The Mysteries and Questions of the Christmas Season

The Christmas celebrations are a precious opportunity to pause in a renewed listening to the Word, letting ourselves be challenged even by the simplest questions that emerge from the mysteries we celebrate. Why is Christmas placed on December 25? Is there really the influence of a pagan festival dedicated to the Sun that, in the winter solstice, would return “to rule” over the darkness? Why is Jesus born in Bethlehem and not in Nazareth, the place chosen by the Archangel Gabriel for the announcement to Mary? Is Jesus born in a stable or in a grotto? What traces remain of these places? Does the place of the manger that is venerated in Bethlehem and shown to pilgrims have anything to do with the one mentioned in the Gospels? To accompany the deepening of Christmas we suggest two catecheses by Fr Francesco Voltaggio (Bethlehem and the birth of the Messiah  in español; The Holy Grotto and the Grotto and the Manger of Bethlehem, also in Spanish) and a video on The True Origin of Christmas by Prof. Di Bella.