White Christmas in Summer?

Dear Reader,

Every year, many Christians sound the alarm that the feast of the Nativity has been hijacked by commercial interests. Obviously business has a big stake in Christmas. Retailers’ annual figures live or die by their Christmas turnover, and the print media — what’s left of it — depend on the revenue from seasonal advertising.

Whether we like it or not, Christmas is a commercial monster — and most of us participate in it as we feed the shops with our Christmas bonuses and credit facilities in our hunt for acquisitions and generous presents.

Those who lament the absence of Christ in Christmas do have a point in as far as its commercialisation has very little to do with the Christian faith or the humble birth of the Christchild in Bethlehem.

So the notion of modifying commercial and public behaviour by “putting Christ back into Christmas” is commendable. In his column, Raymond Perrier tells of how a vicar did so in London. But more importantly, we need to appeal to our fellow believers to celebrate Christ, not Santa Claus.

There is nothing wrong in taking part in the pleasurable (and sometimes stressful) dimensions involved in the trappings of secular Christmas: the exuberant shopping, jovial parties, brightly-wrapped gifts, ho-ho-hoing Santas, jingling jingle bells, and songs about dreaming of a white Christmas in the heat of the African summer.

However, at the same time, we Christians must make time and space to observe with devotion and communicate to others the true meaning of Christmas: the celebration of the birth of Jesus, Our Lord. When we speak about putting Christ into Christmas, we must above all do so in our own lives.

The Advent and Christmas reflections and articles in this issue will, we hope, help in this endeavour — while also offering some fun with our annual Big Christmas Trivia Quiz and festive-themed puzzles.

Christmas is the season of hope, peace and joy, and contemplation of the Nativity of the Lord. But this world is also broken — and in few places more so than in the very land where God became man.

On page 10, Donovan Roeberts reports on the desperate situation of Palestinian Christians in and around Bethlehem amid the occupation and annexation of their land by Israel. He focuses, by way of a specific example, on the loss of home, land and livelihood of a Christian family, near the sanctuary where Christian pilgrims go to recall the shepherds keeping watch at night.

As Catholics, this should shake us to the core: the descendants of the first Christians — perhaps even of the shepherds whom we joyfully sing about at Christmas Mass — are being forced out of their homes, beaten, detained, even killed. Our Christian brothers and sisters, many of them Catholics, are being persecuted — and still many Christians proclaim to “stand with” their oppressor. How can that be so? Why?

The year 2025 marks two jubilees. One, of course, is the Holy Year which will begin when Pope Francis enters St Peter’s basilica through its Holy Doors on Christmas Eve. We read about the Jubilee Year and the Holy Doors starting on page 12.

The other jubilee is the year leading up to the 60th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. On page 16, former Southern Cross editor Michael Shackleton recalls in amusing anecdotes his experiences of accompanying Cardinal Owen McCann to Rome — including a very close encounter with Pope St Paul VI, and an incident involving a newspaper.

Thank you for reading The Southern Cross. May your Christmas be filled with joy, peace and love, and may your Holy Year 2025 be a time of abundant blessings and great spiritual fruits.

God bless, Günther Simmermacher
(Editor)