Christmas as it is celebrated in the modern world presents a lot of contrasts. Commercialisation, consumerism, excessive eating or drinking and uncontrolled merry making on one hand, and dampened Christian values on the other.

Whatever category people place Christmas in, it is an unfortunate fact that it has been too easily forgotten that it should be first and foremost a holy feast - commemorating the mysterious event when God entered our history in a tangible way and began to be considered a member of the human family.

Today, however, there seems to be a phobia for the sacred, as man prefers what is material and related to his earthly life. It is a sign of our times that Catholic Action Youth felt the need to embark on a campaign a week before Christmas to promote the real values of the celebration and to highlight people's responsibilities to ensure it is observed properly.

There is nothing wrong with buying a few presents for one another during this period. It is, after all, a feast of joy and jubilation. But too many people are going too far and Christmas has become commercialised to such an extent that this aspect is being placed above all others.

It would, perhaps, be worth remembering what happened in the temple of Jerusalem, when Jesus drove away the money-changers. If he were present on earth today, many would argue that he would be doing exactly the same thing. The campaign against the commercialisation of Christmas therefore deserves everybody's support because this period should be part of the slow process to re-educate the modern mind to think more in terms of God.

This can be achieved not just through prayer, but also by practising much talked about deeds such as reconciliation and generosity. Only last week, the President stressed the need for the Maltese to understand and live their Christian values in order to help those who somehow cannot keep up.

But for this to be possible all of us need to understand what Christmas means in our everyday lives. The message from the angels at Christ's birth so often pronounced during our children's Nativity plays - "Peace on earth to the people of goodwill" - should be taken on board by all of us. And peace does not merely mean the absence of strife.

The need for pardon and reconciliation is badly felt in our society, where tensions and divisions too often come to the fore - sometimes within our own families. This is a time for them to reflect and strive to pour oil on troubled waters, reconcile enemies, build bridges between rival factions, and be more tolerant of those around us. This would be a wonderful Christmas present to families and our country as a whole.

But these acts of generosity so conspicuous at Christmastide should not be missing from the day-to-day interaction with one another during other parts of the year. After all, some people are still lonely, still underprivileged, or still in need of a helping hand. As the President said, solidarity is not just a word, but should be part of our actions all the year round.

This is what would truly bring joy - a word that should strike a pleasant note in everybody's ears - since every human being, without exception, desires to be happy. But it means that especially during this period we should be prepared to give up many things for others. What we must take care not to do during Christmas, however, is give up our souls.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.