Have Faith in the Incarnation! ^[1]

Saint John Paul II

It has only been a few days since Advent began, a time in which we especially dedicate ourselves –as our Directory of Spirituality teaches us– to “prayer, to the practice of charity and piety, to denying oneself, to a better fulfillment of one’s duties, etc.”^[2], in preparation for the commemoration of the event that began the Christian era: the birth of Jesus.

It could be very enlightening during this time to note that in the first reading we will read during the Christmas Eve Mass (or at Midnight) we will hear the Prophet Isaiah telling us of a people who walked in darkness… [who bore] the yoke of their burden, and a bar across their shoulders.^[3] And he will also tell us that it was this people, with all their darkness and pain, that on that first Christmas, saw a great light and that their joy was great.^[4]

Into this world with its depression, its despair, and its despondency, God came. And He came to set men and their world right with God, not only their hearts and their souls,^[5] but even their business, their secular affairs, their governments, all that is human. This reminds us of the line in our proper law that we have read and heard so many times, and that takes on great relevance in this context: “what is not assumed is not redeemed.”^[6]

This is why our beloved Saint John Paul II quoting the Prologue of the Gospel of Saint John, that we will read this Christmas: “The Word was made flesh, and made his dwelling among us” ^[7], said that by the words was made flesh, the evangelist is alluding to the human nature, not only its mortal condition, but also in its totality. Everything that is human, except sin, was assumed by the Son of God. The Incarnation is the fruit of an immense love that moved God to want to share fully in our human condition.”^[8]

So much so that we can say that God solved all the social, political, family and economic problems of the world not by enunciating a new economic system; not by showing us a mountain of papers with the results of his research, revealing new aspects of the problem; nor did he do so by means of wars. He saved the world from its ills by being born as a babe in the insignificant village of Bethlehem, assuming all that is human.

If we look closely, this seemingly trivial incident which was so commonplace that the inn-keepers dismissed the Holy Family, telling them simply that there was no room for them in the inn, was the revolution that upset the world and the solution which gave it peace. How often we have read that the Virgin Mother sought refuge in a stable and laid the newborn babe on the floor of the world. Well then, this Babe, by taking the immense leap from the heavenly life to the abyss of human existence, like another Samson shook the pillars of the world to its very foundations, pulled down the already crumbling edifice, and built the Temple of the living God in its place, where men might once more sing because they had found their God. This is the Good News we are called to proclaim unto the ends of the earth.

1. In Christ, human time was filled with eternity

 But one could ask: what has the birth of a God in the form of a babe to do with the social, political, and economic conditions of His day and our own? What possible relation could exist between a child in a manger of straw and Caesar on his throne of gold? The answer is: the birth of the Son of God in the flesh was the introduction into the historical world-order of a new life; it was a proclamation to the world that social reconstruction has something to do with spiritual regeneration; that nations can be saved only by the men in them being re-born to God as God on this night was born to man. As for us, members of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, this cannot leave us indifferent, being called as we are to “put out intrepidly to restore all things in Christ.”^[9]

By becoming man God entered the created order, and became part of the stream of history in an entirely new way, he made himself close to us and gives us a strength that comes from above. Regarding this our proper law has a phrase from Saint John Paul II that says: “God had never been so close to man –and never had man been so close to God– as in that very moment: in the instant of the Incarnation mystery!”^[10]. We perceive that “In becoming man, the Word of God brought about a fundamental change in the very condition of time. We can say that in Christ human time was filled with eternity. This transformation touches the destiny of all humanity, since ‘by his Incarnation, he, the Son of God, has in a certain way united himself with each man’^[11]. He came to offer everyone participation in his divine life. The gift of this life includes sharing in his eternity.”^[12]

In other words, “[Christ]… became the Son of man in order that we might have the power to be the sons of God.”^[13] This is the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus became man to give us a part in his divine life and later in his eternal glory. That is why Christ was born a babe to teach us that deliverance from all the economic, social and political chaos can be obtained only by a birth: the birth of Christ in souls.

Since it is proper to us to “restore all things entirely in Christ”^[14], it seems necessary to emphasize once again that the “Gospel must also permeate, purify and transform the economic, social and political orders.”^[15]

At the time of the Christ’s birth, humanity was tired, mentally and spiritually exhausted; for four thousand years it had been making the great experiment of Humanism, and was now like a sick man who could not cure himself. It was in a state like unto our own world, which since the days of the Renaissance, has tried to build its civilization on the self-sufficiency of man without God.

How slow we men are to recognize that mankind left to itself sinks downward and reverts to little more than a beast. We have proof enough that people advanced in culture may degenerate into a culture of savages… (just watch the news one evening.)

Apart from supernatural assistance society goes from bad to worse until deterioration is universal. Not evolution but devolution is the law of man without God, just as it is the law of the sunflower without the sun.

Humanity left to itself cannot even tie its own shoelaces. With all our knowledge of chemistry and genetics… we cannot make a human life in our laboratories because we lack the unifying, vivifying principle of a soul which comes only from God. Life is not a push from below; it is a gift from above. It is not the result of the necessary ascent of man, but the descent of God. It is not “progress,” it is the fruit of the Incarnation.

Hence; like that world unto which Christ was born, the world today needs not a shuffling of old ideas, not a new economic system, not a new monetary system: it needs a New Birth. It needs the intrusion into our order of a new life and a new spirit, which God alone can give. We cannot give ourselves this new Birth any more than we can be born again naturally. If we are to be born again into the newness of life the regenerating principle must come from above, and that is precisely the meaning of the Incarnation: the introduction into the world on the level of human nature of the Life of God, who came not to judge the world, but to save it. And this is why we say that the Incarnate Word solved our problems by being born as a Babe, because the regeneration of society has something to do with Birth, being born to the life of grace and growing accordingly. In this sense, the Incarnation is not something of the past. How can God belong to the past? The Incarnation is taking place right now.^[16]

What God did to his individual human nature –which he took from Mary His Mother– is what He wills to do, to a lesser degree, to every human nature in the world; namely, to make us partakers of His Divine Life. The Incarnate Word, who from all eternity willed to be born in Bethlehem that cold Christmas night, wills that we and all men and women who walk this earth be reborn in Eternity of the Heavenly Father, made new creatures, become possessed of the new life of his grace and members of the Kingdom of God.

The very divine life that came into the world about two thousand years ago must once again permeate the process of the world. Unless it is reborn to this new life, the world will perish. Therefore, we once again affirm that, today like yesterday, “the true knowledge of the adorable mystery of the Incarnation of the Word is also the key to understanding and building up the whole human temporal order, its culture and its civilization. Confessing Jesus’ authentic and integral human condition, assumed by the Eternal Word of God, permits us to ‘recuperate the divine dimension in all earthly reality.’^[17]”^[18] This is the truth that should propel us in our mission.

We must never forget that “we profess our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ,^[19] and that a reference to all creatures is contained in Him. […]. [This signifies that] He is the point of meeting and union of God and man, of eschatology and the Incarnation, and of sidereal distances and the millimeter. For that reason, nothing escapes Christ, neither space travel nor the world of electronics and computers, neither the most current science nor the most sophisticated technology, nor recent discoveries, the family, work, culture, politics, economics, etc.”^[20] Evangelizing in the “modern Areapagi”^[21] is not simply a metaphor, our task is to make it a reality.

Writing these paragraphs, it seems inevitable that we recall the fiery appeal that Saint John Paul II made to us during the homily for the inaugural Mass of his pontificate: “Open, open wide the doors to Christ! To his saving power open the boundaries of States, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Do not be afraid!”^[22]

Likewise, how opportune and relevant it is to remember the paternal exhortation he made in 1984 to some religious, that seems to be especially directed to us here and now: “Have faith in the Incarnation! The nearness of the Christmas feasts moves me to underline this fundamental program for your religious life […] To have faith in the Incarnation means first of all to believe firmly in Divine Providence. God has concretely manifested his love for humanity by entering it as Man and as Savior. Saint John writes: in this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.^[23] Many events in current history shock and disturb us: the ‘Christian anthropology’ based on the concept of the ‘human person’, created by God, redeemed by Christ, enlightened by the church, eternally responsible for his own actions, is in contrast with the immanentistic and historicistic anthropology with no relation to revelation. […] And yet the commemoration of Christmas returns and continues to underline that the Word was made flesh in order to enlighten humanity regarding his true destiny and about the presence of divine love in the vicissitudes of history. Humility is necessary in order to accept and live this truth.

To have faith in the Incarnation also means to love man whoever he might be, as one of God’s creatures. The very fact that God wanted to become man clearly shows how much he loves him, esteems him and values him. […] Finally, to have faith in the Incarnation also means helping souls in order to save them. This is why Jesus was born in the stable in Bethlehem and died on the cross.”^[24]

We are unavoidably called to submit to Our Lord all that is human, and “to leave no stone unturned so that the love of Christ may have the highest supremacy in the Church and society.”^[25] Since He alone puts men in communication with God, “it is necessary that the whole of human culture be steeped in the Gospel.^[26] Here we have the very important and fundamental role that our own small Religious Family is called to play.

“Christmas is the divine light that gives value and meaning to people’s lives and to the history of humanity,” said the Spiritual Father of the Institute. And so, to consume our lives in multiplying Christmases should be the aim of our priesthood. Since it is for God to be born anew in the heart of so many men and women who still don’t know Christ, or perhaps knowing him are not coherent with this knowledge, that we have been given the sacrament of holy orders. The evangelization, the preaching of the Good News, corresponds to each of us personally, despite our littleness, the lack of means, and the adverse circumstances.

The slogan for this Christmas continues to be contemplating our lives with the eyes of God full of confidence and love. Jesus was born in the poverty of Bethlehem to embrace all of our humanity. Jesus turns to us as well this year, to renew the arcane prodigy of salvation offered to all men and to all of man. His grace works silently in the intimacy of each soul, because salvation is essentially a dialogue of faith and love with Christ, adored in the mystery of the Incarnation. Let us accept this mystery as the real Christmas present and let us be, in our turn, magnanimous distributors of this Gift so that by means of our surrender, today as always, the ideals – the only ones that console – triumph: those of a life spent in faith, in charity, in goodness, and in sanctity.

And this brings us to the next point:

2. Bringing the mystery of Christmas to people

 Saint John of the Cross wrote that “the incarnation of the Word, and the mysteries of the faith […] being the greatest works of God, and involving a greater love than those of creation, produce a greater effect of love in the soul.”^[27] And for his part, Saint John Paul II, doubtless imbued with the teaching of St. John of the Cross, did not hesitate to affirm that “The glory of God is revealed in the Incarnation more than in any other work.”^[28]

Therefore, to bring to all peoples the light of the truth of God made Man who has been given to us as “brother, companion, and master, as ransom and prize,”^[29] is not only an excellent way of giving glory to God, but is the very goal of evangelization, and certainly one of the most effective pastoral actions, or better said, “the pastoral action”. The Holy Father explains: “People cannot live without love. They are called to love God and their neighbour, but in order to love properly they must be certain that God loves them.”^[30] For this there is nothing better than the mystery of the newborn Son of God who asks for our love “through which we spontaneously learn to enter into his feelings, his thoughts and his will – we learn to live with him and to practise with him that humility of renunciation that belongs to the very essence of love.”^[31] This is the “main effect of love” that we want to achieve.

What could be more eloquent for souls “than the tenderness of God: God who looks upon us with eyes full of love, who accepts our poverty, God who is in love with our smallness.”^[32]

3. An entirely unique example

Before indicating the different activities which our proper law proposes during the Christmas season, I wanted to mention how Saint John Paul II lived Christmas, as an entirely unique example for us; for he lived it as a time of particular spiritual intensity. We consider that in our lives, communities, and missions we can easily follow his example, so human yet so supernatural, given its simplicity. We see:

His devotion for the mystery of the Nativity dates back to his childhood. He describes it very briefly yet beautifully in a letter to children: “Dear children, as I write to you I am thinking of when many years ago I was a child like you. I too used to experience the peaceful feelings of Christmas, and when the star of Bethlehem shone, I would hurry to the Crib together with the other boys and girls to relive what happened 2000 years ago in Palestine. We children expressed our joy mostly in song. How beautiful and moving are the Christmas carols which in the tradition of every people are sung around the Crib! What deep thoughts they contain, and above all what joy and tenderness they express about the Divine Child who came into the world that Holy Night! The days which follow the birth of Jesus are also feast days: so eight days afterwards, according to the Old Testament tradition, the Child was given a name: he was called Jesus.”^[33]

Those who lived Christmases with the Holy Father testify^[34] as to how much he loved that time of year and how much he looked forward to Christmas. They tell that he always wanted to celebrate it in a family environment, in accord with the Polish tradition: therefore, he normally invited all those with whom he shared daily life, the religious who worked in his house and his secretaries. He also invited some old friends of his from Krakow and their families. On Christmas Eve, John Paul II began by lighting a candle and placing it in a window. They recount that he began this tradition in 1981, when General Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland; and the Holy Father wanted to symbolize his closeness to his persecuted fellow citizens with this candle. After having done this, he read a passage from the Gospel and only after this would he begin the meal in which, of course, traditional Polish dishes were served.

After the supper they sang Christmas carols. Those who lived with him testify that he really liked to sing and he did so during Christmastime every night from December 24^th to January 6^th.

John Paul II also really liked the Christmas tree. He began the tradition of placing a monumental nativity scene with the enormous Christmas tree in Saint Peter’s Square. As if that wasn’t enough, he also decorated his department with the small trees from the Polish mountains of Zakopane which were sent to him and there was always a manger scene to be found during Christmastide, because “there is no Christmas without a manger” as he was known to say. Furthermore, “at Christmastime, the stable and the manger take center place in the Church,”^[35], as written by the Holy Father.

Now, under the little Christmas tree there were no presents –in accordance with the Polish tradition– where the gifts are bestowed on December 6^th, feast of Saint Nicholas. On this day, “Saint Nicholas came to the dining room being announced by bells. It was one of the sisters dressed up as the ‘Saint of the gifts’. I don’t know if I should be telling you this,” said one of his secretaries –the current Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki– he continued: “To tell the truth, in my first year in the Papal house I was surprised because it seemed to be to a child’s feast and all of us were grownups. But it really moved me to see how much the Pope loved us and because I understood that in these moments he was remembering his childhood in Wadowice.”^[36] “At that time, ‘Saint Nicholas’ had something to say to every person present before the gift giving. Small things: pastries, fruit, a scarf, a shirt, gloves. We joked and laughed. It was always like this, each year, until the last, until December of 2004.”^[37]

This short anecdote gives us insight into the Holy Father’s simplicity of heart, as well as the care and importance he gave to each detail of a family Christmas, as though wanting others to perceive –in a tangible way– God’s personal love for each one of us.

Certainly moved by the same intention, he, as bishop, celebrated Christmas outdoors in Nowa Huta in 1959. This event is not just a minor detail, due to the fact that this town located on the outskirts of Krakow was called the ‘model of the working city,’ and was the first city in the history of Poland constructed deliberately without a church.

Furthermore, throughout the length of his entire pontificate, but especially during Christmas, Saint John Paul II put forth great effort so that everyone could arrive to “the unheard of tenderness of God …offered to all mankind … clearly … shown by the Child in the crib!”^[38]. He wanted to spread the Christmas spirit to all. Thus, for example, during his visit to New York in October of 1995, in front of thousands of people in Central Park, the Pope who loved Christmas since his childhood, took off from his prepared text and started speaking about one of his favorite Polish Christmas carols—which then he began, spontaneously, to sing. The huge congregation roared its approval, to which the Pope remarked “And to think—you don’t even know Polish,” ^[39] The crowd applauded even more boisterously. He then said: “That is a hymn which moves us deeply by reminding us that Jesus, the Son of God, was born of Mary, born to make us holy and to make us adopted sons and daughters of God. It is a hymn to the creative power of the Holy Spirit. It is a song to help us not to be afraid. If I speak of Christmas, it is because in less than five years we shall reach the end of the Second Millennium, two thousand years since the birth of Christ on that first Christmas night in Bethlehem. We must allow the Holy Spirit to prepare us for this important event, which is another significant stage of his passage through history and of our pilgrimage of faith.”^[40]

4. Our way of celebrating Christmas

Similarly, and under the guidance of the Polish Pope, every one of the Institute’s members, imbued by faith in the mystery of the Incarnation and with apostolic enthusiasm^[41] and priestly surrender^[42] should not only personally live the Christmas season in all of its spiritual profundity and with festive joy,^[43] but also should try to transmit, spread, and form others in the true Christmas spirit. This can be done through the most humble expressions of popular sentiment: setting up a good manger scene, decorating a beautiful Christmas tree, promoting participation in the measure possible in a ‘living Nativity scene’, organizing pilgrimages to different church’s manger scenes or those in the faithful’s houses, singing Christmas carols, or Christmas concerts, etc. All these displays of popular piety allow the people to grasp intuitively^[44]:

– the importance of the ‘spirituality of gift’, which is proper to Christmas: a child is born for us, a son is given to us,^[45] a gift expressing the infinite love of God, who so loved the world that he gave his only Son;^[46]

– the message of solidarity conveyed by the event of Christmas: solidarity with sinful man, for whom, in Christ, God became man for us men and for our salvation; solidarity with the poor, because the Son of God was rich but became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of your poverty;^[47]

– the sacredness of human life and the wonderful event that is every birth, since the Word of life came amongst men and was made visible through his birth of the Virgin Mary;^[48]

– the messianic joy and peace to which man has aspired in every age: the Angels announce the birth of the Savior of the world to the shepherds, the Prince of Peace^[49] and proclaim peace on earth to men of good will;^[50]

– the spirit of simplicity and poverty, humility and trust in God, suggested by the events surrounding the birth of Christ.

In a simple way, these practices of popular piety contribute to preserve the memory of the Lord’s manifestation, so as to ensure that the strong religious tradition surrounding Christmas is not secularized by consumerism or the infiltration of various forms of Neopaganism.^[51]

For its part, our proper law, although briefly, enumerates various activities that it not only hopes will be done in our houses of formation or parishes, but also desires that we strengthen and enrich them as much as possible – always in so far as pastoral prudence permits. These are to be carried out in a way that leaves room for other activities to arise from apostolic creativity, which will elicit the desired holy “familiarity with the Word made flesh.”^[52]

• The Directory on Parishes, for example, mentions that the Vigil of Christmas should be solemn,^[53] which very well could be proceeded by a Christmas novena due to the fact that it is one of the stronger pastoral parish moments.^[54] Furthermore, it emphasizes that one should make the most of this time, and therefore must be carefully prepared.^[55]
• The Directory of Works of Mercy designates, moreover, that “it is praiseworthy to foment works of mercy among our laity; such as the pious tradition of dressing a poor child for Christmas day in the place of the Child of Bethlehem, or an entire family on the day of the Holy Family.”^[56] We must not forget charity with the poor who go in search of food at the preparation time for the Christmas dinner^[57] and this applies not only in the missions, but also in the houses of formation.
• The Directory of Minor Seminaries says that one of the hobbies that would be nice for the minor seminarians to learn are the different techniques to build manger scenes.^[58] On the other hand, it also suggests the creation of an Association of Nativity Scenes to promote, spread, and reward public and family-made nativity scenes made in a parish.^[59]

Moreover, the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments during the pontificate of John Paul II suggested things to enrich the activities which are already done or, which could be put into practice, be it on a communitarian or parish level, ^[60] for example:

→ During Advent

The Directory indicates the Advent wreath tradition, which has become a symbol of Advent in many Christian homes, especially in the Germanic countries and in North America. The Advent wreath, with the progressive lighting of its four candles, Sunday after Sunday, until the Solemnity of Christmas, is a recollection of the various stages of salvation history prior to Christ’s coming and a symbol of the prophetic light gradually illuminating the long night prior to the rising of the Sun of justice. ^[61] It is good to do it and do it well, explaining, be it to the faithful or to the religious of our communities, the values of such traditions.

Furthermore, it makes mention of the Advent processions, which publicly announce the imminent birth of the Savior (the “day star” in some Italian processions), or represent the journey to Bethlehem of Joseph and Mary and their search for a place in which Jesus would be born (the posadas in the Hispanic and Latin American tradition). There are also the novenas at daybreak in our missions like in the Philippines (known as Simbang Gabi), Guyana, etc.

→ For Christmas Eve:

In the space of time between the first Vespers of Christmas and Midnight Mass, together with the tradition of Christmas carols, which are powerful means of conveying the Christmas message of peace and joy, popular piety proposes certain forms of prayers, differing from country to country, which should be cherished and, where necessary, made consonant with the celebration of the Liturgy: These would include:

– “live nativities”, the inauguration of the crib in the homes of the faithful, which is an opportunity for family prayer: this prayer should include a reading of St. Luke’s account of the birth of Christ, the typical Christmas carols, as well as prayers of petition and praise, especially those of children who are the protagonists in such family moments;

– the inauguration of the Christmas tree. This event also offers an opportunity for family prayer.

– the Christmas supper. The Christian family, which traditionally blesses the table and gives thanks to the Lord for the gift of food, performs this ceremony with greater intensity at the Christmas supper which gives powerful, concrete expression to the joy of family ties.

Where possible, the Church desires that the faithful should prepare for the celebration of Midnight Mass on the 24^th of December with the Office of Readings. Where this is not possible, it may be opportune to arrange a vigil of hymns, readings, and elements drawn from popular piety inspired by the Office.

At Midnight Mass, an event of major liturgical significance and of strong resonance in popular piety, the following could be given prominence:

– at the beginning of Mass, the proclamation of the Savior’s birth according to the formula contained in the Roman Martyrology could be sung;

– the prayer of the faithful should really be universal, and where appropriate, use several languages; and the poor should always be remembered in the presentation of the gifts;

– at the end of Mass, the faithful could be invited to kiss the image of the Child Jesus, which is then placed in a crib erected in the church or somewhere nearby.

It is important to catechetically instruct the people about the possibility of gaining plenary indulgences during the Urbi et orbi blessing bestowed by the Pope in these moments. The indulgence, when accompanied by confession and communion, is bestowed upon those who receive the blessing with faith and devotion, even through the television, radio, or internet.

I wanted to add a word about Christmas songs, the carols, that should fill this time. It’s beautiful to encourage them in the liturgy, families, parish groups, Christmas processions, etc. May we, religious, be instruments to maintain, enrich, and increase these lovely traditions

→ The Feast of the Holy Family

For the feast of the holy family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Sunday in the Christmas octave) it should be encouraged in our parishes that all the members of the family attend Mass on this day. This feast day also affords a meaningful opportunity for the family to entrust themselves anew to the patronage of the Holy Family of Nazareth; for the blessing of children as provided in the ritual; and where opportune, for the renewal of the marriage vows made by the spouses on their wedding day. In various provinces, this is the day chosen for the religious and third order members to gather in order to celebrate Christmas “in family”. This has already turned into a beautiful tradition.

→ December 31^st

Two pious exercises have become traditions on this day: prolonged exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, which affords an opportunity for the faithful and many religious communities to have silent prayer; and the singing of the Te Deum as an act of community praise and thanksgiving to God for the graces received from Him as the year draws to a close.

In some places, especially in monasteries, December 31^st is marked by a vigil of prayer which concludes with the celebration of the Holy Mass. Such vigils are to be encouraged and should be celebrated in harmony with the liturgical content of the Christmas Octave, and not merely as a reaction to the thoughtless dissipation with which society celebrates the passage from one year to another, but as a vigil offering of the new year to the Lord.

→ The Solemnity of the Holy Mother of God

 In the West, January 1^st is an inaugural day marking the beginning of the civil year. The faithful are also involved in the celebrations for the beginning of the new year and exchange “new year” greetings. However, they should try to lend a Christian understanding to this custom making of these greetings an expression of popular piety. The faithful, naturally, realize that the “new year” is placed under the patronage of the Lord, and in exchanging new year greetings they implicitly and explicitly place the New Year under the Lord’s dominion, since to him belongs all time.^[62]

A connection between this consciousness and the popular custom of singing the Veni Creator Spiritus can easily be made so that on January 1^st the faithful can pray that the Spirit may direct their thoughts and actions, and those of the community during the course of the year. Since 1967, January 1^st has been designated “World Day for Peace”.

Finally, although much more could be said, what is important is that we all live Christmas as it should be lived: Christianly, in family, and with festive joy. How much our world needs this! It’s our honorable task to imbue the culture with the truth of Christmas: “The Only-Begotten Son of God, wanting that we too might participate in His Divinity, assumed our human nature, so that by being made man, he might make gods of men,”^[63] that is, participants through grace of the Divine Nature. And it is imperative to ask that this divine life, which makes souls fruitful, descend from heaven like the dew which each morning descends on the fields.

*   *   *

 I wish you a holy Christmas and New Year, which is the same as saying that I wish for all of you, all the good in this earthly life that is useful and does not distract us from gaining all that is good in the next life, which is true life.

Since desires, if they aren’t converted into works or prayers, serve for nothing, may we convert our desires into petitions to the Incarnate Word and His Most Holy Mother for one another.

May the simplicity and tenderness of the Child in Bethlehem nest in your hearts and spread to your communities and, better yet, to the entire world thanks to you all.

¡A very Merry and Holy Christmas!

[1] To the religious of the Order of Hospitallers of St. John of God in Rome (December 23, 1984).

[2] Directory of Spirituality, 103.

[3] Cf. Is 9: 2, 4.

[4] Cf. Is 9: 1.

[5] We have freely cited Ven. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, The Prodigal World, chap. 1.

[6] Constitutions, 11; op. cit. Saint Irenaeus, quoted in DP 400.

[7] Jn 1, 14.

[8] General Audience (December 10, 1997).

[9] Directory of Spirituality, 1; op. cit. Eph 1: 10.

[10] Directory of Spirituality, 25; op. cit. Saint John Paul II, Angelus Message, August 2, 1981; OR (September 8, 1981), Spanish Edition.

[11] Gaudium et Spes, 22. 2

[12] Saint John Paul II, General Audience (December 10, 1997).

[13] Directory of Spirituality, 25; op. cit. Saint Leo the Great, Sermon on the Feast of the Nativity, 6, 2.

[14] Constitutions, 13.

[15] Directory of Evangelizacion of the Culture, 223.

[16] Ven. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, The Prodigal World, chap. 1.

[17] Saint John Paul II, Speech to the mayor during his piligrmiage to Subiaco (September 28, 1980). Free translation

[18] Fr. C. Buela, IVE, El Arte del Padre, Part II, chap. one. Free translation

[19] Jude: 4.

[20] Directory of Spirituality, 57.

[21] Constitutions, 168.

[22] Homily during the inaugural mass of his pontificate (October 22, 1978).

[23] 1 Jn 4: 10.

[24] Saint John Paul II, To the religious of the Order of Hospitallers of Saint John of God in Rome (December 23, 1984). Free translation

[25] Directory of Spirituality, 58; op. cit. Saint John Paul II, Speech to the Bishops of the Tuscan Episcopal Conference (14/09/1980), 5; OR (September 21, 1980), 17.

[26] Saint John Paul II, Speech to Professors at the Catholic University of America in Washington (October 7, 1979).

[27] San John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle B, song 7, 3.

[28] Saint John Paul II, General Audience (May 27, 1998).

[29] San John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book 2, chap. 22,

[30] Saint John Paul II, Carta a los niños en el Año de las Familias (December 13, 1994).

[31] Benedict XVI, Homily of the Nativity of the Lord (December 24, 2006).

[32] Francis, Homily of the Nativity of the Lord (December 24, 2014).

[33] Saint John Paul II, Letter to Children in the Year of the Family (December 13, 1994).

[34] We are freely citing the account of Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki, personal secretary of the Holy Father for 9 years. Cf. Wlodzimierz Redzioch, Stories About Saint John Paul II Told by His Close Friends and Co-Workers.

[35] Saint John Paul II, Letter to Children in the Year of the Family (December 13, 1994).

[36] Cf. Wlodzimierz Redzioch, Stories About Saint John Paul II Told by His Close Friends and Co-Workers.

[37] Ibidem.

[38] Cf. Saint John Paul II, To the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See (January 15, 1994).

[39] George Weigel, Witness to Hope, p. 778.

[40] Saint John Paul II, Homily in Central Park, New York (October 7, 1995).

[41] Directory of Spirituality, 84.

[42] Constitutions, 41.

[43] Ibidem.

[44] Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (year 2002), 108.

[45] Is 9: 5.

[46] Jn 3: 16.

[47] 2 Cor 8: 9.

[48] Cf. 1 Jn 1: 2.

[49] Is 9: 5.

[50] Lc 2: 14.

[51] Cf. Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, 108.

[52] Constitutions, 231.

[53] Cf. Directory on Parishes, 55. Free translation.

[54] Cf. Directory on Parishes, 89. Free translation.

[55] Cf. Ibidem. Free translation.

[56] Cf. Directory of Works of Mercy, 83. Free translation.

[57] Directory of Works of Mercy, 80. Free translation.

[58] Cf. Directory of Minor Seminaries, 79. Free translation.

[59] Cf. Fr. C. Buela, IVE, Mi Parroquia. [Free translation]

[60] Cited from the aforementioned Directory n. 98-117.

[61] Cf. Mal 3: 20; Lk 1: 78.

[62] Cf. Rev 1 : 8; 22, 13.

[63] Saint Thomas Aquinas, Opusc. 57 in festo Corporis Christi, 1.