Christmas is fast approaching…and no one needs to explain what Christmas is all about. Christians all over the world celebrate two important events namely Christmas and Easter. In our family lives, we do celebrate our Birthdays, Wedding anniversaries in a very special way, and Christmas – in a way got into our family life that we celebrate it in a very special way too.
But what does true celebration mean? Is it just eating and drinking and making merry? This is what we do in our normal life, we eat and drink and dance and make lot of fun to remember the day in a special way. If we don?t serve good food, our guests would not turn for our next celebration. So, our norm for a good celebration is to have good food and fun. Unfortunately we do follow the same with our spiritual feasts too.
When we think about Christmas, all that we think of is putting up the Christmas tree, what to make for the Christmas lunch or dinner, whom to add in our party guest list and when to start making the Christmas sweets. We have lots of e-mails being circulated on the net as to how to prepare for our Lord?s coming. The e-mails may say a lot, the priest may advise us the good ways of celebrating Christmas. But ultimately it is left for each one of us to decide whether we could make this Christmas, a much better one than the last. By saying this, we do not mean a good Christmas where I think about myself, my loved ones and how much more I am going to get but rather I think about others, and how much more am I going to give?Christmas is a season for giving more than for getting and it is a season of forgiving and forgetting.
Let us picture the nativity of our Lord in our minds. It was not easy for Mary and Joseph in those times. They went knocking on every door but could not find a place. They had to accept the stable the only place given to them to deliver the child. Just think about the stable, the smell of hay, the bleating of the sheep, the lamp that serves as the only light in the darkness, the tiredness, the labor pains, the cold air and on the other hand let us see the choir of angels, the three kings, excited shepherds, a beautiful baby and tremendous joy.
We realize that in the midst of pain and tiredness there is joy and rejoicing. We need to bring that kind of joy in our lives in spite of whatever we are going through. We must circulate that joy and be a source of strength to those who are in pain. In our country here, let us think about the laborers here, we see them everywhere struggling with their physical, emotional, and day to day problems. It could be one of our laborers at our workplace. He or she does not tell me his problems neither do they show their pain but I could spare a smile to him or do a good deed for them without them knowing about it.
We can make it better the celebration by:
- Calling our own relative with whom we had misunderstanding.
- Make peace with our own family members [mean to say not just formality but truly accept them as they are and give them honor and respect]
- Call people who don’t have families here and low income earning friends and share our meal.
- Help those who are in need of material things or emotional touch.
send money to orphanages or home for the aged to share your happiness with them.
- Avoid buying an extravagant gift for your personal use the saving to bring joy in another persons life.
This Christmas let me help one family to have a better Christmas, to have a better meal. This should be done without expecting anything in return.
Gail Monteiro, Abu Dhabi UAE
Author: Gail Monteiro- Abu Dhabi UAE