Pope says even scholars must be humble enough to worship baby Jesus

(December 18, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI said he knows it is tempting for a university student or professor to resist being humble enough to approach the baby Jesus with awe. But the Christmas manger is precisely where "each one of us can discover the truth about God and about the human person, about ourselves," the pope told Rome university students and professors on Thursday as he prayed the evening Vespers with them in Rome’s St. Peter's Basilica. Whether studying math or science or art history or literature, a truly Christian scholar conducts all of his or her research trying to catch the glimpses of divine wisdom present in everything, the pope said. He pointed out that it was not the doctors of the law, the scribes or the wise, who ran to the grotto of Bethlehem on Christmas night to recognize and adore the Baby Jesus. “Mary and Joseph were there, and the shepherds," the Pope said. The fact that God chose to reveal the saviour to the meek and humble does not mean there is anything wrong with studying, the Pope explained. It simply means that even while pursuing knowledge, Christians must maintain the attitude of "the little ones: a humble and simple spirit."