Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, Archbishop of São Paulo, speaks on the Solemnity of the Birth of the Child Jesus in Bethlehem.
Newsroom(24/12/2021 08:30, Gaudium Press) “Christmas is all about family: a couple, a woman giving birth, the birth of a child, relatives, neighbours, a community where the family lives. The Son of God enters the world in a family context, and this has enormous significance. God values the human family, He is in the midst of people who believe and accept His will. God does not disdain human realities, but takes them on and elevates and sanctifies them. The Christmas texts speak of this beautiful reality: “Give us a share in the divinity of the One who has united our humanity to You” (Evening Mass, Prayer over the Offertory). And again, at the same Mass: “Grant that we may share in His eternal life in a holy way” (Communion Prayer).
“On Christmas Day, the liturgical texts express splendidly the benefit that the mystery of the Incarnation and the birth of the Son of God bring to humanity: “O God, who wonderfully created man and most wonderfully restored his dignity, grant that we may share in the divinity of the One who deigned to take on our humanity“. And the prayer after Communion, at the same Mass, makes a bold request, but one fully consistent with the mystery of Christmas: “May the Saviour of the world, born today, just as He has borne us to divine life, grant us also immortality”.
“Deepening our reflection on the mystery of Christmas, we ask: why did the Son of God become man? And the answer is found in the texts of the Word of God and of the liturgy: out of extreme love. For this reason alone. God lost none of His glory, but man was extremely valued by Him. ““God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life,” Jesus reveals to Nicodemus (Jn 3:16-17).
“The preface of the Mass of Christmas also expresses the Church’s faith in the greatness of the mystery of Christmas. The third Preface speaks of the Christmas event as a “wonderful encounter which gives us new life in fullness”. Still in the same form, the major significance of Christian anthropology appears: “At the moment when Your Son takes on our weakness, human nature receives an incomparable dignity. In becoming one of us, we become eternal”. This explains the statement of the Fathers of the Church: our redemption began with the incarnation of the Son of God in our human flesh.
“The birth of Jesus is also a wonderful event of divine revelation: “Recognizing Jesus as God visible to our eyes, we learn to love in Him the divinity that we do not see” (First Preface of Christmas). The Church expresses this in a similar way in the Second Preface of Christmas: “In the mystery of Christmas that we celebrate, invisible in His divinity, He became visible in our flesh. Born “of woman”, as St Paul says, the Son of God, “begotten before time, entered the history of humanity to raise the fallen world” and to introduce fallen man into the kingdom of Heaven. These texts are full of meaning and consistent with the Word of God and with our faith in Jesus Christ.
“How much beauty is contained in the celebration of Christmas! And from this arises the social dimension of this celebration itself. We Christians are called to celebrate, to rejoice, to share our joy with everyone! We also invite our brothers and sisters of different faiths and those who do not have faith to rejoice with us. Christmas is good news for all humanity! It is also the feast of universal brotherhood of all humanity. The Son of God came into the world to be one of us.
“But not only that: He came to reveal to us that God loves everyone and that all can be His sons and daughters. Therefore, all are called to be brothers and sisters and to live like this. The fraternity of the great human family, without distinction, is the result of our faith in God and in the Incarnation of the Son of God in our humanity. Actions which bring joy and hope to the poor, the sick, and those who suffer cannot be absent from the celebration of Christmas. Christmas and fraternity are inseparable and therefore the Church also launches appeals and actions for reconciliation and peace for the great human family at this time. Christmas is good news for humanity!”
By Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer – Metropolitan Archbishop of São Paulo
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
