Early signs suggested that Christmas shopping started at a slow pace this year. Shoppers paying cash over the counter fell short of what was expected from the footfalls in the main shopping areas of Valletta and Sliema. Whether overall sales will match those of previous years or not, it is likely that they will pick up during the week.

So will preparations in the home, where the bulk of our families will be having Christmas lunch on Sunday. More than at any other time in the year, families get together during this period, with even offspring working abroad returning for the break, at times no matter how much it costs them to do so. It is a time for giving, but – above all – for sharing.

Unfortunately, that part of the spirit of Christmas will not enwrap our society completely. There will be those who live at the margin who will be almost or completely left out. That applies to people who live in or at the risk of poverty, certainly.

They do not have the wherewithal to celebrate Christmas as the special occasion that it is. Hopefully, if they believe, their spirits will be somewhat lifted by the memory of the mysterious, fascinating birth of 2,000 years ago. That and prayer should bring them solace. In material terms, however, they may feel deprived as never before.

I am referring to people who live in their own homes, not to those who are cared for in homes for the elderly, people with disability and other institutions. They are cared for, some against payment, out of their pensions and with the help of their family, others out of the provision given to them by the state, the Church and some private organisations, who remind us throughout the year that charity means love and seek from us donations, no matter how small, if we really love our brethren like ourselves.

And, yet, the material side is far from being all there is to it. I was reminded of that a while back, reading the report of what Mario Galea said in the House of Representatives during the debate on the votes of expenditure for which he is responsible as parliamentary secretary for the elderly.

From what I can tell when I visit relatives in government homes, and from what I hear from others, Mr Galea runs a very good ship, confirming he should have been given office much earlier. His speech to the House was bereft of the usual mix of platitudes and barbs. He gave facts and figures to outline what a chunk of our taxes and social contributions finances. He also gave detail that shocked me.

Among the 1,100 or so individuals cared for in St Vincent de Paul Home, said Mr Galea, there were about 200 who never have any visitors. I was similarly shocked way back when an elderly constituent of mine told me that, of her five married children, none ever visited her, much less brought their offspring to see her.

That was a single, acute case. The fact and figure given by Mr Galea was a vivid reminder of a terrible problem that exists among us.

There is an unacceptable margin of material suffering, certainly. There is much aloneness, especially among couples who have lost their partner after a lifetime of togetherness or, in some cases, much too early. There are inst-ances of lack of friends, as demonstrated in a human story carried in yesterday’s sister paper.

But the extent of abandonment of the aged and sometimes the sick that exists among us is terrible. They will know that Christmas has arrived because the homes or hospitals they are at will remind them of it. Yet, it will not reach them where they probably want it most.

The great majority of us who are so much luckier would do well to reflect on the fact that there are others who do not share our good fortune and seek within ourselves ways in which we could be of some help to them.

A serene Christmas to all my readers and to the editor and his staff.