The reading was of the Angel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she would bear God’s son. This moment, Francis said, is “the decisive moment in history, the most revolutionary.”
The pontiff explained that this reading is difficult to preach about because “everything changes, history turns upside down [when God became human]. God lowers himself, God enters history and does so in his original style: a surprise. The God of surprises, surprises us.”
The Pope afterwards met with 65 young people from the children and young teen’s section of Italy’s Catholic Action to discuss the meaning and message of Christmas: “And what is this message? That we are all loved by the Lord. This is the true, great, good news that God gave the world with the coming of his son Jesus among us,” he explained.
Francis invited each of them to share this message with their loved ones. “He loves us. Each and every one of us,” Francis said. “This is beautiful.”
Pope Francis concluded by praying that his young guests would let Jesus be born in their hearts and encouraged them to “offer this joy to other youngsters who are living in situations of suffering or going through difficult times, especially those you notice are most alone or are being mistreated.”
“Be generous channels of goodness and welcome to build a world that is marked by more brotherhood, more solidarity and is more Christian,” he said.
