Christmas greetings from Maria Voce, President of the Focolare Movement.
Christmas is, for all of us who celebrate it every year, a long-awaited moment, full of emotion, joy and relationships.
But in the midst of such a joyful and happy Christmas atmosphere, we often forget that this feast day is rooted in a mysterious event, I would say an almost unbelievable event: the scandal of a God who lowers himself and becomes human; the scandal of the Almighty who becomes a weak child; of the Unlimited One who enters the limits of human flesh.
God does not do this only out of solidarity, to be close to us and to share our existence. He enters our human condition to show us, through our own language, gestures and emotions, his own life, the life of God: a life capable of repairing rifts, healing wounds and rebuilding relationships.
God did this 2,000 years ago and wants to do it again today.
In a month, January 22nd 2020 marks the centenary of the birth of Chiara Lubich, the founder of our Focolare Movement. On this occasion I cannot help but remember the core of her message, of her spirituality of unity: the discovery that Jesus can be born today too, where two or more people love each other “with the love of service, understanding, and sharing in the sufferings, burdens, anxieties, and joys of our brothers and sisters; with the love that covers everything, that forgives everything, typical of Christianity”. Hence we resolve to make all our relationships become the crib, the cradle that welcomes Jesus in our midst, who wants to rebuild our fragmented world today.
My wish for Christmas is that this celebration will bring deep joy to all, in the commitment to train ourselves every day to attract, through mutual love, the presence of Jesus among us, thus allowing him to transform the world.
Maria Voce
Source: www.focolare.org/en/news/2019/12/23/un-evento-quasi-scandaloso
