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 2011.
Pope Benedict XVI's Christmas message points towards Easter. Christmas is about the coming of our Savior, and He is the Savior because of Easter. Christmas and Easter are intimately linked, vital to each other in fact. Without Christmas, Christ would not have a human body that could be sacrificed for our sins, and without Easter the coming of Christ would have had no meaning for our salvation (I am including Good Friday and Easter Sunday under the heading Easter). Both celebrations give meaning to the other.
We cry out to G-d for salvation and for a savior, and G-d answers our cry. "Jesus Christ is the proof that God has heard our cry. And not only this! God’s love for us is so strong that he cannot remain aloof; he comes out of himself to enter into our midst and to share fully in our human condition."
We ever renew this cry to G-d and to Christ, to come and save us from our suffering in this world and from our sins. We cry out for our own sake and for the sake of all others who suffer. We cry out with one voice to G-d, asking for the coming of Christ! "Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, on this Christmas 2011, let us then turn to the Child of Bethlehem, to the Son of the Virgin Mary, and say: “Come to save us!” Let us repeat these words in spiritual union with the many people who experience particularly difficult situations; let us speak out for those who have no voice." Come to save us! Our prayers throughout our life are summed up in this one prayer to G-d: Come to save us.
Merry Christmas!
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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