各位朋友、兄弟姊妹:

教宗方濟各於今年發表了一份文件，名為《愛的喜樂》，藉此提醒我們：「婚姻與家庭是社會的根基，而信仰能幫助家庭面對一生的挑戰。」

社會的未來，有賴年輕一代。 如果作為社會棟樑的年輕人覺得沒有希望，社會便不知何去何從。 作為成年人，我們有責任聆聽年輕人的聲音；儘管我們不一定完全明白他們的觀點，我們還是要努力聆聽。 因為如果連聆聽這一步也做不到，那麼，交談就變得沒有可能。沒有對話，就無法溝通，無法共同努力，改變社會，令社會更平安、更進步。

回顧過去一年，香港社會經歷過不同程度的矛盾和傷痛，市民大眾都覺得疲倦了。 我鼓勵大家，趁著聖誕節，可以停下來，安靜一下，抽時間與家人共聚天倫。 如果你因為種種原因，無法在聖誕期間與家人共聚，那麼，就請你最少打個電話或發個信息給家人，表達對他們的關懷。

祝大家在聖誕節充滿耶穌基督的平安與喜樂！

Dear friends, brothers and sisters,

Pope Francis issued a document this year entitled The Joy of Love. In this document, the Pope affirms that our faith can help our family to face any challenges in life. The family is the most basic building block of a healthy society.

The future of our society counts on our younger generation. When our young people are feeling hopeless, there will be no future for our society. As grownups, we are obliged to listen when our young people are voicing out their thoughts, even if we do not always understand those thoughts. Remember, we must try our best to listen to their voices. After all, listening is the very first step leading to further dialogue. If there is no further dialogue, there will be no communication. And without communication, there is no way for us to come together to make our society a better place, a home in peace and harmony.

When we look back into the past year, our society of Hong Kong experienced various conflicts and pain. Everyone is so tired. As Christmas is near, I would encourage everyone to take a break, calm down and spend some time with their family. If it so happens that you cannot really spend time with the family, for whatever reasons, give them a call or send them a short message. Just to let them know that you love them and care about them.

I wish all of you and your families a Christmas filled with peace and joy.