1. "To us a child is born, to us a son is given" (Isaiah 9:6).
Today the "good news" of Christmas rings out in the Church and in the
world. It rings out in the words of the Prophet Isaiah, called the
"evangelist" of the Old Testament, who speaks of the mystery of the
redemption as if he saw the events of seven centuries later. Words
inspired by God, surprising words which come down through history, and
today, on the threshold of the Year 2000, re-echo all through the earth,
proclaiming the great mystery of the Incarnation.
2. "To us a child is born."
These prophetic words are fulfilled in the narrative of the Evangelist
Luke, who describes the "event", full of ever new wonder and hope. On
that night in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to a Child, Whom she called
Jesus. There was no room for them in the Inn; and so the Mother gave
birth to the Son in a stable, and laid Him in a manger. The Evangelist
John, in the Prologue of his Gospel, penetrates the "mystery" of this
event. The One born in the stable is the eternal Son of God. He is the
Word who was in the beginning, the Word who was with God, the Word Who
was God. All things that were made were made through Him (cf. John 1:1-3).
The eternal Word, the Son of God, took the nature of man. God the Father
"so loved the world that He gave His only Son" (John 3:16). When the
Prophet Isaiah says: "to us a child is born", he reveals, in all its
fulness, the mystery of Christmas: the eternal generation of the Word of
the Father, his birth in time through the work of the Holy Spirit.
3. The circle of the mystery widens: the Evangelist John writes: "The
Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14); and he adds: "to all
who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become
children of God" (1:12). The circle of the mystery widens: the birth of
the Son of God is the sublime gift, the greatest grace for man's benefit
that the human mind could ever have imagined. Remembering the birth of
Christ on this holy Day, we live, together with this event, the "mystery
of man's divine adoption" through the work of Christ Who comes into the
world. For this reason, Christmas Night and Christmas Day are perceived
as "sacred" by those who seek the truth. We Christians profess them to
be "holy", because in them we recognize the unmistakable stamp of the
One Who is Holy, full of mercy and goodness.
4. This year there is yet another reason which makes more holy this day
of grace: it is the beginning of the Great Jubilee. Last night, before
Holy Mass, I opened the Holy Door of the Vatican Basilica. A symbolic
act, which inaugurates the Jubilee Year, a gesture which highlights with
singular eloquence something already present in the mystery of
Christmas: Jesus, born of Mary in the poverty of Bethlehem, He, the
Eternal Son given to us by the Father, is, for us and for everyone, the
Door! The Door of our salvation, the Door of life, the Door of peace!
This is the message of Christmas and the proclamation of the Great
Jubilee.
5. We turn our gaze to You, O Christ, Door of our salvation, as we thank
You for all the good of the years, centuries and millennia which have
passed. We must however confess that humanity has sometimes sought the
Truth elsewhere, invented false certainties, and chased after deceptive
ideologies. At times people have refused to respect and love their
brothers and sisters of a different race or faith; they have denied
fundamental rights to individuals and nations. But You continue to offer
to all the splendour of the Truth which saves. We look to You, O Christ,
Door of Life, and we thank You for the wonders with which You have
enriched every generation. At times this world neither respects nor
loves life. But You never cease to love life; indeed, in the mystery of
Christmas, You come to enlighten people's minds, so that legislators and
political leaders, men and women of good will, may be committed to
welcoming human life as a precious gift. You come to give us the Gospel
of Life. We lift our eyes to You, O Christ, Door of peace, as, pilgrims
in time, we visit all the places of grief and of war, the resting places
of the victims of brutal conflicts and cruel slaughter. You, Prince of
Peace, invite us to ban the senseless use of arms, and the recourse to
violence and hatred which have doomed individuals, peoples and
continents.
6. "To us a Son is given."
You, Father, have given us Your Son. And you give Him to us again today,
at the dawn of the new millennium. For us He is the Door. Through Him we
enter a new dimension and we reach the fulness of the destiny of
salvation which You have prepared for all. Precisely for this reason,
Father, You gave us Your Son, so that humanity would know what it is
that You wish to give us in eternity, so that human beings would have
the strength to fulfill Your mysterious plan of love. Christ, Son of the
ever Virgin Mother, light and hope of those who seek You even when they
do not know You, and of those who, knowing You, seek You all the more.
Christ, You are the Door! Through You, in the power of the Holy Spirit,
we wish to enter the third millennium. You, O Christ, are the same
yesterday, today and for ever (cf. Hebrews 13:8).
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