Christmas

T.S. Eliot describes the conflicting feelings of the Magi after their return from visiting the child Jesus in his celebrated poem “The Magi.”. The Magi are wondering whether what they saw was a birth or death. Yes, it is the birth of a new era, an era of peace and of hope, of joy and reconciliation. At the same time it is also the death of an era based on selfishness and arrogance, of hatred and conflicts.

Every time we celebrate Christmas, it offers us an opportunity for renewal in our lives, of starting a new chapter, and of taking a new turn. With the renewed memory of the birth of Jesus, we get the courage to over come our fears and trepidations to move forward with confidence because Jesus is with us; he is Emmanuel, our protector in life. He is the source of our joy and peace. What a refreshing feeling it gives us. When the voice of the angels that rang out in the hills and valleys of Bethlehem: “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to those on whom his favor rests” reverberates in our ears, we experience a sense of joy whose bounds the power of human imagination can never fathom.

It is in this context of such heavenly feelings that we come across the narrow mindedness of some people who want to take away this sense of joy form the hearts of people. They are justifying their action of not using the word “Christmas” in order not to offend other people. Corporations, stores and restaurants instruct their employees not to wish their customers “Merry Christmas.” Public officials shy away from pronouncing the word “ Christmas” while they have no qualms in pronouncing other words with religious overtones. This is being done under the pretext of universality and of showing respect to the sentiments of people who follow other religious traditions. This is actually a charade—a very hypocritical stance masking as the right way of conduct or behavior. It can be seen as another attempt on the part of secularists to drive away some something that is beautiful in life because it is connected with the Christian faith.

Christmas is not an offending word; it is the word that gives joy to all. The stores want people to buy their goods and feel happy but they don’t want them to feel really happy so as to forget the wounds of the past and to regain a total healing of their hearts by their renewed faith in God. The media and the corporations resort to flimsy excuses to deny Christmas its glory and joy. In a small town in NY, recently, when the priest who was invited to say a blessing over a Christmas tree invoked the name of Jesus Christ, the public official criticized the priest. What a shame! Of course, the people protested and the official then offered his apology. We see the lengths to which these so-called secularists go to avoid mentioning Christ along with Christmas. What a travesty!(New York Times, Dec.18). Can there be a Christmas without Jesus?

This year, as the corporations and the media try to deprive Christmas of its meaning, we have to be more than usually awake to its rich symbolism and meaning. Our Christmas celebrations should be occasions of reawakening our faith in our Lord Jesus.

This year we are celebrating Christmas under the shadow of great natural calamities. The tsunami disaster in Asia, the Katrina disaster in New Orleans and the Kashmir earthquakes have made us realize how fragile and fleeting is our notion of human stability and development. Within moments, thousands and thousands of people lost their lives and magnificent landscapes became cemeteries. We realize once again that we are as weak and fragile as we were two thousand years ago.

We need the spirit of Christmas once again to rekindle in our hearts faith and courage to help us to go forward in our lives. With the presence of Jesus in our hearts, we get the courage to face the challenges of life and to undergo spiritual transformations in our life. By forgiving those who have offended us, by reaching out to those who are poor and deprived, we can make those words of the angels reverberate once again in the hallways and corridors our modern life.

One of widely-read books in recent times, “Tuesdays with Morrie” conveys very beautifully the message of Christmas to each one of us. Morrie, a University professor who was dying of an incurable disease tells his student Mitch Albom who flies to meet him at Boston every Tuesday from Philadelphia that what is important in life is to show love and forgiveness. All other things do not matter, according to the professor. That is what Christmas tells us through the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: “Love one another just as I love you.”(John:15:12)