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To welcome and to share the abundance of God\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n We are just at the threshold of Christmas, a great event which – if we welcome it – is capable\u00a0of changing our lives. A story by Tolstoy which I learned and owe to Pope Benedict XVI\u00a0helps me to share the light and life that springs from Christmas:<\/p>\n Leo Tolstoy, the Russian writer, tells in a short story of a harsh sovereign who asked his\u00a0priests and sages to show him God so that he might see him. The wise men were unable to\u00a0satisfy his desire.<\/p>\n Then a shepherd, who was just coming in from the fields, volunteered to take on the task\u00a0of the priests and sages. From him the king learned that his eyes were not good enough to\u00a0see God. Then, however, he wanted to know at least what God does. “To be able to answer\u00a0your question,” the shepherd said to the king, “we must exchange our clothes.”<\/p>\n Somewhat hesitant but impelled by curiosity about the information he was expecting, the\u00a0king consented; he gave the shepherd his royal robes and had himself dressed in the simple\u00a0clothes of the poor man. Then came the answer: “This is what God does.” Indeed, the Son\u00a0of God, true God from true God, shed his divine splendor: “he emptied himself, taking the\u00a0form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men; and being found in human form he\u00a0humbled himself…even unto death on a cross” (cf. Phil. 2:5ff).<\/p>\n At Christmas, as the Fathers say, God worked the sacrum commercium, the sacred\u00a0exchange: he took on what was ours, so that we might receive what was his and become\u00a0similar to God. Hence the exclamation that resonates from the first years of the Christian\u00a0era: “Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning” (From a Homily on Christmas by Pope\u00a0St. Leo the Great).<\/p>\n What is this dignity? It is to have received the vesture of God. The vesture of God is love.\u00a0“God is love” (1 John 4:8). In becoming man – in the mystery of Christmas – God has\u00a0clothed everyone with his own vesture. He has placed within us his love. Yes, in you, in\u00a0me, in every one of us there is not only our own love, that human capacity to love, that\u00a0sometimes, or often, turns itself into egoism and hatred. Precisely by assuming our human\u00a0nature and becoming one of us – this is Christmas – God has sown abundantly in every one\u00a0of us his love, that love of God which is able to win all battles, overcome all difficulties,\u00a0enabling us to live in peace with God, with ourselves and with each other. How can I not\u00a0be able to forgive if the love of God is in me, that love which has the strength of the mercy\u00a0of God?<\/p>\n Abundance. It is true, many are poor, and many have to contend with a shoestring budget\u00a0to reach the end of the month. Economic abundance is not for everyone. But there is an\u00a0abundance that all of us have, an abundance that does not cost a cent, it is the most valuable\u00a0and is available to all. It is the abundance of love. That love which God gives to us and that\u00a0we can share with one another.<\/p>\n Lord: in this Christmas Season help us to be aware of the abundance that you have placed\u00a0into our hands! It is the abundance of love, the capacity of giving ourselves, and bringing\u00a0cordiality, joy and happiness to our brothers and sisters. Each of us is a rich person, carrying\u00a0within ourselves the abundance of love that can be distributed to others. The world is poor\u00a0and suffering because this abundance is kept in the safe, rather than given and shared.\u00a0“Giving of ourselves” is the way to be at Christmas. Lord, help us to wear that vesture you\u00a0give to us, and to share your love.<\/p>\n Then every day will be Christmas, a beautiful Christmas.<\/p>\n \u2020 Luigi Bonazzi<\/strong> To welcome and to share the abundance of God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1296"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1296"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1549,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1296\/revisions\/1549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nApostolic Nuncio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"