Celebrating Christmas- Celebrating Love!

Celebrating Christmas- Celebrating Love!

Sis Patricia Michelle Mathias fsp

The writer belongs to the congregation of the Daughters of St Paul (media-missionaries), popularly known as Pauline Sisters. She holds a Masters degree in Communications and is currently a lecture in NISCORT MEDIA COLLEGE.

Story telling is a beautiful art. I am not very adept at it, but let me tell you that nothing captures my attention more than a beautiful story that drives home the message of the day’s reading or an effective moral or a value-based message.

Jesus was a wonderful story teller. His stories include those of the Good Samaritan, the women with the lost coin, the shepherd and his lost sheep, to name a few. Even his birth sounds so interesting when the scene of the nativity is enacted. It has every element of - Excitement: When the angel visits Mary at the annunciation); Anguish: A heavily pregnant Mother Mary has to travel with her husband on a treacherous journey; Pain and anxiety: Mary has no place to give birth to her baby; and the sweet finale: Jesus’ birth, Angels choir, visitors, etc.   This story does not end there. We believe Christ is amongst us and celebrate his birth with equal pomp. 

But, Christmas today has turned unique, we have added features into our celebration. These unique features include the Santa, Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer, Snow Flakes, Frosty the snowman, the Mistletoe, The gloriously lit Christmas tree, decorations and last but not the least, food and for ‘some of us’ wine!

All said and done, the added features make the celebration beautiful. But here lies the question, “Do these make our celebration meaningful?” Well, that reminds me of a story called ‘Marvellous Love’ retold by Bill Bright. It narrates an incident that occurred “On a cold Christmas Eve in 1952, when Korea was in the throes of civil war. A young woman struggled along a village street, obviously soon to deliver a child. She pleaded with the passersby to help her, but in vain. To add to her woes, a middle-aged couple walked by. The wife pushed away the young mother and sneered, "Where's the father? Where's your American man now?" The insensitive couple laughed and went on.

By then, her contraction doubled up. She had heard of a missionary living close by who was very helpful, but she just could not make it. Finally, wearied and unable to walk she saw a bridge. It was a freezing, cold, snowy, winter night.  Realising that the time was near to deliver her baby, she took shelter under a bridge. There, alone, her baby was born on Christmas Eve. She feared her newborn would die in the freezing cold. Having no other option, this mother took off her own clothes, wrapped them around the baby and held him close in the warm circle of her arms.

The next morning, the missionary set out on his errand to deliver Christmas packages. While closing on the bridge, He heard the voice of a baby. Under it, he found a young mother frozen to death, still clutching her crying new born son. The missionary tenderly lifted the baby out of her arms. When the baby was 10 years old, his now adoptive father told him the story of his mother's death on Christmas Eve. The young boy cried, realising the sacrifice his mother had made for him.

The next morning, the missionary rose early to find the little boy's bed empty. He followed the trail of footprints the boy had left on the snow and it reached the same bridge where the boy’s mother had died in order to save her little one. As the missionary approached the bridge, he stopped, stunned. Kneeling in the snow was his son, naked and shivering uncontrollably. His clothes lay beside him in a small pile. Moving closer, he heard the boy say through chattering teeth:  "Mother, were you this cold for me?"

What message does this story give? Perhaps, the first thing that strikes our mind is the mother’s supreme sacrifice. The second thing that stirs our heart is the son’s unique way of expressing his love and gratitude for his mother. But there is another message that shines through- the message that the couple that jeered at this woman gave us. To add to the misery of the woman, along with no help they gave her a generous dose of painful mockery.

At times, Christmas becomes a celebration, fun, feasting and partying the whole night. And we fail to look beyond. This story reminded me of my maternal uncle who had a unique way of celebrating his Christmas. Uncle Francis would invite one poor man to his house and feed him a sumptuous lunch on Christmas. He would tell me, “Michelle, I want him to know that I am celebrating the birth of Christ.” This was followed by a gala bursting of crackers at night.  I was amused as a little girl by his noble gesture. But, today after so many years, I have realised what he meant. The young couple lost out on an opportunity to allow Christ to be born in their hearts and not just in their external celebrations.

Well, please I am not a spoil sport and I am not telling you to not celebrate and have fun. My Uncle had fun too. But he shared his joy with someone, and that doubled his joy! His was the joy that the angels witnessed to, on the night of Christ’s birth. I end with a question for you and for me, “How am I going to make Christmas special this time: ‘Cakes and parties or A witnessing of Love?’

Wish you a grace-filled Christmas! 

WISH YOU LOVE…😍😍😍