Dear sisters and brothers
we are a people on a journey, and like biblical Israel, we seek and ask for blessing. This supplication is ours and is attested by the psalms, but here, in the book of Numbers, it is God himself who teaches the words so that we may receive blessing in him. Thus he transmits to Moses, to Aaron and from Aaron to all the Israelites, the words of their hope. We make them our own, thinking of all our brothers, all our sisters who are scattered over the earth. We make those words ours, carrying in our hearts the anguish and fear of people who are anxious about the clash of nations and the exposure to violence. We make those words ours thinking of those who have no other protection than that of prayer, who are forced into the cold of loneliness and misery. We make the words ours as we think about the Church and the entire Community, that God has raised up so that his name and love might be known through her.
These are the words given by God to Moses: "The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!” Blessing, custody, light, grace, peace, in the many trials of the history of this people and of those whom God has begotten so that, free from evil, they might belong to him. And how much truth in the words of the psalmist when he acknowledges (Psalm 44:4):
“Not with their own swords did they conquer the land, nor did their own arm bring victory. It was your right hand, your own arm and the light of your face for you loved them…” You loved them.
And this love runs through the whole of Scripture and - we believe - is written even in the year that has just passed amidst the tragic storms of present history. This love is the reason for our life and the reason of our giving thanks. God has loved us and loves us. God has not withdrawn. He has found his way into the hearts of many among our brothers and sisters, whose witness is bright and shining. With them, in this special time of Christmas, we are all drawn to the Lord. We are invited to turn our gaze towards him, like the shepherds did in the night, without delay. Turning our gaze to him with the Bible in our hands, turning our gaze to him invoking his protection. Turning our gaze from the self to the Lord’s family.
At Mary, with Joseph, indeed we find the Child, the one that the prophet calls the admirable counsellor, the prince of peace. He is a universal sign of peace, in the night, he is an offering without equal making the shepherds sing their praise and the glory of this gift. A song similar to that of the angels, for those regenerated by Christmas can find new words and thoughts to tell everyone that it is possible for God to dwell on earth and inhabit humanity.
Next to the child, here is Mary, most humble and young, yet she holds all these things in her heart. She makes room in herself for the whole mystery of God's love. And so we can do, not only something good but the entire mystery of God’s love. God has sent his Son so that our debts might be forgiven, and that we might learn to forgive the debts of others. So that in Christmas we might anticipate victory over evil. Paul affirms that we are adoptive children, every one of us has been adopted in this Christmas, we are no longer orphans, nor slaves. In a divided world if we are children we are heirs by God's grace. This inheritance does not make us fight one another. It is alive. It is an inheritance transmits from generation to generation, from continent to the other and grows to become the kingdom that already in this Christmas we have all tasted in the proximity to the Child and in the proximity of God to each one of us.
That is why we can cry out ‘Abba Father’, because if the heart is inhabited by God the whole world is with us, in our heart.
And tomorrow? If we are children, we are heirs by God’s grace. Let us pray that it will bear fruit in the younger generations, May this living inheritance bear fruit in each of us, making us believers, more believers and friends of God. May it bear fruit so that the peoples may become brothers among themselves, after so much bloodshed and folly. May it continue to bear fruit in the elderly and in the young. Yes, may the Lord bless us and keep us. May the Lord make his face shine for you, for all of us, and give us grace. May the Lord turn his face to us and grant us peace, his peace. Amen
(translated from speech by editorial staff)
