Christmas is nativity, birth, which means a new light, dawn, beginning, and change for everyone. In a world with so many dissatisfactions, frustrations, and challenges, Christmas is synonymous with hope and faith in a better future for humanity.
The Christmas message to the shepherds: “Peace on earth to people of good will”, and the entirety of the life project of Jesus, are a permanent invitation to build peace, through forgiveness and reconciliation, as the fruit of fraternal love. This is a “peace that the world does not give.” While the peace of the world is the silence of arms amidst full cemeteries, the submission and kneeling of the weak in the face of those who have the most arms, the peace that Jesus teaches us and commands is possible thanks to the coexistence of our brothers and sisters, children of the same Father.
The birth of Jesus in a manger shows, on the other hand, the value of humility, simplicity, and clarity in a world exhausted by ostentation, vanity, luxury, and waste. The nativity scene in Bethlehem contrasts with the materialism and consumerism that suffocate us, and encourages us to discover and recognize other values, beyond the anti-values that our “light” and postmodern culture present to us. The setting of the birth, in a manger, allows us to interpret that, beyond pleasure, money, and the power that crushes, there exist in the human being simpler, more genuine, and authentic values.
The story of the offering of the wise men of the East to the child in the manger, moreover, forms the basis of the traditions of generosity at Christmas. At its core, Christmas promotes altruism and benevolence, selfless giving, and service directed especially to those who have less and can do less.
Finally, Christmas is a time of year that brings people together, especially families and friends. It is a time of unity for families and communities. Christmas, then, reminds us that beyond distances and differences, unity and a sense of belonging are essential in building better relationships, better communities, and a better world in which the Christmas spirit always prevails.
Christmas, beyond its enormous religious and Christian significance, is a powerful tradition and a time of year that invites us all to reflect and evoke the greatest and best values that exist in the heart of every human being. These are universal values and messages that, thanks to the child in the manger, became the patrimony of all men and women of goodwill.
I wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS and hope that we can build our life and the life of the world as a Christmas that never ends.
