with sincere best wishes for us all; (the ultimate loop)

[synchro1 <synchro1@ix.netcom.com>]

"I bring you good news of a great joy … for to you is born this day in 
the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord" (Lk 2:10-11) 

Last night we heard once more the Angel’s message to the shepherds, and 
we experienced anew the atmosphere of that holy Night, Bethlehem Night, 
when the Son of God became man, was born in a lowly stable and dwelt among 
us. 

On this solemn day, the Angel’s proclamation rings out once again, 
inviting us, the men and women of the third millennium, to welcome the 
Saviour. May the people of today’s world not hesitate to let him enter 
their homes, their cities, their nations, everywhere on earth! In the 
millennium just past, and especially in the last centuries, immense 
progress was made in the areas of technology and science. 

Today we can dispose of vast material resources. But the men and women in 
our technological age risk becoming victims of their own intellectual and 
technical achievements, ending up in spiritual barrenness and emptiness of 
heart. That is why it is so important for us to open our minds and hearts 
to the Birth of Christ, this event of salvation which can give new hope to 
the life of each human being.

Wake up, O man! For your sake God became man" (Saint Augustine, Sermo, 
185. Wake up, O men and women of the third millennium!

At Christmas, the Almighty becomes a child and asks for our help and 
protection. His way of showing that he is God challenges our way of being 
human. 

By knocking at our door, he challenges us and our freedom; he calls us to 
examine how we understand and live our lives. The modern age is often seen 
as an awakening of reason from its slumbers, humanity’s enlightenment 
after an age of darkness. Yet without the light of Christ, the light of 
reason is not sufficient to enlighten humanity and the world. 

For this reason, the words of the Christmas Gospel: "the true Light that 
enlightens every man was coming into this world" (Jn 1:9) resound now more 
than ever as a proclamation of salvation. "It is only in the mystery of 
the Word made flesh that the mystery of humanity truly becomes clear" 
(Gaudium et Spes, 22). The Church does not tire of repeating this message 
of hope reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council, which concluded forty 
years ago.

Men and women of today, humanity come of age yet often still so frail in 
mind and will, let the Child of Bethlehem take you by the hand! Do not 
fear; put your trust in him! The life-giving power of his light is an 
incentive for building a new world order based on just ethical and 
economic relationships. 

May his love guide every people on earth and strengthen their common 
consciousness of being a "family" called to foster relationships of trust 
and mutual support. A united humanity will be able to confront the many 
troubling problems of the present time: from the menace of terrorism to 
the humiliating poverty in which millions of human beings live, from the 
proliferation of weapons to the pandemics and the environmental 
destruction which threatens the future of our planet.

May the God who became man out of love for humanity strengthen all those 
in Africa who work for peace, integral development and the prevention of 
fratricidal conflicts, for the consolidation of the present, still fragile 
political transitions, and the protection of the most elementary rights of 
those experiencing tragic humanitarian crises, such as those in Darfur and 
in other regions of central Africa. May he lead the peoples of Latin 
America to live in peace and harmony. May he grant courage to people of 
good will in the Holy Land, in Iraq, in Lebanon, where signs of hope, 
which are not lacking, need to be confirmed by actions inspired by 
fairness and wisdom; may he favour the process of dialogue on the Korean 
peninsula and elsewhere in the countries of Asia, so that, by the 
settlement of dangerous disputes, consistent and peaceful conclusions can 
be reached in a spirit of friendship, conclusions which their peoples 
expectantly await.

At Christmas we contemplate God made man, divine glory hidden beneath the 
poverty of a Child wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger; the 
Creator of the Universe reduced to the helplessness of an infant. Once we 
accept this paradox, we discover the Truth that sets us free and the Love 
that transforms our lives. On Bethlehem Night, the Redeemer becomes one of 
us, our companion along the precarious paths of history. Let us take the 
hand which he stretches out to us: it is a hand which seeks to take 
nothing from us, but only to give.

With the shepherds let us enter the stable of Bethlehem beneath the loving 
gaze of Mary, the silent witness of his miraculous birth. May she help us 
to experience the happiness of Christmas, may she teach us how to treasure 
in our hearts the mystery of God who for our sake became man; and may she 
help us to bear witness in our world to his truth, his love and his peace.