Gentle is that Latin phrase, puer nobis natus est: a boy is born to us! There isn't a harsh sound in those words. Monday is the feast of the Child Christ born among us, a caring and gentle feast, full of hope and the promise of a better world for us all. If you could have a prayer for Christmas, what would it be? A peaceful day is readily proffered as the answer to that question. Sadly, that very answer reflects the fact that many of us find our hopes for peace on that day unrealised. All too often Christmas ends up as a sleepy non-event slumped in front of some inane television offerings. Or, worse, the day can sometimes be fraught with loneliness, tensions and rows. I often think it sad that when the debris is cleared, and the bank balance examined, there are some who rejoice that Christmas is over. They mutter "Thank God!" and return to a life of business as usual. Clearly that is not the experience that the birth of Christ is supposed to bring to our lives!
Yet having a wonderful day is not something beyond our means. The traditional practices of visiting relations, going to Church, having a family dinner, giving and receiving gifts and having a good time together are almost second nature to us. There are very few people who cannot sit in the company of family and friends and relax. It is a gentle feast, there is not supposed to be pressure put on anybody, and making the day special is not difficult. The Christian Church celebrates the birth of God among us. Christ was born in humble, uncomplicated surroundings. His birth, like any other birth, was the herald of hope and a new beginning. It is the simplicity of the story of a little baby boy being born that should tug at our emotions and challenge us to seek hope again in our own lives. It was neither the revelry of the inns nor the gifts of the magi that made the first Christmas special; it was simply the birth of Christ that did that. It was the simple fact of Jesus's birth that brought peace and joy to the Christmas story.
Try as we might, we cannot expect the commercial world to provide that part of the feast. You cannot bottle peace or wrap joy and sell them; they are free gifts and ones that we can all give. This is the part of Christmas that we have to work on ourselves because it is our efforts and not the trimmings that make Christmas a time of peace in the home. This year, why not make Christmas work for your family? Go to your Church and hear the story of the child being born. Yes, you've heard it before, but hear it again. Let the feast of God being here among us be something that kick-starts a great day. Visit your relations, then wander home and have a family meal. Banish the television to the attic (any pastoral worker will tell you that almost every row at Christmas is caused by that machine!) and spend the evening playing with the children or chatting or playing a friendly round of Trivial Pursuits. Christmas is the feast of a new beginning. Let the new beginning that a child born in the stable in Bethlehem brought to the world be a hope for a better year to come, for a better world full of hope and peace for us all. Happy Christmas!
F. Mac E.