Custos of Holy Land says God is waiting

(December 24, 2010) Christmas is the celebration of God's waiting, says the custos or guardian of the Holy Land - God waiting for us to make room for him. Franciscan Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa proposed this reflection in his annual Christmas message saying, "Christmas cannot fail to make us uncomfortable.” “It is a celebration that seems to have lost its most intimate and truest meaning, and that leads us to wonder who that Child is for us, to see God in a child, to believe in a God who chooses to enclose his greatness in the smallness of our humanity." This feast is not just about Christ's birth 2,000 years ago, the Franciscan priest stated. "Christmas is Jesus, the Son of God, who again this year, like every day since that ancient time - for the men of his time, as for each of us today - waits for us to make room for him, waits to be born in our hearts. Christmas is an effort of conversion. It is being willing to respond to God’s waiting," Fr. Pizzaballa added.