Hello All!   
                   This Area is READ ONLY.  Do not post to this area.   
                   The following press release is Copyrighted by the   
                             Vatican Information Service.   
                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
                                  VIS-Press releases   
      
   INTENSE PARTICIPATION IN THE MYSTERIES OF CHRISTMASTIME   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 5 JAN 2011 (VIS) - In his first general audience of 2011,   
   celebrated this morning in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope spoke on the subject of   
   Christmas which, he said, "continues to fascinate today as in the past, ...   
   because everyone in one way or another is intuitively aware that the birth of   
   Jesus concerns man's most profound aspirations and hopes".   
      
   "In the liturgical celebrations of these holy days we have experienced, in a   
   way that is mysterious yet real, the Son of God's entry into the world, and we   
   have once again been illuminated by the light of His splendour. Each   
   celebration is the real presence of the mystery of Christ and a prolongation of   
   the history of salvation".   
      
   "Celebrating the events of the incarnation of the Son of God does not simply   
   mean a recollection of past events", said the Holy Father, "it means causing   
   the salvific mysteries to be present. In the liturgy, in the celebration of the   
   Sacraments those mysteries become real, they become effective for us today".   
      
   "Christmas represents the first fruit of the 'sacramentum-mysterium paschale' -   
   in other words, the beginning of the central mystery of salvation which   
   culminates in the passion, death and resurrection - because Jesus began the   
   giving of Himself for love from the very first instant of His human existence,   
   in the womb of the Virgin Mary. ... The nativity scene, as an image of the   
   incarnation of the Word, in the light of the Gospel account, already alludes to   
   Easter".   
      
   "Incarnation and Easter are not adjacent to one another, yet they are the two   
   key inseparable points of the one faith in Jesus Christ, Son of God Incarnate   
   and Redeemer. The Cross and the Resurrection presuppose the Incarnation. ... In   
   this unitary vision of the Mystery of Christ, visiting the nativity scene leads   
   us to visiting the Eucharist where we encounter the real presence of the   
   crucified and risen Christ, the living Christ.   
      
   "The liturgical celebration of Christmas, then, is not just a recollection, but   
   above all a mystery", Pope Benedict added, "it is not just a memory but also a   
   presence. To understand the meaning of these two inseparable aspects, it is   
   important to live the Christmas period intensely, as the Church presents it".   
      
   "It is necessary to liberate this Christmas period from an overly moralistic   
   and sentimental wrapping. The celebration of Christmas does not only present us   
   with examples to imitate, such as the humility and poverty of the Lord, His   
   benevolence and love for mankind; rather it is an invitation to let oneself be   
   transformed totally by the One Who entered our flesh".   
      
   "The aim of God becoming manifest was that we might participate in divine life,   
   and that the mystery of His incarnation might be realised in us. This mystery   
   is the fulfilment of man's vocation", said the Holy Father.   
      
   He concluded his catechesis by inviting people to "live this Christmas period   
   with intensity. After having adored the Son of God made man lying in the   
   manger, we are called to move on to the altar of the sacrifice where Christ,   
   the living Bread Who descended from heaven, offers Himself to us as true   
   nourishment for eternal life. We have seen this with our own eyes, at the table   
   of the Word and the Bread of Life, we have contemplated it and touched it with   
   our hands: the Word made flesh. Let us announce it joyfully to the world and   
   bear generous witness to it with all our lives".   
   AG/VIS 20110105 (600)   
      
   SUMMARY   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS =Meridian, MS= bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)