Pope's benedictions...

Here are some excerpts from the speech given by Pope Benedict XVI at the midnight mass yesterday. Sharing it with you.

- The image of the baby Jesus in a manger should remind everyone of the plight of poor, abused and neglected children the world over.

- The child of Bethlehem directs our gaze toward all children, particularly those who suffer and are abused in the world, the born and the unborn, toward children who are placed as soldiers in a violent world; toward children who have to beg; toward children who suffer deprivation and hunger; toward children who are unloved. In all of these it is the Child of Bethlehem who is crying out to us. It is the God who has become small who appeals to us.

- Just as the shepherds of Bethlehem were called by an angel to seek the child lying in the manger, modern man was called to listen to the message of the baby Jesus.

- Let us pray this night that the brightness of God's love may enfold all these children. Let us ask God to help us do our part so that the dignity of children may be respected. May they all experience the light of love, which mankind needs so much more than the material necessities of life.

- During the festive meals of these days let us remember the Lord's words: 'When you give a dinner or a banquet do not invite those who will invite you in return, but invite those whom no one invites and who are not able to invite you. This also means when you give gifts for Christmas do not give only to those who will give to you in return but give to those who receive from no one and who cannot give you anything back.

- May his birth not find us busy celebrating Christmas forgetting that he (Jesus) is the very person at the center of the feast.

- Many people who would spend Christmas "in solitude, in sickness and in suffering" should be remembered.

- The real spirit of Christmas was a commitment to "overcome prejudices, break down barriers and eliminate situations that pitted individuals and people against each other in order to build a world of justice and peace together.

- Let us pray this night that the brightness of God's love may enfold all these children.

- Let us ask God to help us do our part so that the dignity of children may be respected.

Thank you Pope.