The true Golden Compass for humanity is Jesus Christ. He is not just the Compass. He is the way who leads us to the Father. Finding Him means finding the Father because He and the Father are one. Christmas is the ideal occasion for us to discover that He became man only because He is madly in love with each and every one of us. Christmas is the time when we reciprocate His love by trying to love others the way He loves them. Christmas is the time when we discover the joy of all this.
It's the season to be jolly
Pope Benedict XVI spoke about this joy on December 13, just before reciting the Angelus. The secret to experiencing true joy is not found in accumulating lots of things, but from feeling loved by the Lord and being generous to others, he said. Real joy is feeling that one's personal and social life "is touched and filled by a great mystery, the mystery of God's love."
How can one experience joy when one lives in a sea of problems and difficulties? The Pope said that the Holy Family, gathered in a stable and facing so many hardships, does not on the surface, look like a very lucky family.
"And yet, they are full of an intimate joy because they love each other, they help each other" and above all they are certain that their lives are fulfilling God's work, commented Pope Benedict. True joy, therefore, "does not consist in having lots of things, but in feeling loved by the Lord, in letting ourselves be a gift to others, and in loving ourselves," he said. To feel joy, people need love and truth and to be close to God, who "warms our hearts and responds to our deepest needs," added the Pope.
It's the season to be radical
Christmas brings with it a radical development in the history of humanity. God shared our humanity so that we humans could have a share in His divinity. Quite naturally this has myriad implication on the level of personal, communal and political way of living for all men and women. Christmas should be the guarantee that all humans should share in the freedom of God and live in true freedom. God is a community of persons so Christmas should instil a spirit of solidarity and community. By becoming man, God got involved in human history to free humanity. Involvement is the name of the game for Christians.
Christmas is the promotion of a way of life. It promotes the integral development and the freedom of all men and women. Christmas promotes human dignity. We preach this Gospel. This is our mission of evangelisation. John Paul II said that "Human promotion must be the logical consequence of evangelisation, which tends to the integral liberation of the person."
Christmas is an eminently political feast. It is a celebration of involvement in the human condition; it is the clarion call of the victory of the meek and the humble; it is the ultimate defeat of the haughty; it is the bridgehead of solidarity. This is the looking glass that Christians must be gazing at during Christmas time. This is the looking glass which shows the real solution to the economic difficulties that we are facing. We should resist the temptation of looking for salvation at the neo-liberal theories that value the market more than the human person.
A really happy Christmas can only be enjoyed to the full if we Christians individually and together as a church discover and incarnate in our society the social and political dimension of Christmas which emanate from its religious dimension.
It's the season to be generous
Christmas is the celebration of God's generosity to humanity. It should also be the celebration of our generosity towards others. There are many occasions to be generous during the Christmas period. L-Istrina is one of them. This will be different in one aspect from the previous editions but similar from other aspects.
It will be a L-Istrina without the reception of gifts. Loads of money was collected when gifts were given. If gifts played a part and were important to increase the sum collected then they served a rightful purpose. Perhaps there were times when things got out of hand and those excesses could have been corrected. However, a little encouragement for people to give generously is not amiss. In the Catholic church we came up with an elaborate system of indulgenzi and merti to encourage people to do what is good. Besides, no one ever refused the L-Istrina money!
L-Istrina without gifts is another step in the evolution of this national feast of solidarity. President Abela took a very courageous but risky step. We should all do our best to see that the people reciprocate this decision by their generous giving. The press conference given by President Abela showed in very graphic terms the sufferings of so many people. These can be helped by contributions to L-Istrina. We cannot be passive. President Abela was right to appeal to people in business; the gifts they used to donate should now be translated into money offerings.
A number of TV personalities foremost of who is the tireless Peppi Azzopardi will once again front L-Istrina. He, more than anyone else, has become the symbol of L-Istrina. His presence will add to the credibility of the event; his appeals next Saturday will be translated into more donation.
The country has a challenge next Saturday. I am certain it will be met.
It's the season to be prolonged
The Christmas spirit of love and generosity should be prolonged to the rest of the year. If this is done we will have a better world.
I wish a Happy Christmas to all my readers and especially to those who regularly comment of this page, independently of whether one agrees or not with their comments.