does the Lord like holocausts and sacrifices as much as obedience to his word? No! Obedience is worth more than sacrifice, listening more than the fat of rams" (1 Sam 15:22).

In the Bible, the title 'servant' of God is the greatest compliment for a believer, just as in the first centuries of the Christian era, in Greek-speaking countries, it was common to give children the name 'Christodule' (Christodoulos), meaning servant of Christ. The insistence on availability becomes for everyone first of all encouraging because God only asks for our availability and all of us, despite our human limitations, can become useful for the Kingdom of God. At the same time, this insistence is demanding because if God calls us to serve Him, we cannot make excuses such as incompetence, ignorance, unworthiness, weariness, etc.

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews applies Psalm 39/40 to Jesus Christ, who says: "You wanted neither sacrifice nor offering, but a body you have prepared for me. Thou hast pleased neither burnt offerings nor sacrifices for sin. Then I said: 'Behold, I come to do, O God, your will.  Total availability that did not begin on the evening of Holy Thursday, but embraces the whole of life, day after day, from the very beginning because "entering the world, Christ says ... a body you have prepared for me ... behold, I am coming" (vv5-7). 

To say that willingness is worth more than all sacrifices does not mean that sacrifices are abolished, but they lose their value when they are not accompanied by total willingness to serve God and man. Moreover, in Israel, in the context of the struggle against idolatries, the prophets insisted on the 'sacrifice of the lips', a prayer and praise to be addressed exclusively to the God of Israel, since it happened that, while offering costly sacrifices in the temple of Jerusalem, some continued to turn to other gods. Offering to God the "sacrifice of the lips" indicates the decision to belong to Him unreservedly, and this, as we read in Hosea, was worth more than all animal sacrifices: "Instead of bulls, we will offer you as a sacrifice the words of our lips" (Hos 14:3). Psalm 49/50 also reiterates this: 'Offer to God as a sacrifice your praise and make your vows to the Most High... He who offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me' (Ps 49/50.14.23).

Jacob is regarded as an example of absolute availability to God, despite his wrongdoings, because his life bears witness to a profound inner transformation and an intense search for God. Jacob's journey represents the spiritual journey of every believer: from a life characterised by deceit and strife to a life of faith, of encounter with God and adherence to His plan. These are Jacob's misdeeds: from his youth, he commits several questionable actions: he deceives his brother Esau in order to obtain the birthright in exchange for a plate of lentils (Gen 25:29-34); he cheats his father Isaac in order to receive the blessing due to the first-born son, with the help of his mother Rebecca (Gen 27), he manipulates his uncle Laban to enrich himself during the time he works for him (Gen 30:25-43). This is his openness to God: despite these behaviours, Jacob is open to the encounter with God and shows an increasing readiness to allow himself to be transformed. His story is punctuated by episodes that show the change of his heart: the dream of Bethel (Gen 28:10-22): after deceiving his brother and fleeing, Jacob has a vision of a ladder connecting earth to heaven. In this dream, God renews to him the promises made to Abraham and Isaac. Here he promises: 'If God will be with me and protect me on this journey ... then the Lord will be my God' (Gen 28:20-21).

Then at Peniel (Gen 32:23-32) he wrestles all night with a mysterious man, who turns out to be God himself or one of his messengers and receives a new name, Israel, which means 'He who wrestles with God'. It is the symbol of a profound transformation: "I will not let you go unless you bless me!" (Gen 32:27). Here emerges his total willingness to depend on God, to recognise his need to be blessed and guided. Reconciliation with Esau follows (Gen 33) and this shows that inner change produces concrete fruits in human relationships. The thirst for God: what distinguishes Jacob is not his moral perfection, but his thirst for God: he always sought Him even when his actions were dictated by personal ambition and this constant search for God makes him an example of helpfulness because he appears to be a man who, despite his weaknesses and mistakes, always desired God's blessing and presence in his life. His story teaches that: God does not choose the perfect, but those who are willing to allow themselves to be transformed; our imperfections are not an obstacle to God's call, as long as we are willing to walk with Him; availability to God is more important than outward sacrifices or works, because God looks at the heart and the desire for conversion. In summary, Jacob is an example of absolute availability to God because, despite his misdeeds, he accepted the divine call, fought for God's blessing, and allowed himself to be transformed by that encounter, becoming one of the fundamental patriarchs of Israel's faith.Gospel according to Luke 1:39-45

*You are blessed among all women  

In Luke's gospel, after the two accounts of the Annunciation: to Zechariah for the birth of John the Baptist, and to Mary for the birth of Jesus, there follows the account of the "Visitation", which at first glance appears to be a simple family scene, but we must not be deceived: Luke writes a profoundly theological work, and to better understand it we must give due value to the central phrase: "Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she cried out with a loud voice" (Lk 1:41-42). It is therefore the Holy Spirit who speaks and announces from the very beginning the great news of the whole of Luke's Gospel: the one who has just been conceived is the 'Lord'. The Spirit inspires Elizabeth: 'Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb': this means that God acts in you and through you, God acts in your Son and through your Son. As always, the Holy Spirit is the one who enables us to discover, in our lives and in the lives of others, the signs of God's work. Luke is not unaware that this phrase from Elizabeth partly echoes one we find in the book of Judith (Jdt 13:18-19): when after beheading the general Holofernes, Judith returns from the enemy camp, she is greeted by Ozia who says to her: 'You are blessed among all women, and blessed is the Lord God'. Mary is here compared to Judith, a parallelism that suggests two things: the expression 'Blessed art thou among all women' makes it clear that Mary is the woman who guarantees mankind ultimate victory over evil. As for the conclusion of the sentence (for Judith 'blessed is the Lord God', while for Mary 'blessed is the fruit of thy womb'), it announces that the Lord himself is the fruit of her womb: this is why Luke's account is not just a picture of family joy, but something much deeper. In the face of Zechariah's muteness, who had become mute because he had doubted the angel's words announcing the birth of John the Baptist, the power of Elizabeth's word full of the Holy Spirit appears in full contrast. John the Baptist, still in his mother's womb, already full of the Holy Spirit manifests his joy: Elizabeth says that he "leapt for joy in my womb" when he heard Mary's voice. The angel had foretold this to Zechariah: 'Fear not, Zechariah, your prayer has been answered. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. You will be in joy and exultation, and many will rejoice at his birth ... he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb" (Lk 1:13-15).

We recall the words of Elizabeth: "To what do I owe that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Lk 1:43). This sentence also recalls an episode from the Old Testament, namely the arrival of the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem (2 Sam 6:2-11). When David became king in Jerusalem and built a worthy palace, he decided to transfer the Ark of the Covenant to the new capital. Filled with fervour and awe, he organised a festive procession with all the best men of Israel, about thirty thousand, and with all the people he set out to bring up the Ark of God... They carried it in a new chariot... David and all the house of Israel danced before the Lord to the sound of harps, harps, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals (cf. 2 Sam 6:5). On the way, however, a man who had touched the Ark without being authorised to do so died immediately and, seized with fear, David exclaimed: "How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?" (2 Sam 6:9). He then decided to leave the Ark in the house of Obed-Edom, where it remained for three months and then, as word spread that the presence of the Ark brought blessing to that house, David decided to complete the journey and so David and all the house of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord amidst songs of joy and to the sound of the horn (cf. 2 Sam 6:15) and full of joy, David also danced before the Ark "with all his might" (cf. 2 Sam 6:14).

Many details unite the account of the Visitation with the journey of the Ark of the Covenant: Both journeys, that of the Ark and that of Mary, take place in the same region, the hills of Judea; the Ark enters the house of Obed-Edom and brings blessing; Mary enters the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth and brings joy; the Ark stays three months in the house of Obed-Edom; Mary stays three months with Elizabeth; David dances before the Ark; John the Baptist "exults with joy" before Mary who carries the Lord in her. Since all this is not accidental, the evangelist invites us to contemplate Mary as the new Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was the place of God's Presence, and Mary carries within her, in a mysterious way, the divine Presence, and from that moment God dwells forever in our humanity: "The Word became flesh and came to dwell among us" (Jn 1:14).

(Lk 1:67-79)

The anthem is a prayer of praise from the first communities, and it gives us an idea of how the life of faith and liturgy were lived: both celebration of the mystery, profession, animation of hope and catechesis.

The Canticle of Zechariah is maintained at a Judaizing theological level that expresses the fulfilment of the Covenant, and sparks joy at the awareness of having been visited by God.

In the Son, the Eternal Father ‘comes’ to crown the Promises.

The poem responds to the same scheme of Mary’s hymn (vv.46-55) that praises God because he reveals his power in a convergent and crucial way, giving us the pace of a life freed from oppression.

In the birth of John the Christ is announced: the expectation of Israel - here still vaguely confused with a dominant (Davidic) Sprout with cultural veins bound, particular.

Now, however, the hearts’ expectation is made alive in a reality of human union - unpredictable for target, unilateral cultures: in different way than one would expect.

A whole people is priestly.

Finally comes the world of truth and fulness in living: of divine presence not plastered, but ‘in the midst’.

Certainty specified in the traditional forms of the "chosen nation", on which, however, the confidence generated by the experience of a new fraternal order is raised.

The intervention of John and Jesus substantiates the invoking fullness of times. Thus «the God of Israel visited and made the redemption for his people, and aroused for us a horn of salvation» (vv.68-69).

In this passage from the First to the New Alliance, the communities of Lk express a desire to witness to convictions of Faith now «without fear» (v.74), with a sense of Presence: «in front» (vv.75.76).

This is due to the awareness of unconditional «forgiveness», and «knowledge»: «Way of Peace» (vv.77.79).

An experience that evolves by harmonizing the ancient Scriptures, letting a new Liberation advance.

“Ransom” for intrinsic, not accessory work: action of the Light that avoids condemnations; only conciliates.

The unity of salvation history produces the release of its spiritual, social and criterion needs, no more with conventional disputes - in the Dawn of the expected Messiah.

[Weekday Liturgy, December 24]

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

The celebration of the Holy Birth is at hand. Today's vigil prepares us to live intensely the mystery that tonight's Liturgy will invite us to contemplate with the eyes of faith. 

In the Divine Newborn, whom we will place in the manger, our Salvation is made manifest. In the God who makes himself man for us, we all feel loved and welcomed, we discover that we are precious and unique in the eyes of the Creator. 

The birth of Christ helps us to become aware of the value of human life, the life of every human being, from the first instant to natural death. 

To those who open their heart to this "baby wrapped in swaddling clothes" and lying "in a manger" (cf. Lk 2: 12), he offers the possibility of seeing with new eyes the realities of every day. He can taste the power of the interior fascination of God's love and is able to transform even sorrow into joy. 

Let us prepare ourselves, dear friends, to meet Jesus, the Emmanuel, God with us. Born in the poverty of Bethlehem, he wants to be the travelling companion of each one of us on our life's journey. In this world, from the very moment when he decided to pitch his "tent", no one is a stranger. 

It is true, we are all here in passing, but it is precisely Jesus who makes us feel at home on this earth, sanctified by his presence. He asks us, however, to make it a home in which all are welcome.
The surprising gift of Christmas is exactly this: Jesus came for each one of us and in him we have become brothers. 

The corresponding duty is to increasingly overcome preconceptions and prejudices, to break down barriers and eliminate the differences that divide us, or worse, that set individuals and peoples against one another, in order to build together a world of justice and peace. 

With these sentiments, dear brothers and sisters, let us live the last hours that separate us from Christmas, preparing ourselves spiritually to welcome the Child Jesus. In the heart of the night he will come for us. It is his desire, however, also to come in us, to dwell in the heart of every one of us. 

So that this may occur, it is indispensable that we are open and that we prepare ourselves to receive him, ready to make room for him within ourselves, in our families, in our cities. 

May his birth not find us unprepared to celebrate Christmas, forgetting that the protagonist of the celebration is precisely him! 

May Mary help us to maintain the interior recollection so necessary to taste the profound joy that the Redeemer's birth brings. To her we address our prayer, thinking particularly of those who are prepared to celebrate Christmas in sadness and solitude, in sickness and in suffering: to all may the Virgin bring comfort and consolation.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 24 December 2006]

(Reading: Lk 1:68-69.76.78-79)

Benedictus

1. Having reached the end of our long journey through the Psalms and Canticles of the Liturgy of Lauds, let us pause to consider the prayer that marks the Office of Lauds every morning. It is the Benedictus, the Canticle intoned by Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, when the birth of that son changed his life, wiping away the doubt that caused him to go mute, a serious punishment for his lack of faith and praise. 

Now, instead, Zechariah can celebrate God who saves him, and he does so with this hymn, set down by Luke the Evangelist in a form that undoubtedly reflects the liturgical usage current in the original Christian community (cf. Lk 1: 68-79). 

The Evangelist himself describes it as a prophetic hymn, inspired by the breath of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1: 67). Indeed, we have before us a benediction proclaiming the saving actions and liberation offered by the Lord to his people. Thus, it is a "prophetic" interpretation of history, the discovery of the intimate, profound meaning of all human events that are guided by the hidden but active hand of the Lord which clasps the more feeble and hesitant hands of men and women. 

2. The text is solemn and, in the original Greek, is composed of only two sentences (cf. 68-75; 76-79). After the introduction, marked by the benediction of praise, we can identify in the body of the Canticle, as it were, three strophes that exalt the same number of themes, destined to mark the whole history of salvation:  the covenant with David (cf. vv. 68-71), the covenant with Abraham (cf. vv. 72-75) and the Baptist who brings us into the new Covenant in Christ (cf. vv. 76-79). Indeed, the tension of the whole prayer is a yearning for the goal that David and Abraham indicate with their presence. 

It culminates in one of the last lines: "The day shall dawn upon us from on high..." (v. 78). This phrase, which at first sight seems paradoxical with its association of "dawn" and "on high", is actually full of meaning. 

3. Indeed, in the original Greek, the "rising sun" is anatolè, a word which in itself means both the light of the sun that shines on our planet and a new shoot that sprouts. Both these images have messianic value in the biblical tradition. 

On the one hand, Isaiah reminds us, speaking of the Emmanuel, that "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined" (Is 9: 1). On the other, referring once again to the king-Emmanuel, he describes him as the "shoot from the stump of Jesse", that is, from the house of David, a shoot upon which the Spirit of the Lord was to rest (cf. Is 11: 1-2). 

With Christ, therefore, appears the light that enlightens every creature (cf. Jn 1: 9) and makes life flourish, as John the Evangelist was to say, combining the two realities: "in him was life, and the life was the light of men" (1: 4). 

4. Humanity that was engulfed "in darkness and in the shadow of death" is illumined by this dazzling revelation (cf. Lk 1: 79). As the Prophet Malachi had announced: "For you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays" (3: 20). This sun "guides our feet into the way of peace" (Lk 1: 79). 

So let us move on, taking that light as our reference point; and may our faltering steps which, during the day, often stray to dark and slippery paths, be sustained by the light of the truth that Christ spreads in the world and in history. 

At this point, let us listen to a teacher of the Church, one of her Doctors, the Englishman Venerable Bede (seventh-eighth centuries). In his Homily for the Birth of St John the Baptist he commented on the Canticle of Zechariah as follows: "The Lord... has visited us as a doctor visits the sick, because to heal the deep-rooted sickness of our pride, he gave us the new example of his humility; he redeemed his people, for at the price of his blood he set us free when we had become servants of sin and slaves of the ancient enemy.... Christ found us lying "in darkness and in the shadow of death', that is, oppressed by the long-lasting blindness of sin and ignorance.... He brought to us the true light of his knowledge, and banishing the darkness of error, he has shown us the sure way to the heavenly homeland. He has directed the steps of our actions to make us walk on the path of truth, which he has pointed out to us, and to enable us to enter the home of eternal peace, which he has promised us". 

5. Lastly, drawing from other biblical texts, the Venerable Bede concluded, giving thanks for the gifts received:  "Given that we are in possession of these gifts of eternal bounty, dear brethren... let us also praise the Lord at all times (cf. Ps 34[33]: 2), for "he has visited and redeemed his people'.

May praise be always on our lips, let us cherish his memory and in turn, proclaim the virtue of the One who has "called you [us] out of darkness into his marvellous light' (I Pt 2: 9). Let us ceaselessly ask his help, so that he may preserve in us the light of the knowledge that he brought to us, and lead us onwards to the day of perfection" (Omelie sul Vangelo, Rome, 1990, pp. 464-465).

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 1 October 2003]

The Gospel passage that was just proclaimed is the prelude to two great canticles: that of Mary, known as the “Magnificat”, and that of Zechariah, the “Benedictus”, which I like to call “the canticle of Elizabeth or of fruitfulness”. Thousands of Christians throughout the world begin the day by singing: “Blessed be the Lord” and end it by proclaiming “the greatness of the Lord, for he has looked with favour on his lowly servant”. In this way believers of different peoples, day by day, try to remember; to remember that, from generation to generation, God’s mercy spreads over all people as he had promised our fathers. And from this context of grateful remembrance bursts forth Elizabeth’s song in the form of a question: “And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”. We find Elizabeth, the woman marked by the sign of barrenness, who sings under the sign of fruitfulness and astonishment. 

I would like to emphasize precisely these two aspects. Elizabeth, marked by barrenness and marked by fruitfulness. 

1. Elizabeth the barren woman, with all that this implied for the religious mentality of that era, which considered barrenness a divine punishment as a result of her sin or that of her spouse. A mark of shame imprinted on her flesh, either because she felt guilty of a sin that she had not committed or because she felt inadequate, not living up to what was expected of her. Let us imagine for a moment the glances of her family members, of her neighbours, of her own ... a barrenness which thoroughly penetrates and ends up paralyzing one’s entire life. A barrenness that can assume many names and forms each time a person physically feels shame in seeing herself stigmatized or feeling inadequate (...)

2. And, let us contemplate Elizabeth, the barren woman, together with Elizabeth, the fruitful-astonished woman. She herself is the first to recognize and bless Mary. It is she who in old age experienced in her own life, in her flesh, the fulfillment of the promise God had made. She who could not have children carried in her womb the Precursor of Salvation. In her we understand that God’s dream is neither barrenness nor to stigmatize or shame his children, but to make flow in them and from them a song of blessing. Likewise we see it in Juan Diego. It was precisely he, and not another, who carried imprinted on his mantle, the tilma, the image of the Virgin: the Virgin with a dark complexion and face of mixed race, supported by an angel with the wings of quetzal, pelican and macaw; the mother able to assume the features of her children to make them feel part of her blessing. It would seem that God unceasingly persists in showing us that “the stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner” (Ps 118[117]:22).

[Pope Francis, homily 12 December 2017]