We include two "gifts" that can help us to review and deepen the teachings of the Pope in recent weeks: Francis' trip to Thailand and Japan, and his apostolic letter Admirabile signumabout the meaning and value of the Nativity Scene.
Pastoral trip to Thailand and Japan
As Francis pointed out in his general audience of november 27his trip to Thailand and Japan brought him great joy and gratitude to God. Although Catholics in that area are very few (about 1 %), these countries are an example of peaceful multicultural coexistence, not without serious dangers and threats. The Pope's preaching was imbued with beauty and a positive and encouraging sense.
During the Mass celebrated in the national state of Bangkok he underlined the beauty of evangelization and his need not only with respect to the recipients, but also with respect to the as for the evangelizers themselvesto reach their full potential. "to be more truthful" exercising their missionary discipleship, extending the family of God.
In the same vein, during his meeting with the priests and religious, seminarians and catechists, he encouraged them not to be afraid of inculturate the Gospel more and more, moved by gratitude and contemplation of what God has granted us, and filling us with passion for Jesus and his Kingdom. The Pope's tone can be noted in phrases like this: "The Lord did not call us to send us into the world to impose obligations on people, or to place heavier burdens on them than they already have, and they are many, but to share a joy, a beautiful, new, surprising horizon.".
It is about search for new symbols and images that resonate and shine the beauty of personal and cultural values. The gaze of Jesus transforms us and allows us to discover and make the best shine in the lives and actions of others. In this way, the evangelizer becomes a living and active sign of God's mercy.
Francis confirmed to the bishops that evangelization requires fidelity to the Church and to one's own vocation.to learn to believe the Gospel and to let oneself be transformed by it. He reminded them that many of these lands had been evangelized by lay faithful. "These lay people had the opportunity to speak the dialect of their people, a simple and direct exercise of inculturation, neither theoretical nor ideological, but the fruit of the ardor to share Christ".
Meeting with religious leaders
In an important meeting with Christian and other religious leaders, he expanded on dialogue and collaboration, reciprocal knowledge and the promotion of a integral humanism to defend human dignity and religious freedom for all. He asked them to react against the tendency to homogenize and standardize young people, typical of the globalizing culture that often does not respect local roots and traditions. On the same day, he personally asked the young people to grow as beautiful and strong trees, rooted in the faith of their elders, rooted in friendship with Jesus Christ.
The motto of the pastoral trip to Japan was Protecting all lifeespecially significant after the 2011 triple disaster: earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant incident.
Protecting life
Protecting life involves owning "the meaning of living". This is very important for Japanese youth, who are threatened by suicide and suicide. "bulism". Francis advised them to go out of themselves to meet those in need: "To grow, to discover our own identity, our own goodness and our own inner beauty, we cannot look in the mirror. Many things have been invented, but thank God they do not yet exist. selfies of the soul.".
To the Japanese people - where Christians count with "thousands of martyrs"-The Pope wished him to be a pioneer for a more just and peaceful world. His words have resounded around the world since Hiroshima: "The use of atomic energy for war purposes is immoral, just as the possession of atomic weapons is immoral." (Message at the Meeting for Peace, 24-XI-2019).
In a culture marked by the drive for efficiency, performance and success, he urged to develop instead, "a culture of encounter and dialogue, characterized by wisdom and broad horizons".He also proposed to them that they should be faithful to their religious and moral values and open to the Gospel message. To achieve this goal, he proposed that they remain faithful to their religious and moral values and open to the Gospel message.
As for Catholics, he told the Japanese bishops, "the strongest and clearest word they can give is that of humble, daily witness and dialogue with other religious traditions.".
The Nativity Scene: a "living Gospel".
With your Charter The beautiful sign of the manger (Admirabile signum1-XII-2019, on the meaning and value of the Nativity Scene), Francis says that representing the birth of Jesus is equivalent to "to proclaim the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God with simplicity and joy.". It is a "creative fantasy exercise"full of beauty, which contains in itself "a rich popular spirituality"Why, he wonders. And he answers with three reasons.
Tenderness of God
First, because manifests the tenderness of God. Jesus presents himself as a brother, as a friend, as the Son of God who becomes a Child to forgive us and save us from sin.
Reliving history
Secondly, because it helps us to relive history to "feel involved in the history of salvation, contemporaries of the event that becomes alive and present in the most diverse historical and cultural contexts".
The Pope pauses here to show that, if we know "contemplate it"Everything in the crib speaks to us - can speak to us - of our life in relationship with Jesus and with others. Especially the shepherds, poor and simple, remind us of our relationship with Jesus and others. the message of Christmas: the revolution of love and tenderness that come from God. "In this new world inaugurated by Jesus." -observes the Pope- "there is room for everything that is human and for every creature".. The nativity scene also represents holiness for all in ordinary life, which is a way to reach God.
And for this "way" we arrive at the center of the crib, the grotto where Mary, Joseph and the Child are. "God presents himself in this way, as a child, to be received in our arms. In weakness and fragility he hides his power that creates and transforms everything.". Showing the same as all children, "God baffles, he is unpredictable, he continually goes beyond our schemes.".
Three Wise Men
In the three figures of the Magi, who, following a star, have come from afar to adore the Child, we can discover, Francis suggests, the responsibility that we have, as Christians, to be evangelizers, in order to bring to the "with concrete actions of mercy the joy of having encountered Jesus and his love"..
In connection with the latter, Francis explains the meaning of the nativity scene for the transmission of faith, thanks to our parents and grandparents, to whom can be added the catechists, priests and in general the educators of the faith: "Starting from childhood and then at every stage of life, [the Nativity Scene] educates us to contemplate Jesus, to feel God's love for us, to feel and believe that God is with us and that we are with Him, all children and brothers and sisters thanks to that Child Son of God and of the Virgin Mary. And to feel that in this is happiness"..
And so it is. Putting up the nativity scene is, therefore, a good way to "get into" Christmas with a Christian spirit and show it to others.
In this regard, it is worth recalling that the Fathers of the Church said that holiness consists in letting Jesus be born continually in us. Here the Pope reminds us that the Nativity Scene is a good school -a "Living Gospel"- to learn it and pass it on.
