Could this the best Christmas ever? Faced with such a question, readers would immediately answer with a definitive and emphatic no. The answer seems so obvious that many would think that even posing the question is stupid.
Many reasons will be given. This year there will be less partying, socialising and celebrations. Business is bad. Families are told not to come together. Many people are unemployed. Grannies will be on their own, except for virtual meetings. We will receive and give less gifts. Celebrations involving large crowds are not allowed. No tal-Mużew Christmas Eve procession. Midnight Mass will be open to few people.
Need I say more?
Commercial pollution of Christmas
But notwithstanding that all this is true, I do not think that this necessarily must be the worst Christmas ever. I dare say that it could even be one of the best ever. This first COVID-19 Christmas, unusual as it is, does offer the possibility of snatching victory from the jaws of what many consider a certain defeat. This can be done if we are wise enough to separate the wheat from the tare that has become so entangled with our celebrations of Christmas that it has been stifled.
In his Angelus address on December 11, 2005, Pope Benedict said that, in today’s consumer society, Christmas has unfortunately suffered a sort of commercial “pollution” that risks changing its authentic spirit. The feeling that this is the worst Christmas ever comes from the fact that this “pollution” is considered as the norm. Now that this commercial ‘norm’ is in crisis many feel that Christmas itself is in crisis.
It is true that many of the things we used to consider as the normal way of celebrating Christmas had to be cancelled or substantially reduced. But instead of feeling defeated we should take the opportunity to dedicate more time for reflection and prayer that can help us discover the essential spirit and true meaning of Christmas.
What can be more revolutionary than the truth that God became man so that humanity can share in His divine nature?- Fr Joe Borg
This reflection and prayer could help us realise that the Grinch that stole Christmas is not the virus of COVID-19 but the treacle and artificial image of Christmas that had been projected as the norm by the consumer neo-capitalist society. This transformation of Christmas into the prototypical apolitical family festivity celebrating middle class and consumer values is ably described in Stephen Nissenbaum’s social history book The Battle for Christmas. COVID-19 is giving us the possibility of moving away from it.
In Terry Pratchett’s novel The Hogfather (a sort of Father Christmas that used to grant children their wishes bringing them all the presents they dreamt of), death was against his elimination as mandated by the auditors. She believed that it was important for people to believe in such things as Hogfathers and Tooth Fairies. Death tells her niece Susan that “humans need fantasies to make life bearable”.
Here lies the core of the issue: the Christmas season, which starts with Advent, is not about a fantasy. Neither is it an alienation. It is hard-nosed and revolutionary, not treacle and commercial. What can be more revolutionary than the truth that God became man so that humanity can share in His divine nature?
“God’s closeness and our watchfulness”
On the first Sunday of Advent, Pope Francis delivered a fantastic homily during Mass he concelebrated with the new cardinals. It is a programmatic homily about Advent that can help us rediscover the true meaning of Christmas, free from the commercial pollution and, thus, become a Christmas that no COVID-19 virus can take away from us.
I would like to share some of his thoughts. Francis warns us of the slumber of mediocrity and the slumber of indifference. The first “comes when we forget our first love and grow satisfied with indifference, concerned only for an untroubled existence”. The second is the slumber of those who are unconcerned about those all around them because they believe that everything revolves around them and their needs.
He proposes two antidotes: the vigilance of prayer and the watchfulness of charity. Prayer and charity for Francis are vital for life: “Just as we cannot live without breathing, so we cannot be Christians without praying…just as one cannot live without a heartbeat, so one cannot be a Christian without charity.”
Francis says: “Some people seem to think that being compassionate, helping and serving others is for losers. Yet, these are the only things that win us the victory, since they are already aiming towards the future, the day of the Lord, when all else will pass away and love alone will remain. It is by works of mercy that we draw close to the Lord.”
I conclude with his words about faith: “Faith is not water that extinguishes flames, it is fire that burns; it is not a tranquiliser for people under stress, it is a love story for people in love!”
The COVID-19 Christmas can be the best Christmas ever.