Pope Francis delivered the following


Christmas Eve homily at the Vatican:
“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” (Isaiah 9:1). “
An angel of the Lord appeared to (the
shepherds) and the glory of the Lord
shone around them” (Luke 2:9). This is
how the liturgy of this holy Christmas
night presents to us the birth of the
Savior: As the light which pierces and
dispels the deepest darkness. The
presence of the Lord in the midst of
his people cancels the sorrow of
defeat and the misery of slavery, and
ushers in joy and happiness.
We too, in this blessed night, have
come to the house of God. We have
passed through the darkness which
envelops the earth, guided by the
flame of faith which illuminates our
steps, and enlivened by the hope of
finding the “great light.. By opening
our hearts, we also can contemplate
the miracle of that child-sun who,
arising from on high, illuminates the
horizon.
The origin of the darkness which
envelops the world is lost in the night
of the ages. Let us think back to that
dark moment when the first crime of
humanity was committed, when the
hand of Cain, blinded by envy, killed
his brother Abel (cf. Gen 4:. As a
result, the unfolding of the centuries
has been marked by violence, wars,
hatred and oppression. But God, who
placed a sense of expectation within
man made in his image and likeness,
was waiting. He waited for so long that
perhaps at a certain point it seemed
he should have given up. But he could
not give up because he could not deny
himself ( 2 Timothy 2:13). Therefore he
continued to wait patiently in the face
of the corruption of man and peoples.
Through the course of history, the light
that shatters the darkness reveals to
us that God is Father and that his
patient fidelity is stronger than
darkness and corruption. This is the
message of Christmas night. God does
not know outbursts of anger or
impatience; He is always there, like
the father in the Parable of the
Prodigal Son, waiting to catch from
afar a glimpse of the lost son as he
returns.
Isaiah’s prophecy announces the rising
of a great light which breaks through
the night. This light is born in
Bethlehem and is welcomed by the
loving arms of Mary, by the love of
Joseph, by the wonder of the
shepherds. When the angels
announced the birth of the Redeemer
to the shepherds, they did so with
these words: “This will be a sign for
you: you will find a baby wrapped in
swaddling clothes and lying in a
manger” (Luke 2:12). The “sign” is the
humility of God taken to the extreme;
it is the love with which, that night, He
assumed our frailty, our suffering, our
anxieties, our desires and our
limitations. The message that
everyone was expecting, that everyone
was searching for in the depths of
their souls, was none other than the
tenderness of God: God who looks
upon us with eyes full of love, who
accepts our poverty; God who is in
love with our smallness.
On this holy night, while we
contemplate the Infant Jesus just born
and placed in the manger, we are
invited to reflect. How do we welcome
the tenderness of God? Do I allow
myself to be taken up by God, to be
embraced by him, or do I prevent him
from drawing close? “But I am
searching for the Lord” – we could
respond. Nevertheless, what is most
important is not seeking Him, but
rather allowing Him to find me and
caress me with tenderness. The
question put to us simply by the
Infant’s presence is: do I allow God to
love me?
More so, do we have the courage to
welcome with tenderness the
difficulties and problems of those who
are near to us, or do we prefer
impersonal solutions, perhaps
effective but devoid of the warmth of
the Gospel? How much the world
needs tenderness today!
The Christian response cannot be
different from God’s response to our
smallness. Life must be met with
goodness, with meekness. When we
realize that God is in love with our
smallness, that he made himself small
in order to better encounter us, we
cannot help but open our hearts to
him, and beseech him: “Lord, help me
to be like you, give me the grace of
tenderness in the most difficult
circumstances of life, give me the
grace of closeness in the face of every
need, of meekness in every conflict”.
Dear brothers and sisters: On this holy
night we contemplate the Nativity
scene: there “the people who walked
in darkness have seen a great
light” (Isaiah 9:1). People who were
unassuming, open to receiving the gift
of God, were the ones who saw this
light. This light was not seen, however,
by the arrogant, the proud, by those
who made laws according to their own
personal measures, who were closed
off to others. Let us look to the crib
and pray, asking the Blessed Mother:
“O Mary, show us Jesus!”

Naso papa

readed in pej voice

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfNJWOZPbSw
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