by Nirmala Carvalho

Mgr Bernard Moras spoke at the diocese’s annual Christmas meeting. Christmas "is meaningless if we do not share the peace and joy of God with each other, particularly those who hurt us and made our lives miserable." Christmas invites us to reflect on Christ’s incarnation. In Laudato si’, Pope Francis calls for action to protect our common home. The Jubilee of Mercy can "give consolation to every man and woman of our time."

Bangalore (AsiaNews) – Mgr Bernard Moras, Archbishop of Bangalore, released his Christmas message yesterday. In it, the prelate noted that the celebration of Christmas "is meaningless if we do not share the peace and joy of God with each other, particularly those who hurt us and made our lives miserable."

Speaking at the diocese’s annual Christmas meeting last night, Mgr Moras stressed that Christmas "is the right time to share God's love with our less fortunate brothers and sisters, who need our love, care and concern. We need to see God in them and bring aid to the needy and the poor. If we do this, we make the Christmas celebrations more important and significant."

"We do not celebrate Christmas only to show the joy of Christ’s birth,” he said. “This festivity calls on everyone to reflect on the deeper meaning of Christ's incarnation and on its effect on the whole of creation. Christmas is in essence a celebration of God’s hope, love, peace, joy and mercy."

"Christmas is also an invitation to put creation in order," he told the people at the meeting, who included political and other religious leaders. “Pope Francis,” he added, " published a wonderful and comprehensive document: Laudato si’." For Mgr Moras, "this new revolutionary Encyclical calls for a deep cultural revolution in order to address the environmental crisis."

In view of this, he urged all those present "not to waste food, water, and electricity,” but “protect the environment from destruction, and above all preserve the earth for future generations."

For the archbishop of Bangalore, the Extraordinary Year of Mercy, inaugurated on December 8, “is the feast of Jesus Christ, King of the universe, the living face of the Father's mercy.”

“I believe that each of us will find in this Jubilee the joy that is needed to rediscover and make fruitful God’s mercy, with which we are all called to give consolation to every man and woman of our time."

• india
• christmas
• jubilee
• mercy