Dear brothers and sisters, apostles of Divine Mercy, the blessed Christmas reminds us and makes us reflect on whether baby Jesus will find a welcome place in our hearts and in our homes. Jesus is the King who wants to reign over our hearts, He is the God who knocks on the doors of our lives, so that by entering He may celebrate with us. Our Lady, has, on many occasions, reminded us to welcome Baby Jesus and His blessing of Peace, which our hearts and souls desire so much. As apostles of the mystery of love and mercy, we are called in a "very, very special" way to arrange and prepare a grand feast for Baby Jesus. Let us remember the Christmas message received on the 11th December 1986: "Dear Children, I invite you to pray in a particular way at this time of Advent in order to savour the joy of the encounter with Jesus who is being born. I, dear Children, desire that you live these days, as I do, with joy. I wish to guide you and show you the joy I wish to lead you towards. Thank you for having answered my call."

The encounter with Baby Jesus can be prepared through prayer. It is the encounter that gives joy and the taste for life. God is joy and wants to communicate His Divine joy to us. Mary, our Mother, is the joyful woman, because she is filled with this love, expressed through peace, love, mercy, forgiveness, benevolence, gentleness. All gifts which the Holy Spirit ignites in us. Many, many times in His Pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI has invited us to bear witness in a joyful and Christian manner and Mary has often said: "Be joyful witnesses, so that the world will come to know the God of Joy."

Holy Christmas has exactly the characteristic of reminding us of this vocation that fills us with joy and happiness.

The joy of Christmas comes when we are able to surprise ourselves and not to allow ourselves to be caught up in habit or the superficiality of pagan proposals of experiencing it as a period for consuming and wasting. Christmas is, on the contrary, the period to gather one’s thoughts, to search within and above all for preparation.

Faith in Jesus the Saviour and Redeemer, helps us to welcome Him in our arms and to contemplate Him with love and wonder. We want to ask Mary again, once more, with words of faith: Mother, like children when they first learn to walk, we allow ourselves to be accompanied by you to the Holy crib. We ask for your eyes, your heart, your loving arms, to receive from You the Prince of Peace. We ask you for your live faith, your ardent love, your indestructible hope to resist the assaults of evil and of all that which tries to distance us from You, your Son and amongst ourselves. We ask for your humble spirit, your simplicity and your trust. We ask for peace in our families and for the entire world and we are committed with love to following you on the path to peace towards our encounter with the King of Peace. We ask for a heart for loving, listening, understanding and for forgiveness. We ask you to bring your Son’s forgiveness to our families. May the peace from our hearts flow like a river to the whole world and, in the end, conscious of the love, which you have for each one of us ("if only you knew how much I love you would cry with joy"), may we entrust you with our lives. Make us apostles of your peace, love and mercy.

We wish you, from the bottom of our hearts, a very holy Christmas made of peace and joy.

May God bless you.

Father Francesco M. Rizzi ofm.