On the evening of December 22, Fr. Tomaž Mavrič, CM, broadcasted a Christmas message on Facebook, from the meeting of the Vincentian Family in Escobar, Buenos Aires (Argentina), to the entire Worldwide Vincentian Family.

Message from Father Tomaž:

Dear Vincentian Family:

In this Christmas of 2018, I want to share with all of you the great privilege we have, as people of faith and as Vincentians. In the mystery of the Incarnation we find the core of our faith: God becomes man and, making himself equal to us, he makes us all more like Him. Thanks to Jesus, today our salvation becomes a daily journey made of closeness.

Jesus was born poor, to tell us immediately that it is in the poor where we can find God and our redemption. In spite of the progress of this hipertechnologized historical period, the world is affected by numerous wars, by entire exploited and hungry populations, and by diseases without cure that the progress can not solve, and that only He, the Love, can solve; that love is direct experience and not philosophical speculation, the experience of an encounter with the other based on trust and solidarity.

Meeting at different times with young people, I hear a question: “What can we do to improve this world?” And the answer: experience love for the poor.

Jesus was clear and St. Vincent de Paul always repeated it, exhorting us to meet the most abandoned. We have to train our eyes and our heart to recognize them, because, often overwhelmed by the things of the world, we do not realize the pain of those who are close to us. Training the eyes and the heart to see the poor is a daily practice that finds, in prayer, its best gym. Through fellowship with God, with Jesus, we can refine our feelings and become receptive to others. Only then we may sensitize our creativity and find solutions where there seems to be none.

God has shown his love for us by giving us his son, Jesus. We can do the same by welcoming the children of God who are marginalized, afflicted, desperate. For this we can also follow the example of Mary and Joseph who, despite adversity, have kept their family strong, respecting the will of God the Father.

Today, Christ is born to oppose all this irrational misery and, at birth, puts before us our responsibility as children of God. Each one of us, as Vincentians and, above all, Christians, have the duty to welcome Jesus in our hearts, giving a concrete meaning to our vocation, our mission. For this reason, I encourage you with all my heart to continue with daily prayer, daily meditation as taught by St. Vincent de Paul, centered on a particular theme; I propose you this: to be in solidarity with the poor and lead them to the Savior as we have found Him.

“Lord Jesus, come and open our hearts and make us docile to your will.”

Merry Christmas and may God bless you.