Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
“To you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour who is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Lk 2:11)
Think of a moment when you eagerly anticipated the arrival of someone important in your life. Who was that person? In Advent, the One we await comes to us bearing the gifts of a full life, love, joy, and peace.
The joyous announcement of our long-awaited Saviour’s birth was first entrusted to humble shepherds keeping watch in the fields. There, in the stillness of night, an angel proclaimed the most glorious news the world would ever hear. Today, we share in that same jubilation, echoing the angel’s words: “To you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Lk 2:8-14).
As the Church draws near to the close of this Jubilee Year of Hope, let us pause to reflect, if we have not already done so, on the abundant graces and mercy we have received from the Lord through our Jubilee pilgrimages. With grateful hearts, let us remember that the Lord has loved us first, faithful to His promise spoken through the prophet Ezekiel: “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak” (Ez 34:15-16).
In the New Testament, Jesus revealed his true identity when he stood in the synagogue at Nazareth and proclaimed the messianic prophecy of Isaiah 61:1-9. In doing so, He revealed that His life and ministry are the fulfilment of the Jubilee’s eschatological promise, fulfilled through His life, death and resurrection.
Thus, the salvific plan of our heavenly Father has been fulfilled through his only Son, Jesus Christ. This mission continues today through the Church, and that includes you and me. Let us joyfully proclaim the good tidings of Christmas: A Saviour has been born to us! He becomes our Saviour when we welcome his reign in our hearts, allowing him to free us from the shadow of death and the bondage of sin.
Jesus, the Son of God, has taken on our flesh and made his dwelling among us. In this profound mystery, God enables us to share in His divine life, adopting us as beloved children of God. Through this adoption, we receive the freedom to love as His Son Jesus loves (Gal 4:4-5). Jubilee is the year of the Lord’s favour, a time to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to captives and the oppressed, and recovery of sight to the blind (Lk 4:18–19). Have you embraced the grace of this Jubilee Year, which comes only once every 25 years? It is a precious invitation to renew your faith, to be reconciled with God, with your neighbour, and with all of God’s creation.
Blessed are those who are poor in the spirit as we recognize our need for God in our life. Like the poor shepherds, let us come with open hearts to adore the Lord, who alone can free us from the misery of loneliness, the pain of loss or sickness, and the anxiety of an uncertain future. He is the Lord of the needy, and he longs to embrace us in our moments of frustration, desperation, confusion, and mental anguish, filling us instead with His love, peace, joy, and consolation.
Once you have experienced God, you will discover a profound joy and peace in sharing his love with those around you. You will find ultimate meaning and happiness in life by serving the Lord, who makes himself present in the faces of the needy. As St Paul assures us in his letter to the Romans, “All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). In this divine promise, we find the confidence to live generously and love without reserve.
Let us follow the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Joseph, who placed their complete trust and hope in the Lord. As we continue our earthly pilgrimage as people of hope, may we journey faithfully until that day when we meet the Lord face to face in our heavenly home. For as St Paul reminds us, “In hope we were saved” (Rom 8:24).
