Come to save us! This is the cry raised by men and women in every
age, who sense that by themselves they cannot prevail over difficulties
and dangers. They need to put their hands in a greater and stronger
hand, a hand which reaches out to them from on high. Dear brothers and
sisters, this hand is Christ, born in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary. He
is the hand that God extends to humanity, to draw us out of the mire of
sin and to set us firmly on rock, the secure rock of his Truth and his
Love (cf. Ps 40:2).
This is the meaning of the Child’s name, the name which, by God’s will,
Mary and Joseph gave him: he is named Jesus, which means “Saviour” (cf.
Mt 1:21; Lk 1:31). He was sent by God the Father to save us above all
from the evil deeply rooted in man and in history: the evil of
separation from God, the prideful presumption of being self-sufficient,
of trying to compete with God and to take his place, to decide what is
good and evil, to be the master of life and death (cf. Gen 3:1-7). This
is the great evil, the great sin, from which we human beings cannot
save ourselves unless we rely on God’s help, unless we cry out to him:
“Veni ad salvandum nos! – Come to save us!”
The very fact that we cry to heaven in this way already sets us aright;
it makes us true to ourselves: we are in fact those who cried out to God
and were saved (cf. Esth [LXX] 10:3ff.). God is the Saviour; we are
those who are in peril. He is the physician; we are the infirm. To
realize this is the first step towards salvation, towards emerging from
the maze in which we have been locked by our pride. To lift our eyes to
heaven, to stretch out our hands and call for help is our means of
escape, provided that there is Someone who hears us and can come to our
assistance.
12/25/2011
Lend a hand
read the full text of the Holy Father's urbi et orbi message here.
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