VATICAN CITY, DEC 19, 2001 (VIS) - Christmas was the theme of the Holy Father's catechesis during the general audience which was held this morning in the Paul VI Hall.
Invocations to the Savior during this period of Advent, said the Pope, express "believers' ardent desire to see their hopes of peace achieved. For this reason they implore the gift of the birth of the promised Savior. ... Invoking the coming of He who brings peace to the world involves submissively opening oneself to the liberating truth and renovating force of the Gospel."
After recalling last Friday's "special day of fasting and prayer" which was "a high point of Advent, and an occasion to give deep consideration to the causes of war and the reasons for peace," he said: "In the face of the tensions and violence which, unfortunately, even today darken various parts of the world - including the Holy Land which witnessed the mystery of the birth of Jesus - we Christians must proclaim ever louder the message of peace that arose from the stable in Bethlehem.
"We must become converts to peace, we must become converts to Christ, our peace, in the certainty that His disarming love in the manger triumphs over all dark threats and violence. With faith, we must continue to ask the Infant Jesus, born for us of the Virgin Mary, that the prodigious energy of His peace may drive out the hatred and thirst for revenge that dwell in the human soul. We must ask God that evil be defeated by goodness and love."
John Paul II concluded by requesting that the peace of Christ "renew all aspects of our daily lives; fill hearts that they may open to the action of His transforming grace; descend upon families that, gathered before the nativity scene or around the Christmas tree, they strengthen their communion in faith; reign in cities, in nations and in the international community, and spread to every corner of the world."
The Pope then extended greetings to various groups of pilgrims. To a group from Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, he said: "On your return to your country, carry my words of hope and encouragement for this Christmas and New Year. Through the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin of Lujan, I ask the Lord that Argentinians may find, with generosity in these difficult moments, ways of reconciliation and mutual understanding in order to build, with God's help and the collaboration of one and all, a future of peace and prosperity."
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