Here and Now with Francis 1/2/16 (Christmas, childhood, Jesus, joy, love)
From an angelus
And this is a great mystery, God is humble! It is we who are proud, filled with vanity and we believe ourselves to be something great, [but] we are nothing! He, the great, is humble and is made a child. This is a real mystery! God is humble. This is beautiful! [...] During the Christmas season, we remember His childhood. To grow in faith, we need to contemplate Baby Jesus more often. [...] As you see, we know little of the Child Jesus, but we can learn a lot from Him if we look at the lives of children. It is a good habit that parents, grandparents, have, to look at children, what they do. [...] And it is necessary for us to put Jesus at the center of our lives and to know, even if it could seem paradoxical, that we have a responsibility to protect Him. He wishes to be in our arms, wishes to be cared for and to be able to fix His gaze on us. Also, make Baby Jesus smile by demonstrating to him our love and joy because He is in our midst. His smile is a sign of love that gives us the certainty of being loved. [full text]