{"id":12367,"date":"2015-12-20T16:46:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-20T16:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/pope-francis-lets-feel-the-wonder-of-meeting-jesus-christ-the-great-gift-of-god-38157\/"},"modified":"2015-12-20T16:46:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-20T16:46:00","slug":"pope-francis-lets-feel-the-wonder-of-meeting-jesus-christ-the-great-gift-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/12\/pope-francis-lets-feel-the-wonder-of-meeting-jesus-christ-the-great-gift-of-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis: let’s feel the wonder of meeting Jesus Christ, ‘the great gift of God’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Vatican City, Dec 20, 2015 \/ 09:46 am (Aid to the Church in Need<\/a>).- Ahead of Christmas, Pope Francis spoke on the surprise of God and his great gift in sending Jesus Christ to save mankind.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod gives us all of Himself by giving His one and only Son, who is all his joy \u2013 and only with the heart of Mary, the humble and poor daughter of Zion, become the Mother of the Son of the Most High, that we can rejoice and be glad for the great gift of God and for His unpredictable surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pope prayed that the Virgin Mary may help us to \u201cperceive the wonder.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo let it be with the birth of Jesus \u2013 the gift of gifts \u2013 the undeserved gift that brings us salvation, that it might also make us feel this wonder in meeting Jesus,\u201d the pontiff said Dec. 20.<\/p>\n

Thousands of pilgrims and tourists had gathered in St. Peter\u2019s Square for the recitation of the Angelus on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Vatican Radio reports.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis said that we cannot have the wonder of meeting Jesus \u201cif we do not meet Him in another person, in history and in the Church.\u201d His remarks stressed these three \u201cplaces of wonder.\u201d
\n\u00a0
\nAnother person is a place \u201cto discover a brother.\u201d The Pope said that \u201cfrom the moment in which Jesus was born, every visage carries the features of the Son of God \u2013 above all when it is the face of a poor person, because it was as a poor person that God entered the world and it was by the poor that He allowed himself to be approached first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking to history, \u201cif we look with faith, we feel real wonder,\u201d the Pope explained, warning against a wrongheaded approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many times we think we see it the right way, and instead we risk reading it backwards: it happens, for example, when history seems to us to be determined by the market economy, regulated by finance and business, dominated by the powers that be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

God then \u201cshuffles the deck,\u201d as shown by Mary\u2019s Magnificat: \u201cit is the Lord who casts down the mighty from their thrones and lifts up the lowly, who fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope Francis said that the Church is also a place for wonder.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo look on her with the wonder of faith means not just considering the Church only as a religious institution \u2013 which the Church is \u2013 but to feel her as a mother who, despite her warts and wrinkles \u2013 we have so many! \u2013 lets the contours of the bride beloved of and purified by Christ the Lord shine through.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Angelus the Pope blessed the \u201cbambinelli,\u201d small statues and figurines of the Christ Child for Nativity scenes. Children traditionally bring these on the last Sunday of Advent. The Pope had a request for the children: \u201cwhen you pray before your Nativity Scene, remember to pray also for me, as I shall remember you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pope\u2019s comments also reflected on the disasters and conflicts of the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy thoughts turn in this moment to the dear populations of India, recently stricken by a great flood,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Massive floods in the Indian city of Chennai Dec. 1-2 killed around 300 people and displaced thousands more. The city, whose population is close to 5 million, is now at risk of disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us pray for these brothers and sisters, who are suffering as a result of this great calamity, and let us entrust the souls of the dead to the mercy of God,\u201d the Pope said before leading the gathered crowd in praying a Hail Mary for the affected.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis also spoke of the civil war in \u201cour beloved Syria.\u201d He voiced his appreciation for the U.N.-sponsored resolution for a peace process to end a conflict that has killed over 300,000 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI encourage everyone to continue, with a generous spirit of confident willingness, toward cessation of violence and a negotiated settlement leading to peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then discussed Libya, saying a plan for a national unity government \u201cinvites hope for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Nicaragua and Costa Rica, where an international court has ruled on a long-standing territory dispute, Pope Francis hoped for \u201ca renewed spirit of fraternity\u201d that will strengthen dialogue and cooperation between the two countries.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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Vatican City, Dec 20, 2015 \/ 09:46 am (Aid to the Church in Need).- Ahead of Christmas, Pope Francis spoke on the surprise of God and his great gift in sending Jesus Christ to save mankind.<\/p>\n

“God gives us all of Himself by giving His one and only…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nPope Francis: let's feel the wonder of meeting Jesus Christ, 'the great gift of God'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Dec 20, 2015 \/ 09:46 am (Aid to the Church in Need).- Ahead of Christmas, Pope Francis spoke on the surprise of God and his great gift in sending Jesus Christ to save mankind. “God gives us all of Himself by giving His one and only...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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