Last week, as he opened the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Pope Francis spoke about the Jubilee Year of Mercy that we are observing.

He said, “This will be a year in which we grow ever more convinced of God’s mercy. … Let us set aside all fear and dread, for these do not befit men and women who are loved. Instead, let us experience the joy of encountering that grace which transforms all things.”

Growing convinced of God’s mercy and encountering the grace that transforms all things is a wonderful summation of our Christmas celebration as well.

Think of how often, at this time of year, we pass by the nativity scene in front yards and churches. We see the movies and reread the Gospels about Jesus’ birth. We go to Mass on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Still, the temptation for us is just to go through the motions and not to reflect sufficiently on the depth and full meaning of the Son of God coming among us. Yet that is really what Pope Francis is asking.

Before Jesus came to be born of Mary in Bethlehem, the world was alienated from God by the sin of Adam and Eve. God loved us. But the human race had broken the friendship offered by God.

One of the failures of our modern world is to lack any consciousness or intuition of the consequences of sin. Before Jesus came, sin ruled. Our hearts and minds were weakened and darkened. We could not pass the doors of heaven.

The lyrics of a famous Christmas carol sum up that reality when we sing, “Long lay the world in sin and error pining, ’til He appeared and the soul felt its worth.”

This basic element of the Christmas message is at the heart of Pope Francis. The coming of Jesus, that birth that we celebrate was not a given. God could have simply accepted, once and for all, the sinful decision of the human race.

But His love and mercy for us moved Him to reach out to us again. And how personally He reached out. He sent not a messenger or an angel. Instead, He sent His own Son.

Pope Francis said, “let us experience the joy of encountering that grace which transforms all things.” The night of Jesus’ birth experienced exactly that joy.

Angels who had remained faithful to God’s love, witnessing this explosion of God’s love are said to have rejoiced themselves before this mystery. They came to the poor and the lowly who had a purity of heart and told them of the birth. They urged the shepherds to go and adore the child in the manger.

In that baby, through faith, we recognize precisely the grace that Pope Francis reminds us of. It is the grace that overcomes sin and gives us the offer of forgiveness and life eternal.

Of course Christmas reminds us there is work yet to be done. The baby Jesus must grow up, teach us, die for us and then rise.

We too have work to do. God’s Mercy is not acquired at no cost or effort on our part. Like the shepherds, we must go to Christ.

Our Catholic faith is not, as some would have it, a set of rules. Rather, it is the road map of friendship. It is the way to experience the joy of God’s grace. That is a lifetime task for all of us.

Of course in this Year of Mercy we not only seek God’s forgiveness. It is also our task to forgive others. Only by seeking mercy and being willing to give it do we truly imitate that child whose birth we celebrate.

In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, may all of us be truly blessed with God’s grace and forgiveness.

A blessed Christmas and New Year to all!