At Christmas, our eyes look eastward searching for light, just as the
Magi of old who were guided by the star, en route towards places which bear
symbolic names : Jerusalem, the city of peace, Bethlehem, the house of bread.
Peace is something you build. Bread is something you share. At Christmas
we can discover the faces of children and foreigners anew.In the stable,
at Bethlehem, the child shows the fulness of its dignity. It is the meeting
point of God and human beings. The God child is offered to everyone in its
frailty.
So much has to be done for children's rights to be kept.The foreigner becomes
ennobled by the child of Bethlehem. Jesus was born while his parents were
on a journey. It was in a town where there was no room for a couple passing
by. It is the fate of so many foreigners who only find rejection wherever
they go.
The child and the foreigner are messages. They reveal our real selves and
introduce us to the mystery of Christmas. God takes our human condition
and appears as a child. He does not abandon us to loneliness and despair.
He is with us everyday.
I wish you a happy Christmas with all my heart. May the loving peace of
God be with you every day to come.
Jacques Gaillot
Bishop of Partenia