At Christmastime, a wave of tenderness and hope, together with an overpowering need for closeness and peace, engulfs all people of goodwill, irrespective of colour or creed. Yet, many great evils still hurt humanity, armed conflicts continue to lay waste many areas of the world, the scourge of terrorism and the many forms of violence persist, battering the weak and the vulnerable and injustices and discouragement foment exclusion instead of inclusion.
It is therefore essential that all but especially the faithful do not lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas. Precious symbols, such as the crib and even the Christmas tree, should remind us of what this great feast really means and help us keep track of its ever relevant and everlasting message.
In the crib we should contemplate Jesus as the one who stripped Himself of divine glory in order to become poor, driven by love for mankind. Even the Christmas tree, with its twinkling lights, should remind us that, with the birth of Jesus, the tree of life blossomed anew in the desert of humanity.
Christmas has, rightly or wrongly, become a prime occasion to exchange gifts. However, even here, we need to keep this practice rooted in the fact that Christmas celebrates the gift par excellence: the gift that God gave to humanity in the person of Jesus.
This tradition, therefore, must be observed in harmony with the meaning of the event; in simplicity and moderation. But, most of all, we must reach out more generously to those people who, perhaps due to particular forms of physical ailments or trials, over and above what they receive from the state in social and other benefits, also need philanthropic support from institutions like the Community Chest Fund or Church entities. This underlines the need to support always better such institutions also by being ever generous in our response to the annual L-Istrina and the fund-raising activity held by Id-Dar tal-Provvidenza.
There are also people in our own lives or beyond who are not necessarily thirsting for material support but for better understanding and inclusion, whatever their colour, nationality, ethnic or cultural origin, religion, social group or political tendencies.
Along the many kinds of physical pain, there are different types of moral suffering and cases where it is primarily the soul that is aching. When people suffer in their soul, the pain must be a summons to solidarity and to justice too. Every person of goodwill must listen to the cry of those who suffer. There can be no room for indifference or passivity in the face of human suffering. At Christmas, Jesus comes knocking at the door of every person’s heart with particular intensity. He asks for a prompt and generous response to the pleas of humans in distress, for instance, the refugees and migrants among us in need of understanding, support, integration and social inclusion. The true spirit of Christmas calls on us to open our eyes to their realities and do something.
Patient, humble and compassionate listening to each other, accompanied by an intent to understand someone else’s situation, can only yield positive solidarity results.
Solidarity is part of the foundation of the whole of existence. It is not only sympathy with all, a way of being socially committed and aware that we all belong to the same race, culture, nationality. It is also the experiencing of a bond with all other human beings so deeply within ourselves that constitutes our existence itself.