VATICAN CITY — Cautioning against the monotony of routine that dims the capacity to appreciate the extraordinary, Pope Francis urged young people to experience Christmas as a time to develop a sense of wonder.
"Let us learn to be amazed," he told young members of the Italian Catholic Action movement during a meeting at the Vatican Dec. 20. "Let us learn never to take anything for granted, especially love: that of God and that of the people we meet."
The pope told young people to "infect everything and everyone with wonder -- from house to house, parish to parish, city to city, nation to nation -- thus we spread happiness, confidence and consolation."
"Christmas is good news, it is not for having a big dinner and nothing more," he said. "It is a festivity that is at the root of our faith."
Pope Francis asked if the young people had ever seen "boring people," and explained that such people are tedious because they "do not know how to be amazed."
"Everything is the same, monotonous, they have lost the capacity to be amazed," he said.
Christmas, however, "is a truly special moment in this sense," the pope explained, since one can be easily amazed at the lights, gifts and liturgies of the season.
"Let us think of the Nativity scene, how much wonder there is!" he said. "The shepherds, Magi and other characters surround the grotto with their astonished faces, involving, like with a great party, even the animals and the whole landscape."
Pope Francis encouraged young people to stop before Nativity scenes and to look at them closely to see, despite their diversity, how God's love is depicted in each one.
He also urged them to remember those in need during the holiday season, recalling that the members of the Holy Family "were poor, were needy."
"I encourage you to always be close in prayer and charity to those who are suffering, to so many kids like you, who are sick from hunger, war, disease," he said.
— Justin McLellan, Catholic News Service