My dear Children:

I remember the time when I was child like you.

I too used to hurry to the crib. How beautiful and moving are the Christmas carols about the Divine Child who came into the world that holy night!

Eight days afterwards the Child was given a name: he was called Jesus.

Not much time will pass after his birth before the Baby Jesus finds himself facing the cruel king Herod and for this reason Jesus will be forced to flee with his parents into Egypt.

These events connected with the birth of Jesus are told to you by your parents, and by priests, teachers and catechists, and each year you relive them spiritually at Christmastime.

Dear friends! In what happened to the Child of Bethlehem you can recognize what happens to children throughout the world.

It is true that a child represents the joy of its parents and the whole of society.

But it is also true that in our days, unfortunately, many children in different parts of the world are suffering and being threatened: they are hungry and poor, are dying from diseases and malnutrition, are the victims of war.

The Child whom we see in the manger at Christmas grew up as the years passed.

When he was twelve years old he went for the first time with Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.

There, in the crowds of pilgrims, he was separated from his parents and, with other boys and girls, he stopped to listen to the teachers in the Temple, for a sort of "catechism lesson."

Dear boys and girls, who are the same age as the twelve-year-old Jesus, are you not reminded now of the lessons in the parish and at school, lessons which you are invited to take part in?

From Jerusalem Jesus went back with Mary and Joseph to Nazareth where he was obedient to them (cf. Lk 2:51).

Dear children, in the Child whom you look at in the crib you must try to see also the grown man who later will give sight to the blind, heal the sick, even raise the dead.

This Child, now just born, once he is grown up will show an extraordinary love for children. He will say to the Apostles: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them," and he will add: "for to such belongs the kingdom of God" (Mk 10,14).

Another time, as the Apostles are arguing about who is the greatest, he will put a child in front of them and say: "Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 18,3).

How important children are in the eyes of Jesus! We could even say that the Gospel is full of the truth about children. The whole of the Gospel could actually be read as the "Gospel of children."

People who are destined to go to heaven are simple like children, and like children are full of trust, rich in goodness and pure. Only people of this sort can find in God a Father and, thanks to Jesus, can become in their own turn children of God.

You, dear children, are sons and daughters of your parents. God wants us all to become his adopted children by grace. Here we have the real reason for Christmas joy.

Dear friends, there is no doubt that an unforgettable meeting with Jesus is First Holy Communion, a day to be remembered as one of life's most beautiful.

The day of First Holy Communion is also a great day of celebration in the parish. This event is usually commemorated in a family photo, so that it will not be forgotten.

Just as Jesus in the Gospel shows special trust in children, so his Mother Mary, in the course of history, has not failed to show her motherly care for the little ones.

Think of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, the children of La Salette and, in our own century Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta of Fatima.

It is absolutely true: Jesus and his Mother often choose children and give them important tasks for the life of the Church and of humanity.

And here I come to an important point in this Letter: it is to your prayers that I want to entrust the problems of your own families and of all the families in the world.

And not only this: I also have other intentions to ask you to pray for. The Pope counts very much on your prayers.

We must pray together and pray hard, that humanity, made up of billions of human beings, may become more and more the family of God and able to live in peace.

At the end of this Letter, dear boys and girls, let me recall the words of a Psalm which have always moved me: Praise, O children of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord! (cf. Ps 112:1-3, 113:1-3).

Praise the name of the Lord. The children of every continent, on the night of Bethlehem, look with faith upon the newborn Child and experience the great joy of Christmas.

They sing in their own languages, praising the name of the Lord. The touching melodies of Christmas spread throughout the earth.

They are tender and moving words which which blend with the song of the Angels, the messengers of the glory of God, above the stable in Bethlehem: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!" (Lk 2,14).

God loves you, dear children!

I hope that you will have a more intense experience of the love of your parents, of your brothers and sisters, and of the other members of your family.

This love must then spread to your whole community, even to the whole world, precisely through you, dear children.

Pope John Paul II