ANGELUS: THE LORD'S GIFTS NEVER FADE AWAY

VATICAN CITY, JAN 5, 2003 (VIS) - In today's Angelus, John Paul II reminded the faithful and the pilgrims present in Saint Peter's Square that "the sublime mystery of the incarnation of the Eternal Word came to live within us," from the opening of the Gospel of Saint John.

He continued, "These words, while echoing in the heart of the Church for over two thousand years, still maintains its freshness and contemporaneity. (...) The Child born in Bethlehem is truly a 'contemporary' of each person on the face of the world. And thereby, also our 'contemporary'. The gifts of the Lord never fade away. This is the good news of the Nativity: the divine light (...) also shines for us today."

"The drama lies in the fact that Christ-light of the world is not known by many, He is not welcomed by others, rather He is refused by them. In our society, a culture filled with egoism and closed off to the knowledge and love of God is widespread. This is a culture that generates personal loss and dissatisfaction, indifference and solitude, hate and violence, by refusing any solid reference to divine transcendence. Therefore, how urgent is the need to joyfully bear witness to the only message of salvation, ancient yet always new, in the Gospel of life and of light, of hope and of love!"

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