Prepare for Christmas

As in every Advent season, Christians will again sound the reminder: “Put Christ back into Christmas”. This call, of course, presumes that there was a recent time when Christmas was free of the secular and commercial dimensions that countermand the reverence that ought to be accorded to the feast of the Nativity of Our Lord.

The reality is that Christmas has been both a commercial and religious proposition for more than a century.

And before that, in many cultures Christmas was an occasion for raucous and unedifying behaviour.

In the Middle ages, the Puritan-dominated British parliament even outlawed Christmas partly because of immorality associated with its celebration (another reason was anti-Catholicism, as the Puritans considered Christmas “a popish festival with no biblical justification”).

In the temporal environment, Christmas no longer belongs to the followers of Christ, but to everybody. Christmas is a time when many inactive Catholics attend Mass, even if only for the sake of sentimental tradition.

We must welcome them warmly and truly live out the season of goodwill – and perhaps even attract some back into the Church.

Nevertheless, for many people, Frosty the Snowman and the infant Jesus now have a measure of cultural equivalence. Christians are therefore right to insist that the reason for the celebration of Christmas, which is incorporated in the feast’s name, not be ignored.

Efforts made by Catholic and other Christian activists to encourage shopping malls to display Nativity scenes, for example, must be commended and supported, as must the Knights of da Gama’s long-running “Put Christ Back Into Christmas” campaign.

We must not accept the exclusion of Jesus from his own birthday feast.

At the same time, the appeal to put Christ back into Christmas should be in particular directed at Catholics as a reminder to include Christ in our Christian lives especially at this hectic time.

This does not mean that we must renounce the worldly dimensions of Christmas. The spirit of generosity, the accent on family and friends, and the sense of goodwill that mark the season are entirely harmonious with Christianity.

As Catholics, we are called to a dual Christmas: the often frenzied time that leads up to our celebrations on December 25, and the liturgical Christmas season which begins with the feast of the Nativity and concludes with the feast of the Epiphany on December 6 (this is the period which the famous song refers to in “The Twelve Days Of Christmas”).

The first period, which might be called “the secular Christmas”, is what Christians call Advent. These are the four Sundays during which we anticipate the Saviour’s birth in Bethlehem – and into our lives.

It is a time that calls for quiet reflection and atonement in the midst of the frantic preparations for Christmas and holidays. Our challenge is to reconcile both elements while keeping our eyes firmly on Christ.

We can do so even as we shop for Christmas presents. Are there appropriate gifts that also communicate the Christian faith? Do we make a detour to the local Catholic bookshop or repository on our way to the malls?

Do we have in our homes an Advent wreath and light the candles, one by one on every Sunday of Advent?

When we write Christmas cards (or post our greetings on Facebook or Twitter) or convey our greetings in person once the feast of the Nativity has arrived, do we do so with a suitably Christian spirit? In our well-wishes, do we say “Happy Christmas” or do we dilute the celebration’s roots in Christ with banal phrases such as “Happy Holidays” or the hideous “Compliments of the Season”?

Addressing pilgrims at his general audience on the last Wednesday before Christmas last year, Pope Benedict reminded us: “Let us make sure that even in today’s society our Christmas greetings do not lose their profound religious meaning and the celebration is not absorbed by exterior aspects.”

As we prepare for the birth of Christ, let the pope’s words resonate with us.