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Sisters and Brothers<\/strong><\/p>\n PEACE and ALL GOOD<\/p>\n At the centre of the Feast of Christmas is Jesus, the son of Mary and Joseph, the Nazarene who walked the dusty streets of his little town and lived in a neighbourly and friendly way. \u00a0That Jesus who learned the trade of his father Joseph and experienced the wonder of profound human relationships with his fellow townspeople. Jesus who learned from Mary that God is a father with a mother\u2019s heart, a God who looks out the window awaiting the return of the son who left home.<\/p>\n That Jesus whom Francis wished to see with his own eyes on Christmas night 1223 in the little remote town of Greccio. The Jesus of the First Admonition who is made flesh in Bethlehem and becomes bread on the altar through the hands of the priest.<\/p>\n Brother Francis already had friendly relations with the inhabitants of that place; some say\u00a0 he had been visiting since 1217.\u00a0 There he was especially friendly with the family of a man called John who helped him prepare that event which is so\u00a0 beautifully portrayed in the \u00a0First Life of Thomas of Celano, nos 84-87:<\/p>\n \u201cSome fifteen days before the Nativity of the Lord blessed Francis called for the man, as he often did, and said:\u00a0 \u2018If you want us to celebrate the present feast of Our Lord at Greccio, go with haste and diligently prepare what I tell you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n To the message he was sending to John, his friend, Francis adds the reasons for celebrating the feast:<\/p>\n \u201cFor I wish to do something that will recall to memory the little Child who was born in Bethlehem and set before our bodily eyes in some way the inconveniences of his infant needs, how he lay in a manger, how with an ox and an ass standing by, he lay upon the\u00a0 hay where he had been\u00a0 placed.\u201d<\/p>\n Remembrance, contemplation, suffering, inconvenience, marginalisation.\u00a0 These are essential elements needed to enter into the celebration which has a spiritual richness that enthuses, and which as for all artistic creation, according to the recent talk of Pope Francis to the artists,\u00a0 has three great movements:<\/p>\n But the movement which generates art doesn\u2019t stop here, it has<\/p>\n In the moving description of the First Life of Thomas of Celano we can discern those movements which make our spirituality a \u201cguardian of life and beauty in the world\u201d.\u00a0 Celano writes:<\/p>\n \u201cBut the day of joy drew near, the time of great rejoicing came.\u00a0 The brothers were called from the various places;\u00a0 Men and women of the neighbourhood prepared with glad\u00a0 hearts, according to their means, candles and torches to light up the night that has lighted up all the days and years with its gleaming star\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n A fraternal community celebration of men and women who make every effort to light up not only that night but all the days and years, as if Christmas was continuing all that time in an attitude of optimism, vitality and conviviality.<\/p>\n Celano continues:<\/p>\n \u201cThe night was lighted up like the day, and it delighted men and beasts.\u00a0 The people came and were filled with new joy over the new mystery.\u00a0 The woods rang with the voices of the crowd and the rocks made answer to their jubilation.\u00a0 The brothers sang, paying their debt\u00a0 of praise to the Lord and the whole night resounded with their rejoicing. \u00a0The saint of God stood before the manger, uttering sighs, overcome with love, and filled with a wonderful happiness\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Pope Francis writes in his Apostolic Letter \u201cAdmirable signum\u201d signed on December 1st<\/sup> 2019 in the sanctuary of Greccio:<\/p>\n \u201cThe enchanting image of the Christmas cr\u00e8che, so dear to the Christian people, never ceases to arouse amazement and wonder.\u00a0 The depiction of Jesus\u2019 birth is itself a simple and joyful proclamation of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God.\u00a0 As we contemplate the Christmas story, we are invited to set out on a spiritual journey, drawn by the humility of the God who became man in order to encounter every person. We come to realize that so great is his love for us that he became one of us, so that we in turn might become one with him. In the sitting-room of the houses, in the churches, streets, commercial centres, schools, hospitals and prisons this spirituality of the people builds, as it were an altar\u00a0 on which appear traces of that reality where God is revealed every day.<\/p>\n The cribs reflect the geography of the place where they are built:\u00a0 mountainous in the Andes, rivers and lagoons and huge trees in\u00a0 Amazonia, seas and palm-trees in the Caribbean, deserts, volcanoes and snowy mountains in others, with houses of adobe or cardboard and roofs of palm or straw.\u00a0 Some with buildings, cars, avenues or bridle-paths. All representing a reality where God is to be found.<\/p>\n The people who appear in these Nativity scenes dress according to the custom of the locality \u00a0\u00a0where the child God continues to be born: \u00a0people wearing\u00a0 ponchos,\u00a0 Colombian ruanas, coloured skirts, Andaen hats with ear-flaps, straw sombreros, strong colours, fuchsia, orange, yellow-green which contrast with the black of the materials woven on artisan looms.\u00a0 There are found the\u00a0 typical activities: \u00a0country people working in their vegetable gardens, markets selling fruit, cereals; domestic animals, fishermen.<\/p>\n In the crib we show our contrasting realities but especially the firm decision to build and rebuild our lives as God wants us, even in the difficult times of the present.<\/p>\n In conclusion Pope Francis says in his letter Admirable signum:<\/p>\n \u201cDear brothers and sisters, the Christmas cr\u00e8che is part of the precious yet demanding process of passing on the faith. Beginning in childhood, and at every stage of our lives, it teaches us to contemplate Jesus, to experience God\u2019s love for us, to feel and believe that God is with us and that we are with him, his children, brothers and sisters all, thanks to that Child who is the Son of God and the Son of the Virgin Mary. And to realize that in that knowledge we find true happiness. Like Saint Francis, may we open our hearts to this simple grace, so that from our wonderment a humble prayer may arise: a prayer of thanksgiving to God, who wished to share with us his all, and thus never to leave us alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The spirituality of Christmas and of the crib, a spirituality of peace that is committed to life, which as Saint Francis of Assisi shows, and according to what\u00a0 Pope Francis says, frees us from all desire to dominate others, makes us understand the difficulties of those who are the last of all and impels us to live in harmony with all.\u00a0 A harmony that is linked to beauty and truth.<\/p>\n HAPPY CHRISTMAS<\/strong> \n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.2.2″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.2.2″][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.2.2″ background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” text_orientation=”center” width=”100%” module_alignment=”center” animation_style=”zoom”]\n
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With this Letter, I wish to encourage the beautiful family tradition of preparing the nativity scene in the days before Christmas.\u201d
We learn this from childhood when Dad and Mum, together with the grandparents hand on this joyful tradition which has a rich popular spirituality .<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
TO EVERYBODY<\/strong>
PEACE AND ALL GOOD<\/strong><\/p>\n