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What meaning does Christmas have for us?

Dec 25, 2008 Letters, News

Dear Editor,
As we approach the feast of Christmas, the celebration of the Birthday of the Lord, what are the thoughts that flip through our minds in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai here in India? What sort of celebrations should we have in our churches, SCC zones, and in our homes? What meaning does Christmas have for us in these tragic circumstances? These are the questions we would do well to ponder. The world seems to be full of hatred, injustice, violence and insecurity, just as it was nearly two thousand years ago when the Lord Jesus chose to be born into this world. How many of us, if we had the choice, would have opted to come down into this “valley of tears”, giving up the joy and peace of heaven? We must remind ourselves at Christmas time that this is precisely what Jesus did for our sakes. As St. Paul says, “Though He was in the form of God; He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, born in the likeness of men.” (Phil 2, 6-7) He loved us so much that He came to dwell amongst us to share our joys and sorrows, triumphs and failures, hopes and anxieties. It is by demonstrating that He is with us and understands all that we have to endure that He brings us hope and gives us inspiration and courage. This precisely is the message of Christmas: that in the midst of death and devastation, life is sure to triumph because He is there to give us company always. For those who welcome Him, in faith, there is no room for despair. Yet, while we celebrate the birthday of the Lord, we must not, at this time, forget to identify with those who are suffering around us, just as He, too, chose to experience, even at His birth, the humiliation of being denied “a place in the inn”, and the fear of being hunted down and put to death by the tyrant Herod. He accepted shelter close to nature, in a stable for humble animals, and later fled into exile in Egypt – like so many rendered homeless and abandoned in Orissa, India, and elsewhere in the world. Must not, then, our Christmas celebration also be simple, bring us closer to nature, and reflect our concern for hundreds of victims of violence in Mumbai and in many other countries? We cannot fail to be impressed by reports that many religious groups and communities in the city of Mumbai are toning down their traditional celebrations in view of the shocking terrorist attacks in Mumbai. It is fitting, therefore, that we, too, express our solidarity with the victims of these attacks in a similar manner. Our religious celebrations must instill hope in those who are losing hope, while our social celebrations should be sober and unostentatious, reflecting a mood of genuine concern for those who are in pain. May our Christmas stars radiate the hope that the Child Jesus brings, our cribs the joy of His presence among us in these troubled times, and our simple gatherings the oneness and unity we all need to defeat the enemies of peace in the world. A Very Happy Christmas filled with Hope, Joy and Peace, to all in the dear Land of Guyana!

Fr. Joseph M. Dias, S. J. Mumbai

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