“Christmas is a mystery of love! The love of the Father, who has sent into the world his only-begotten Son, to bestow on us the gift of his own life (I John 4:8-9). The love of “God-with-us,” Emmanuel, who came to earth in order to die on a the Cross. In the cold stable, wrapped in silence, the Virgin Mother, with prophetic intuition, already tastes the violent drama of Calvary, the traumatic struggle between darkness and light, between death and life, between hatred and love. The Prince of peace, born today in Bethlehem, will give his life on Golgotha, so that love may reign on earth.”
Pope John Paul II, Urbi Et Orbi, Christmas 2002 via Advent and Christmas Wisdom from Pope John Paul II
