Dear brothers and sisters,

Happy Christmas to you all …with a special wish to all those who are alone in Kuwait because their families are in their country of origin. The Son of God became man: "The Word became flesh, he lived among us" (Jn.1:14). He saw our situation, felt compassion for us: "he took pity on them" (Mt.14:14). This compassion of God is the greatest reason of the Incarnation of the Son of God, it is the heart of the entire Gospel. In our turn, on the occasion of Christmas (and on other occasions, too) we should have a fraternal compassion for others: to invite into our homes those who are alone in Kuwait, to make them feel that they are like members of our family. The compassion of Christ for us should also lead us to reconciliation with all, with those who are near or are far or are even dead. Reconciliation is a necessary step if we are to enter into the house of God, to be included in His compassion. We may see that the feast of Christmas is very demanding, it requires our full conversion. How do we realize this change in our life? Among the means that we may use (Sacraments, counseling, prayer, etc.) I would like to stress on the Word of God, which has been very much meditated upon, these last few weeks, during the Synod in Rome and whose theme was exactly the "Word of God".

We can read the Bible like a story, but it is not the way to bring us salvation. When we read a passage from the Bible, we should "remain" with the text, to try and find out its message. In the beginning we may have perhaps a small light, but if we remain with the Word of God and at the same time we pray, a very strong illumination will enlighten us and our life too.

Perhaps you may ask me: which passages of the Bible should we choose? Let us choose the readings that the Church offers to us in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Many times God uses the choice of the Church in order to speak to us. We should have attentive ears to hear the readings of the Mass of the day. We should say that "that word has been written for me!" So, the first choice is to follow the readings of the daily Mass. They are published every month on our web-site.

Another choice is to re-read passages which have helped us in the past in a particular situation in order to give importance to that particular passage in the Word of God which gave us valuable hints in the past. Often God speaks to us again and again through the same text which has been a light in our life. To re-meditate on those texts is an opportunity for God to show us new things, in our present situation.

Finally, another choice is to open the Bible by chance and to read what is given us. Saint Agustine changed his life when by fate, he read Rom.13:13: "Let us live decently". St. Francis of Assisi knew what to do in his life when three times he opened the Gospel and all the three times, by providence, he found the verse: "He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff, no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses… Don’t take a spare tunic" (Mk.6:8). St. Therese of Lisieux, Patroness of our Parish in Salmiya, found her true place in the Church, to love, when she read St. Paul’s ode to love in 1 Cor.13.

The Word of God is capable of sowing in our hearts the feelings of Jesus, His compassion for all, and to make us able to celebrate Christmas with our family and our brethren who are alone: "In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me" (Mt.25:40).