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   CHRISTMAS MESSAGE DELIVERED BY THE POPE ON BBC RADIO   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 24 DEC 2010 (VIS) - Given below is the transcript of a Christmas   
   message delivered this morning by Benedict XVI on the BBC Radio 4 programme   
   "Thought for the Day":   
      
   "Recalling with great fondness my four-day visit to the United Kingdom last   
   September, I am glad to have the opportunity to greet you once again, and   
   indeed to greet listeners everywhere as we prepare to celebrate the birth of   
   Christ. Our thoughts turn back to a moment in history when God's chosen people,   
   the children of Israel, were living in intense expectation. They were waiting   
   for the Messiah that God had promised to send, and they pictured him as a great   
   leader who would rescue them from foreign domination and restore their freedom.   
      
   "God is always faithful to His promises, but He often surprises us in the way   
   He fulfils them. The Child that was born in Bethlehem did indeed bring   
   liberation, but not only for the people of that time and place - He was to be   
   the Saviour of all people throughout the world and throughout history. And it   
   was not a political liberation that He brought, achieved through military   
   means: rather, Christ destroyed death for ever and restored life by means of   
   His shameful death on the Cross. And while He was born in poverty and   
   obscurity, far from the centres of earthly power, He was none other than the   
   Son of God. Out of love for us He took upon himself our human condition, our   
   fragility, our vulnerability, and He opened up for us the path that leads to   
   the fullness of life, to a share in the life of God himself. As we ponder this   
   great mystery in our hearts this Christmas, let us give thanks to God for His   
   goodness to us, and let us joyfully proclaim to those around us the good news   
   that God offers us freedom from whatever weighs us down: He gives us hope, He   
   brings us life.   
      
   "Dear Friends from Scotland, England, Wales, and indeed every part of the   
   English-speaking world, I want you to know that I keep all of you very much in   
   my prayers during this Holy Season. I pray for your families, for your   
   children, for those who are sick, and for those who are going through any form   
   of hardship at this time. I pray especially for the elderly and for those who   
   are approaching the end of their days. I ask Christ, the light of the nations,   
   to dispel whatever darkness there may be in your lives and to grant to every   
   one of you the grace of a peaceful and joyful Christmas. May God bless all of   
   you!"   
   MESS/VIS 20101228 (460)   
      
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