During his last General Audience before Dec. 24, the pope encouraged people to let themselves be amazed by the message of Christmas.
POPE FRANCIS
“Let us ask for the grace of amazement: in the face of this mystery, of this reality so tender, so beautiful, so close to our hearts, may the Lord give us the grace of amazement, to meet him, to draw close to him.”
He recalled that the birth of Jesus manifests God’s love for each person. That is why he proposed to look at the child of Bethlehem with tenderness and let oneself be surprised by the mystery of Christmas. He said that this tenderness, however, is not within reach of everyone.
POPE FRANCIS
“The other day, talking to some scientists, we were talking about the artificial intelligence in robots. There are robots programmed for everyone and everything, and this goes on. I said to them: “But what is that thing that robots will ever be able to do?” They thought and made proposals, but in the end, they agreed on one thing: tenderness. This is something robots will not be able to do, and this is what God brings us today.”
Pope Francis seemed to have a slight cold, and all the Christmas ceremonies await him. This year, however, they will be shorter and with fewer attendees because of the pandemic.