Urbi et Orbi.

Considering the name of this blog, I should make note of the Urbi et Orbi message delivered on Christmas Day by Pope Benedict XVI. The Holy Father took as the starting point for yesterday's address the proclamation found in the Roman Missal, "Our saviour is born into the world!" Hearing these familiar words, we may ask whether they "still have any value or meaning for the men and women of the third millennium" considering advances in technology that have made humankind an apparently "sure and self-sufficient master of its own destiny, the avid proponent of uncontested triumphs." Despite the march of human progress, the many forms of poverty and violence that still surround us show our need for God. Surveying the state of the world, the Pope asks:

How can we not hear, from the very depths of this humanity, at once joyful and anguished, a heart-rending cry for help? It is Christmas: today "the true light that enlightens every man" (Jn 1:9) came into the world. "The word became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14), proclaims the Evangelist John. Today, this very day, Christ comes once more "unto his own," and to those who receive him he gives "the power to become children of God"; in a word, he offers them the opportunity to see God's glory and to share the joy of that Love which became incarnate for us in Bethlehem. Today "our Saviour is born into the world," for he knows that even today we need him. Despite humanity's many advances, man has always been the same: a freedom poised between good and evil, between life and death. It is there, in the every depths of his being, in what the Bible calls his "heart," that man always needs to be "saved." And, in this postmodern age, perhaps he needs a Saviour all the more, since the society in which he lives has become more complex and the threats to his personal and moral integrity have become more insidious. Who can defend him, if not the One who loves him to the point of sacrificing on the Cross his only-begotten Son as the Saviour of the world?

To read the rest of the Pope's fine and very pertinent message, click here. AMDG.