To be joyful we do not just have need of things, but love and truth: We need a God who is near, who warms our hearts, and responds to our profound desires. This God is manifested in Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary. This is why that Baby, whom we place in the stable or the cave, is the center of everything, the heart of the world.

- Angelus Address, 13 December 2009

The Child, adored 2,000 years ago by the shepherds in a cave of Bethlehem, never stops visiting us in our daily life as we, like pilgrims, walk toward the Kingdom.

- General Audience, 19 December 2007