Christ was born in ‘the harshness of time,’ Jerusalem Patriarch preaches in Bethlehem
December 26, 2024
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CWN Editor's Note: Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, celebrated Midnight Mass at Bethlehem (video) and said that “the Angels’ song of glory, joy and peace seems to be out of tune after a tiring year full of tears, bloodshed, suffering, in addition to shattered hopes and crushed plans for peace and justice.”
Christ’s birth took place “a context not so very different,” he preached. “Joseph and Mary experienced the grace of Christmas, the true birth of Christ, not in a way nor at a time or under circumstances chosen by them, or particularly favorable to them.”
He added:
This Child shows us the unprecedented and unheard-of gesture, of God who does not flee from history, does not look at it indifferently from afar. He does not reject it with indignation as if it were too painful and evil, but embraces it, loves it, enters it with the delicate and strong pace of a newborn Child. Thus eternal Life finds a place in the harshness of time, through hearts and minds willing to welcome it.The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.
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