The Most Humble Francis’ 2018
Christmas Greetings to His Employees
“Let us look at the Nativity scene. Who is happy, in the Nativity? I would like to ask you children, who love to look at the little figures ... and maybe even move them a bit, putting them in different places, angering their dad, who arranged them with such care!
So who is happy in the Nativity scene? Our Lady and Saint Joseph are full of joy: they look at the Child Jesus and they are happy because, after a thousand worries, they have accepted this gift of God, with so much faith and so much love. They are “overflowing” with holiness and therefore with joy. And you will tell me: of course! They are Our Lady and Saint Joseph! Yes, but let us not think it was easy for them: saints are not born, they become thus, and this is true for them too.”
FRANCIS’ CHRISTMAS GREETINGS TO THE EMPLOYEES OF THE HOLY SEE AND OF VATICAN CITY STATE, Vatican, Paul VI Audience Hall, 21 December 2018. (bold is ours for emphasis)
Even in the secular Encyclopaedia Britannica it is written, “Mary’s privilege, thus, was the result of God’s grace and not of any intrinsic merit on her part.” Can Francis really claim to be that ignorant of the what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception means?
