CHRISTMAS

From St. John Paul II

“In spite of the grief that sometimes penetrates into our lives, Christmas is a ray of light for all, because it reveals to us God’s love and makes us feel the presence of Jesus with everyone, especially with those who are suffering. Just for this reason Jesus willed to be born in poverty and in the abandonment of a cave and to be laid in a manger.

There comes to mind spontaneously the memory of my feelings and of my experiences,”* “beginning with the years of my childhood in my father’s house, through the difficult years of youth, the period of the second war, the world war. Yet even in the worst years, Christmas always brought some ray with it. And this ray penetrated even into the harshest experiences of contempt for man, destruction of his dignity, and cruelty.” (Address to Young People, December 27, 1998)

[blogger’s note: St. John Paul’s experiences included the loss of his mother when he was only 8 years old, and the loss of his older (by 14 years) brother—a young physician—a few years later, with whom he was particularly close. This left he and his father alone in the family. His difficulties included the Nazi occupation of his native Poland during his university and seminary years, and communist rule over his home country for decades…]

The quote is from Listening to God with Blessed John Paul II, compiled by Amy Welborn for the Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, 2011, p. 87.