“How bad it is when we come across a Christian who has lost hope!”. Pope Francis made these off-the-cuff remarks during his general audience today in which he decried the attitude of those who say “all seems over to me”, of those “who are unable to look to the future with hope and only see a wall in front of themselves. But God can destroy that wall with His forgiveness”. “Hope is born when we see God in the crib, being born in Bethlehem”, Pope Francis continued, recalling that “we have to open our hearts” at Christmas: “Christmas is the day for us to open our hearts to things so small and yet so wonderful. This is the marvel of Christmas we are preparing for in this Advent season. This is the surprise of a God child, a poor God, a weak God, a God who abandons His greatness in order to draw close to each of us”. “We are all called to become men and women of hope!”, the Pope’s invitation.