{"id":17357,"date":"2016-12-14T11:54:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T11:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/pope-the-world-desperately-needs-hope-and-we-are-the-messengers-42036\/"},"modified":"2016-12-14T11:54:00","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T11:54:00","slug":"pope-the-world-desperately-needs-hope-and-we-are-the-messengers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/12\/pope-the-world-desperately-needs-hope-and-we-are-the-messengers\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope: the world desperately needs hope \u2013 and we are the messengers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Vatican City, Dec 14, 2016 \/ 04:54 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Pope Francis Wednesday spoke about the hope that the Child Jesus brings at Christmastime, saying it is our duty to be the messengers that bring his message to the world \u2013 a world that is thirsting for goodness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message of the Good News entrusted to us is urgent,\u201d he said Dec. 14. \u201cWe must also run like the messenger of the mountains, because the world cannot wait, humanity is hungry and thirsty for justice, for truth and for peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pope spoke during his general audience for the third week of Advent, continuing the series of catechesis he began last week on Christian hope.<\/p>\n

Focusing on a passage from Book of Isaiah recounting how the messenger was \u201cannouncing peace\u201d and \u201cbringing good news,\u201d the Pope said that we are also urged \u201cto wake up, like Jerusalem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are called to become men and women of hope, collaborating in the coming of this kingdom made of light and intended for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most beautiful of all the Christmas joys is the joy of inner peace, the knowledge that \u201cthe Lord has blotted out my sins, the Lord has forgiven me, the Lord has had mercy on me, he came to my rescue,\u201d Pope Francis said. \u201cThis is the joy of Christmas!\u201d<\/p>\n

There are so many negative things in the world, we can often become tired and tempted to say that nothing makes sense, Francis said.<\/p>\n

However, these are \u201cthe reasons for our hope. When everything seems to be over\u2026 here was the good news brought by those fast feet: God is coming to do something new, to establish a kingdom of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

In light of all that is wrong in the world, we are called to remember God\u2019s promise to us, namely, that he would never abandon his people or let them be defeated by evil, the Pope said.<\/p>\n

The answer to the questions: \u201cwho is greatest, God or sin?\u201d and \u201cwhat wins in the end? God or sin?\u201d is something we must learn, he said, noting that the answer to both is God, since he is capable of conquering even \u201cthe biggest sin, the most shameful, the most terrible, the worst,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis weapon? Love!\u201d The Pope said, explaining that this love is specifically God\u2019s love made Incarnate when he came to us as a child, with all of the same needs as any newborn.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd seeing the little child of Bethlehem, the little ones of the world will know that the promise was fulfilled, the message has come true,\u201d he said. \u201cIn a newborn baby, in need of everything, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, it is enclosed all the power of the God who saves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christmas is a day to open your heart to the smallness and wonder evoked by that child, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the wonder of Christmas, which we are preparing, with hope, in this Advent season. It is the wonder of a God child, a poor God, a weak God, a God who abandons his greatness to get close to each of us.\u201dPope Francis Wednesday spoke about the hope that the Child Jesus brings at Christmastime, saying it is our duty to be the messengers that bring his message to the world \u2013 a world that is thirsting for goodness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message of the Good News entrusted to us is urgent,\u201d he said Dec. 14. \u201cWe must also run like the messenger of the mountains, because the world cannot wait, humanity is hungry and thirsty for justice, for truth and for peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pope spoke during his general audience for the third week of Advent, continuing the series of catechesis he began last week on Christian hope.<\/p>\n

Focusing on a passage from Book of Isaiah recounting how the messenger was \u201cannouncing peace\u201d and \u201cbringing good news,\u201d the Pope said that we are also urged \u201cto wake up, like Jerusalem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are called to become men and women of hope, collaborating in the coming of this kingdom made of light and intended for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most beautiful of all the Christmas joys is the joy of inner peace, the knowledge that \u201cthe Lord has blotted out my sins, the Lord has forgiven me, the Lord has had mercy on me, he came to my rescue,\u201d Pope Francis said. \u201cThis is the joy of Christmas!\u201d<\/p>\n

There are so many negative things in the world, we can often become tired and tempted to say that nothing makes sense, Francis said.<\/p>\n

However, these are \u201cthe reasons for our hope. When everything seems to be over\u2026 here was the good news brought by those fast feet: God is coming to do something new, to establish a kingdom of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

In light of all that is wrong in the world, we are called to remember God\u2019s promise to us, namely, that he would never abandon his people or let them be defeated by evil, the Pope said.<\/p>\n

The answer to the questions: \u201cwho is greatest, God or sin?\u201d and \u201cwhat wins in the end? God or sin?\u201d is something we must learn, he said, noting that the answer to both is God, since he is capable of conquering even \u201cthe biggest sin, the most shameful, the most terrible, the worst,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis weapon? Love!\u201d The Pope said, explaining that this love is specifically God\u2019s love made Incarnate when he came to us as a child, with all of the same needs as any newborn.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd seeing the little child of Bethlehem, the little ones of the world will know that the promise was fulfilled, the message has come true,\u201d he said. \u201cIn a newborn baby, in need of everything, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, it is enclosed all the power of the God who saves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christmas is a day to open your heart to the smallness and wonder evoked by that child, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the wonder of Christmas, which we are preparing, with hope, in this Advent season. It is the wonder of a God child, a poor God, a weak God, a God who abandons his greatness to get close to each of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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Vatican City, Dec 14, 2016 \/ 04:54 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Pope Francis Wednesday spoke about the hope that the Child Jesus brings at Christmastime, saying it is our duty to be the messengers that bring his message to the world – a world that is thi…<\/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-17357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nPope: the world desperately needs hope \u2013 and we are the messengers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Dec 14, 2016 \/ 04:54 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Pope Francis Wednesday spoke about the hope that the Child Jesus brings at Christmastime, saying it is our duty to be the messengers that bring his message to the world – a world that is thi...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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