The last general audience of 2011, was a festive affair. Traditional Alpine bagpipe players dressed in leather breeches, entertained the eight thousand people packed into the Paul VI audience hall as they waited for Pope Benedict XVI’s arrival, while small children escaped the clutches of their parents to gaze in awe at the life size Nativity Scene gifted this year by the people of Pueblo in Mexico. In fact Christmas, and how we should celebrate the festive season, was also at the heart of the Holy Father’s catechesis this week as he appealed to believers not to allow the external symbols of Christmas time swallow up its truest, most sacred sense. That the Lord is born for us all, even today, for mankind of the third millennium. Speaking in English he said: “As Christmas approaches, I offer prayerful good wishes to you and your families for a spiritually fruitful celebration of the Lord’s birth. At Midnight Mass, we sing: “Today a Saviour is born for us”. This “Tod...