A couple of weeks ago Pope Benedict XVI gave a talk to a group of students on the meaning of Christmas. Here’s part of that speech and what I think is a great reflection heading into Christmas for anyone who works with teens:
Benedict XVI, Address to students December 15, 2011
What does Christmas mean to me? Is it really important for my life, for the building up of society? There are many persons in our time… who ask whether we are to expect something or someone; whether we must look for another messiah, another god; if it is worthwhile to entrust ourselves to that Child whom we find in the manger between Mary and Joseph on Christmas night…
We do not need a generic, indefinite god, but the living and true God, who opens the horizon of man’s future to the prospect of a firm and sure hope, a hope that is rich with eternity and that permits us to face the present in all its aspects with courage…
God is not far from man, but has descended and has become flesh (John 1:14), that man might understand where to find the solid foundation of all things, the fulfillment of his deepest longings: in Christ (cf. post-synodal apostolic exhortation “Verbum Domini,” 10). Patience is the virtue of those who entrust themselves to this presence in history, who do not let themselves be overcome by the temptation of placing all hope in the immediate, in the purely horizontal perspective, in technically perfect projects, but which are far from the deepest of realities, that which gives the human person the highest dignity: the transcendent dimension, being a creature in the image and likeness of God, carrying in the heart the desire of ascending to him.
Are we as leaders of Catholic teen ministries opening the horizon for teenagers to the prospect of a firm and sure hope? May God Bless all our efforts to help teens have hope, a hope in Christ! Merry Christmas to you and your teens!