In This Way We Too Become Testimonies of the Light that Christmas Radiates...

Pope Benedict XVI on preparing for Christmas...

Let us prepare for Christmas, therefore, with humility and simplicity, readying ourselves to receive the gift of light, joy and peace that irradiates from this mystery. Let us welcome the nativity of Christ as an event capable of today renewing our existence. May the encounter with the Child Jesus make us people who do not think only of ourselves, but rather open to the expectations and necessities of our brothers. In this way we too become testimonies of the light that Christmas radiates over the humanity of the third millennium. Let us ask most holy Mary, the tabernacle of the incarnate Word, and St. Joseph, silent witness of the events of salvation, to communicate to us the sentiments they had while they awaited the birth of Jesus, so that we can prepare ourselves to celebrate in a holy way the coming Christmas, in the joy of faith and enlivened by the determination of a sincere conversion.

Read the Rest Here (from his December 17th audience).

hat-tip Amy Welborn

The photo is of the statue of Our Lady of Bethlehem at Mission San Carlos Borromeo (Carmel Mission) in Carmel, California.