MIHI VIVERE CHRISTUS EST
His Eminence The Lord Cardinal
Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras
President of Caritas International
Cardinal Priest of ‘S.
Maria della Speranza’
His Eminence The Lord Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 2012
As Christians,
we take the chance during Advent to renew our relationship with God as we
reflect on the greatest expression of his love, that he sent his Son to be with
us.
Our thoughts and prayers also turn to our
brothers and sisters who don’t have enough food to eat, a roof over their heads
or are trapped in an unbreakable cycle of poverty.
This coming Advent Season is an important one as
it falls in the Year of Faith, which began in October. During this period, we
are particularly called to be witnesses to the Word of God – to live out our
faith in our actions so that all may know what we believe.
Pope Benedict
XVI announced the year by urging Catholics to appreciate the gift of faith, deepen
their relationship with God and strengthen their commitment to sharing their
faith with others.
“The renewal of the Church is achieved through
the witness offered by the lives of believers: by their very existence in the
world. Christians are called to radiate the word of truth that the Lord Jesus
has left us,” said the Pope.
We are all called to be evangelists: to proclaim
the Gospel both by word and by action, by preaching and teaching as well as by
the living witness of those committed to the work of healing the world. Whether
it is feeding the hungry, building homes for those forced from theirs, giving
people what they need to transform their own lives or challenging injustices
that keep people poor, our acts and voices are eloquent signs of the love of
God for all humanity.
Evangelism
is at the heart of Caritas: We hope to change individuals and to transform the
world by touching people’s minds and hearts with the liberating good news of
Jesus Christ who came not to be served but to serve. When people give their
time or resources to Caritas, whether it be a donor who sends a cheque, to a
volunteer who spends their free time at a soup kitchen, to a community member
who helps build a well, they are changing their own lives and the lives of
those around them.
Advent is the season of hope, but it is easy to
lose hope when we see so much suffering in the world today. With violence in
Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, the impact of climate change in the
Pacific and Asia, or growing poverty in Europe and North America, at times it
seems as if despair has become contagious.
But hope is everywhere. We just need to recognize it.
Joska Achayo was eight when she had to flee her
home in Sudan and was separated from her mother. She spent years with relatives
as a refugee in Uganda. Now 25, Joska is back in her native area in South
Sudan, where Caritas is giving villagers seeds and farming tools so they can
grow enough to feed their families.
Sometime after her return, Joska met a woman on
the road. “I asked her for help in finding my mother,” said Joska. “I didn’t
recognise her. Then I realised it was my mother! We started crying tears of
joy.”
And so, as we wait in joyful hope for the coming
of Christ, we pray that we may be witnesses to the light of truth and justice
in the world today, and that we may enable all people to flourish.
A blessed Christmas to you all,
+Oscar Andrés Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB
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