Vatican City, 18 December 2015 (VIS) –
This morning in the Paul VI Hall Pope Francis received seven hundred
people from the Bavarian municipalities of Hirschau, Schanaittenbach
and Freudenberg, who donated the Christmas tree adorning St. Peter's
Square this year, and representatives from the Italian province of
Trento who, along with the archdiocese, created the Nativity display.
The decorations on the tree are from the Lene Thun Foundation of
Bolzano and, as the Holy Father commented, represent the dreams of
the children who decorated it, whom he thanked.
“These wishes that we carry in our
heart are now in the most suitable place, because they are close to
the child of Bethlehem: they are entrusted to Him, He Who came to
live in our midst. Indeed, Jesus did not simply appear on earth, and
did not dedicate just a little of His time to us, but rather came to
share our life and to receive our desires, as He wanted and still
wants to live here, along with us and for us. Our world, which at
Christmas became His world, is important to Him. The creche reminds
us of this: God, in his great mercy, descended to us to stay with
us”.
The Nativity also tells us that the
Lord “never imposes upon us with force. To save us, He did not
change history by performing a grand miracle. Instead, He lived with
simplicity, humility and meekness. God does not like the dramatic
revolutions of the powerful of history, and does not use a magic wand
to change situations. Instead He makes Himself small, He becomes a
child, to attract us with love, to touch our hearts with His humble
goodness, to draw attention through His poverty to those who worry
about accumulating the false treasures of this world”.
The Holy Father recalled that this was
the intention of St. Francis when he invented the creche – to pay
homage to the Child who was born in Bethlehem so as to be able to in
some way perceive with the eyes of the body the hardships He suffered
for the lack of the basic necessities for a newborn. Indeed, the
scene honours and praises simplicity, poverty and humility. “I
invite you, then, to pause before the Nativity scene, for there God's
tenderness speaks to us. There we contemplate divine mercy, made
flesh so that we gaze tenderly upon it. Above all, it wishes to move
our hearts”.
In this regard, Francis indicated that
in the creche there is a figure who reveals the mystery of the
Nativity. “It is a character who performs a good act, stooping to
assist an elderly person. He not only looks to God but also imitates
Him, as, like God, he inclines mercifully to one in need. May these
gifts of yours, which will be lit up this evening, attract the gaze
of many and above all revive in our life the true light of
Christmas”.