Pope rings out 2010 with prayer for families in difficulty
In the person of Jesus, "the eternal God has entered and remains in man’s time," which
means he takes on "evil, suffering and tragedies of all kinds, from those caused by
the wickedness of men to those resulting from inauspicious natural disasters, but
he now permanently and indelibly enfolds the joyful and liberating novelty of Christ
the Saviour”.
This was the message of Benedict XVI New Year’s eve, in first
vespers for the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, before the recitation of the "Te
Deum" of thanksgiving for the end of the calendar year. In St. Peter's Basilica, the
Pope explained that God made child is "an invitation to find God's presence and His
love that gives salvation even in the short and strenuous hours of our daily life."
As Bishop of Rome, he reminded his diocese the importance of daily meditation
of the Word of God, because "there is an increasing need for a renewed proclamation
of the Gospel to the hearts of the inhabitants of our city, to be open to meeting
with Christ".
He asked the community to be close "to those who live in poverty
and distress" at a time that "still generates concern about the precariousness in
which so many families live." After the litirgical service Pope Benedict XVI visited
the life sized Nativity in St Peter’s Square for a moment of prayer.