The annual celebration of Christ’s birth fills Christians with hope and joy because it is a reminder that the power of God is always at work, and he does great things even through the weak and the small, Pope Benedict said at his weekly general audience Jan. 2.

The pope said Christmas naturally raises the question, “How could that little and weak baby have brought something so radically new that it changed the course of history?”

The answer, the pope said, is that the baby Jesus is God incarnate and saviour of the world.