Pope Francis on Sunday urged Catholics not to get carried away with buying presents and last-minute errands, but to focus on welcoming Jesus into their hearts, local media say.
“Let us go pray, instead of being carried forward by consumerism,” the pope said in his Dec. 20 Angelus address, urging faithful not to get wrapped up in thoughts such as, “I have to buy presents; I have to this and that.”
This is “the frenzy of doing so many things, but the important thing is Jesus,” he said, adding, “Consumerism, brothers, and sisters, has stolen Christmas from us. Consumerism is not in the manger of Bethlehem. There we find reality, poverty, and love.”
Instead of complaining in these difficult times about what the pandemic prevents us from doing, let us do something for someone who has less: not the umpteenth gift for ourselves and our friends, but for a person in need whom no-one thinks of! #Angelus
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) December 20, 2020
Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly Sunday Angelus address, which is the pope’s only public audience still being held in person amid Italy’s holiday coronavirus crackdown.
