During a recent discussion with my great-niece in London via Skype, we were speaking about how commercialised Christmas has become. As a 13-year-old Catholic, she is quite aware of the true meaning of Christmas, but admitted that she is often caught up in the hype about what she and her friends are getting for Christmas – and it’s all about brand names. In my day my friends and I talked about what we hoped we would get for Christmas.
There is a lot of pressure on parents to give children the gifts they say they want – as though it were an entitlement! Of course, peer pressure and the barrage of media images that assail our senses long before Christmas play a part in the commercialisation of Christmas.
In many ways this is linked to consumerism/excess. Pope Francis is constantly denouncing unfettered/unbridled consumerism. Catholic News Service reported that on August 4, before praying the Angelus with a crowd at St Peter’s Square, “he denounced consumerism as a poison that threatens true happiness, which comes from membership of the Church.”
He said: “The encounter with the living Jesus, in the great family that is the Church, fills the heart with joy, because it fills it with true life, a profound goodness that does not pass away or decay. But this experience must face the daily vanity, the poison of emptiness that insinuates itself into our society based on profit and having (things), that deludes young people with consumerism…Young people are particularly sensitive to the emptiness of meaning and values that surrounds them. And they, unfortunately, pay the consequences.
“True wealth is the love of God, shared with one’s brothers, that love that comes from God and makes us share among ourselves, and makes us help one another. He who experiences this does not fear death, and receives peace of heart.”
As we move into implementing the Archdiocese’s 3rd Pastoral Priority, let us reflect on what we need to do to regenerate morals and values in our society. We can take a cue from Pope Francis. You will have read that Time magazine selected him as its Person of the Year recently saying he has changed the perception of the Catholic Church in an extraordinary way in a short time.
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The Vatican spokesman, Rev Federico Lombardi said: “The Holy Father is not looking to become famous or to receive honours. But if the choice of Person of Year helps spread the message of the Gospel – a message of God’s love for everyone – he will certainly be happy about that.”
Let us thank God that spiritual values are still recognised today. Blessed John XXIII was selected Time’s Person of the Year in 1962. Blessed John Paul II was chosen in 1994. These great men are/were truly signs of God among us – men whose values should inspire us to follow in Christ’s footsteps.
Today’s Second Reading (Romans 1:1-7) should remind us that we too belong to Jesus Christ and are called to be His holy people. So, as we joyfully await the coming of our Lord on Christmas Day, let us remember that Emmanuel: God is with us – he is here already (see today’s Gospel Matthew 1:18-24).
God is with us. He journeys with us daily and, if we open our hearts and minds to His Word, He will mould us to live truly Christian lives. It was the North African theologian Tertullian (ca. 160–220) who said that Christians are made, not born. Our baptism is not the end, but the beginning of a lifelong journey. Living up to our baptismal promises is not easy because of our human frailties. However, if we truly believe that God is with us, if we place our trust in Him and seek to have a closer encounter with Him, He will guide us along the paths of righteousness (Psalm 23:3).
The challenge for us in T&T is to create a nurturing environment to help form faithful Catholics – in our homes, our schools, our workplaces, our communities. To play our part in building the civilisation of love, we must live the values we say we espouse. We must be living exemplars of the Gospel values that we wish others to emulate.
Compassion, love of neighbour, and respect for the dignity of the human person are key gospel values. God is compassionate and inclusive. During this Christmas season, let us show compassion and love for those who are in need by reaching out to them and assisting in whatever way we can.
