Listen to the words of Pope Francis at Midnight Mass 2022!

“What then does the manger tell us? It tells us three things, at least: closeness, poverty and concreteness.“

Closeness.

In the manger of rejection and discomfort, God makes himself present.

There, in that manger, Christ is born, and there we discover his closeness to us.

He does not remain distant and mighty, but draws near to us in humility; leaving his throne in heaven, he lets himself be laid in a manger.

God is drawing near to you, because you are important to him.

Jesus tells us…

“I know what you are experiencing, for I experienced it myself in that manger. I know your weaknesses, your failings and your history. I was born in order to tell you that I am, and always will be, close to you.”

Poverty

The manger of Bethlehem speaks to us not only of closeness, but also of poverty.

Around the manger there is very little: hay and straw, a few animals, little else.

The manger reminds us that he was surrounded by nothing but love: Mary, Joseph and the shepherds; all poor people, united by affection and amazement, not by wealth and great expectations.

The poverty of the manger thus shows us where the true riches in life are to be found: not in money and power, but in relationships and persons.

Do we prefer to remain comfortably ensconced in our own interests and concerns? Above all, do we visit him where he is to be found, namely in the poor mangers of our world? For that is where he is present.

 Let us remember that it is not truly Christmas without the poor. Without the poor, we can celebrate Christmas, but not the birth of Jesus. Dear brothers, dear sisters, at Christmas God is poor: let charity be reborn!

Concreteness

We now come to our last point: the manger speaks to us of concreteness.

All our theories, our fine thoughts and our pious sentiments are no longer enough.

Jesus was born poor, lived poor and died poor; he did not so much talk about poverty as live it, to the very end, for our sake.

From the manger to the cross, his love for us was always palpable, concrete. From birth to death, the carpenter’s son embraced the roughness of the wood, the harshness of our existence. He did not love us only in words; he loved us with utter seriousness!

Consequently, Jesus is not satisfied with appearances.

• He who took on our flesh wants more than simply good intentions.
• He who was born in the manger, demands a concrete faith, made up of adoration and charity, not empty words and superficiality.

God does not want appearances but concreteness.

Pope Francis asks

Brothers and sisters, may we not let this Christmas pass without doing something good.

Since it is his celebration, his birthday, let us give him the gifts he finds pleasing!

At Christmas, God is concrete: in his name let us help a little hope to be born anew in those who feel hopeless!

Jesus we behold you lying in the manger.

We see you as close, ever at our side: thank you Lord!

We see you as poor, in order to teach us that true wealth does not reside in things but in persons, and above all in the poor: forgive us, if we have failed to acknowledge and serve you in them.

We see you as concrete, because your love for us is palpable. Jesus, help us to give flesh and life to our faith. Amen.

Originally posted on Vincentian Mindwalk