Will Christ be in Christmas this year?

By Shay Cullen, mssc

Will Christ be in the Christmas this year? As I frequently say, it is not a fit place for Him anymore. Christmas is so commercialised that it resembles a pagan carnival and an excuse for gluttony and selfish over-indulgence. The real spirit of Christmas is found in those who imitate Jesus of Nazareth and live as he did-for others. It is serving, helping and risking one's own life and expecting nothing in return. Christian love does not look for personal gratification, prosperity or reward. It is irrational, it is loving others for no reason whatsoever.

That is in the heart of a follower of Christ- loving the unlovable out of compassion. Helping those who cannot give anything in return. Unless we have this commitment as our goal in life, all the rites and rituals in the world will not bring us closer to God and the meaning of the Christian way of life. It reaches its perfection when one gives their life, all their energies, abilities, feelings and caring to others. Some Christians are willing to die for the people they have chosen to serve and countless numbers have. No greater love can anyone have than to give up their lives for their friends, Jesus said.

Friends are those whom Jesus identified with- the poor, the uneducated, the outcasts. He embraced them all and made them feel wanted, of value and very much loved and he died for them and for us. That is why the crucifix, a instrument of the cruellest torture and execution, is ironically the symbol of Christianity. It sums up the unselfish love of total sacrifice that Jesus taught and practised.

He went about Palistine with a band of followers preaching love and tolerance, peace and non-violence. He introduced individual human rights to the world where the poor were non-persons. He came to prominence because he was a riveting story teller using images and metaphors that caught and held the imagination of the travellers in the camel caravans that rested overnight near the Sea of Galilee. These stories were repeated over and over and soon reached Jerusalem.

Jesus was a devoted Jew and challenged the religious leaders to come down from their prestigious pedestals and pinnacles of power to serve the poor. His version of the 'Kingdom of God' was at odds with theirs. The poor, according to Jesus, were the real temples and sanctuaries of God's presence. He was brought into the world by an unmarried mother in an animal shelter and learned from her his mission to redeem the world and end the injustices and suffering of the oppressed people.

Jesus calls all of us to experience love, acceptance, forgiveness and self-giving in God's intimate presence when we serve the poor. That's why Mother Theresa was called a living saint. Inexplicably, these lepers, beggars, convicts, outcasts, prostitutes and 'sinners' were, according to Jesus, the people most closely mirroring the image and likeness of God. It sounds ridiculous because to the well-off, the poor are so emaciatated, sickly and even repulsive in their poverty and suffering. We tend to shun, not embrace them. Remember what we see on the cruxifix is shocking, too. Yet that is the heart and the wonder of true Christianity.

When Jesus welcomed the outcasts and embraced the untouchables as special guests in God's family, the religious leaders of his time were outraged. They believed that they were the privileged, ordained and appointed by God to rule others and serve him by performing rites and rituals. Riches were a reward and a sign of God's approval. Poverty, they thought, was a punishment for sin. Jesus disagreed and said the poor were impoverished because of the sins of the rich. It's not a sin to be rich but is it honestly gained wealth and do we use it as Jesus would?

What you do to these, the least of all, Jesus said, you do to me. When you visit them, free them, clothe them, feed them, you do it to me, he told us. He was one with these wretched of the earth and this is the mystery of salvation. That birth in a cold dark stable is where it all began. The challenge for us is to keep it alive.