A leading Church official in China has called on Catholics to live the mystery of the Incarnation through inclusive discipleship, family life, and visible Christian witness.
Bishop Li Shan of Beijing made the appeal by framing Christmas as God’s active presence in human history in his Christmas message.
Reflecting on the Gospel of John, the prelate centered his message on the image of the Word who “pitched his tent among us,” describing the Incarnation as more than a single historical moment and calling it “a great act of salvation intimately connected with all humanity.”
Citing John 1:14, Li explained that the Gospel’s use of the Greek verb meaning “to pitch a tent” recalls the Old Testament tabernacle and points to a new way in which God dwells among people.
God, he said, no longer remains only in the tabernacle or the temple but “truly enters into history in Jesus Christ, ‘pitching a tent’ in the world.”
The bishop highlighted the breadth of Jesus’ ministry, noting that Christ encountered men and women, Jews and non-Jews, people of status and ordinary villagers, the joyful and the grieving, and those who were healthy as well as those who were sick or disabled.
Jesus, he said, spoke with them, ate with them, healed their afflictions, and invited them to walk the path of faith.
While Jesus actively approached those he encountered, Li said he also invited people to respond freely.
He recalled Jesus’ invitation at the start of his public ministry, “Come and see!” and pointed to figures such as Nicodemus, Mary at the wedding in Cana, the first disciples, and the Greeks who wished to see Jesus as examples of those who actively sought him.
Li said following Christ means not only encounter but also belonging. He pointed to Jesus’ words from the cross, “‘Woman, here is your son!’ … ‘Here is your mother!’” as a concrete expression of the new family formed through faith.
The bishop also linked belief with responsibility, citing Jesus’ words: “Everyone who believes in me will do the works I have done, and will do even greater works than these.”
As members of God’s family, he said, believers are called to invite others, echoing the Samaritan woman’s testimony: “Come and see this man! Could he be the Messiah?”
He urged Catholics to draw close to the Word, study Scripture, and make their families living homes of God, while witnessing to faith through daily life.
The bishop called on believers to allow their lives to be shaped by the Word made flesh, “building a tent for the Word” in their hearts and actions.
