To all of you who are part of the Hospitaller Community, I wish to convey greetings of Joy, Peace and Hospitality! Anabela Carneiro, Superior General.
Once again, Christmas is an opportunity for me to address you all and, from the lens of hospitality which unites us, share with you a number of reflections on the “presence of mercy made flesh”, Jesus, the light of nations who dispels the darkness of all times, a darkness which is being perceived quite intensely today.
This message is accompanied by some pictures of refugees from different parts of our planet, who due to violence and war, persecution and inhuman living conditions are forced to abandon their country and, in the process of doing so, risk losing everything, even their own life.
Contemplate the “Child Jesus in the manger”
Jesus too, God made man, was born in a manger in Bethlehem, because “there was no place for them in the inn” (cf. Lk 2:7). This tragedy continuously repeats itself in human history, and the celebration of Christmas, which reawakens in all of us feelings of peace, joy and prosperity, reminds us of this reality in a special way.
On the one hand, we are invited to contemplate the “Child Jesus in the manger”, as we are repeatedly told by Saint Benedict Menni, letting his smallness and humility “speak to our heart”. Pope Francis reminds us that in the cradle, God takes his humility to the extreme, he assumes our frailty, our suffering, our anxieties, our desires and our limitations. God looks upon us with eyes full of love, and is in love with our smallness.
May the Child of Bethlehem, who is at the center of Christmas, enable us to discover this God, who comes to our encounter and reveals to us his merciful countenance. In Jesus everything speaks of mercy. Nothing in him is devoid of compassion.
