Pontiff made the call during the audience to the delegations that have donated the nativity scene and the tree installed in St. Peter’s Square.
Pope Francis asked today that “let’s not live a fake and commercial Christmas”, During the audience to the delegations that have donated the nativity scene and the tree installed in St. Peter’s Square.
This year the nativity scene comes from the Chopcca community, in the Peruvian Andes region of Huancavelica, who have produced a colorful nativity scene that seeks to enhance “an imagery so different from the traditional nativity scene” and show the world “the wealth of Peru”. while the tree comes from the town of Andalo in the Trentino alps.
“Let’s not let it become contaminated with consumerism and indifference“Francis added about Christmas and recalled that” its symbols, especially the nativity scene and the decorated tree, return us to the certainty that fills our hearts with peace, to the joy of the new year. “
“The tree and the nativity scene introduce us to the Christmas atmosphere that is part of the heritage of our communities: an atmosphere of tenderness, sharing and family intimacy. Let’s not live a fake and commercial Christmas. Let us allow ourselves to be enveloped by the closeness of God ”, he said.
The pope explained that the manger means that “God reveals himself not as someone who rises on high to dominate, but as one who lowers himself, small and poor, to serve.”
So “for it to be truly Christmas, let’s not forget that God comes to be with us and he asks us to take care of our brothers, especially the poorest, weakest and most fragile, whom the pandemic runs the risk of marginalizing even more ”, Francis invited.
While he stressed that “the lights of the fir tree remind of Jesus, the light of love that continues to shine in the nights of the world.”
Francisco greeted the Peruvian delegation from Huancavelica, the department in which de Chopoca is located, as well as Bishop Carlos Salcedo Ojeda and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru, Óscar Maúrtua, present at the event.
The pontiff stressed that “the characters of the nativity scene, made with materials and clothes typical of those territories, represent the peoples of the Andes and symbolize the universal call to salvation”.
“Jesus, in fact, came to earth in the concretion of a people to save every man and woman, of all cultures and nationalities. He became small so that we could welcome him and receive the gift of God’s tenderness,” he added. .
Both the nativity scene and the tree will be illuminated tonight in a ceremony, which for meteorological reasons will be held in the Paul VI classroom and not in St. Peter’s Square. (I)
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