ADVERTISEMENT Advertise in this spot on CatholicCulture.org. | View all ads.

Catholic World News (CWN)
Feature Stories

Simple Christmas festivity contrasts with hedonism and pride, Pope tells audience (Subscribe to RSS Feed)

Vatican, Dec. 17, 2008 (CWNews.com) -

Christmas is a season of "universal festivity," Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) told his weekly public audience on December 17.

Breaking from his series of talks on the influence of St. Paul, the Holy Father told the crowd in the Paul VI auditorium: "Even non-believers perceive something extraordinary and transcendental" about the Christmas season.

However, the Pope warned, "under the drive of a hedonist consumerism, Christmas runs the risk of losing its spiritual meaning, reduced to a mere commercial occasion to buy and exchange gifts." In a way, he suggested, the world's current economic difficult;ies might "serve as a stimulus for rediscovering the warmth of the simplicity, friendship, and solidarity that are the typical values of Christmas."

The festive spirit of Christmas, the Pontiff continued, "signs of the gift of life." As we turn our eyes toward the infant Jesus in the manger, Christians should be grateful for that gift and ready to welcome it everywhere, he said; and that welcome should take the form of caring for those in need. "Contemplating Him in this crèche how can we not think of all the children who still today, in many regions of the world, are born amidst such poverty?"

However, even the festive spirit of the season falls short of capturing its true significance, the Holy Father said. The Nativity is not merely a joyous event by "the central event of history." In celebrating that event, the Church marks "the recurring annual cycle of the myster of our salvation."

"At Christmas, therefore, we do not limit ourselves to commemorating the birth of a great person," the Pope went on. We recognize the Word made Flesh, and realize that "it is a Word addressed to us." The meaning of that Word is encapsulated in the event, the Pope said. The almighty God "reveals Himself to us as a poor infant in order to conquer our pride."

Today's audience was the final regular Wednesday appearance for Pope Benedict XVI during this calendar year. Next Wednesday, December 24, the regular midday audience will not be take place because of preparations for the midnight Mass of Christmas Eve. The following Wednesday is December 31, and the Pontiff will be leading the traditional year-end Te Deum, in thanksgiving for the graces of the passing year.