Urbi et Orbi translates into "to the City (of Rome) and to the World." Best of all, there is a plenary indulgence attached to the message and blessing.
The Urbi et Orbi message for today comes from 2005.
The first interesting thing is Pope Benedict's insight that "the men and women in our technological age risk becoming victims of their own intellectual and technical achievements, ending up in spiritual barrenness and emptiness of heart."
Christmas, like other feasts and liturgical days, is a time for our souls to become rejuvenated and awakened. Instead of our souls becoming mindless robots, Christmas helps our souls keep in-touch with the Divine and transcendent.
This theme of awakening feeds into Pope Benedict XVI's statement that "the modern age is often seen as an awakening of reason from its slumbers, humanity’s enlightenment after an age of darkness. Yet without the light of Christ, the light of reason is not sufficient to enlighten humanity and the world." Reason without Christ is, essentially, a half-asleep society or a a society in a stupor.
In the end, Pope Benedict XVI calls us to "let the Child of Bethlehem take you by the hand! Do not fear; put your trust in him! The life-giving power of his light is an incentive for building a new world order based on just ethical and economic relationships." We must humble ourselves so much as to let the child Jesus take us by the hand!
The Pope makes a final appeal to us, to see the paradox that is our salvation: "At Christmas we contemplate God made man, divine glory hidden beneath the poverty of a Child wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger; the Creator of the Universe reduced to the helplessness of an infant. Once we accept this paradox, we discover the Truth that sets us free and the Love that transforms our lives."
Day I (2005), Day II (2006), Day III (2007), Day IV (2008), Day V (2009), Day VI (2010), Day VII (2011)
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