On a dark and rainy evening just before Advent, I met a woman on the Cathedral steps. “Well”, she said, as she lowered her umbrella. “Very wintery, Mam”, I ventured. “Tis the dark nights I dread”, she said. Hoping to cheer her up a bit I said, “Ah well, Christmas will soon be here. That will brighten up the Winter”. “I wish it was over”, she said with a swish of the umbrella which sent a second shower all over me! She then closed the umbrella and the conversation abruptly and headed into the Cathedral. Many people find the prospect of Christmas daunting. The preparations, the decorations, the shopping, the presents, the collections, the Christmas dinner and a thousand other things come crowding. And the cost of it all! It is a severe test of the better side of our nature. The money lender may have to come to the door before Santa Claus can come down the chimney. The material and the commercial side of Christmas have been with us down the centuries. The feast was deliberately timed to Christianise the pagan festival of the Unconquered Sun at the Winter solstice in Rome in the fourth century. The pagan feast was never fully supplanted, however. Excesses and abuses were never fully exorcised. In England, for example, in 1644 after the Puritans had taken control, Christmas was abolished. Christmas Day was declared a fast day and both houses of Parliament sat. The Lords were treated to a sermon from Edmund Calamy and told to call to mind their own sins and those of their forefathers who had turned Christmas, which was supposed to be in memory of Christ, into “extreme forgetfulness of him”. “This year”, he declared, “God by his prudence has buried it…I hope it will never rise again”. But rise it did as the ordinary people were never going to accept a situation where Christmas Day was indistinguishable from Ash Wednesday. But the struggle between the material and the spiritual aspects has continued. At the beginning of this Century G.K. Chesterton reflected the unease of his time when he entitled an article, “Christmas is going…”. The challenge to Christians of every age is to celebrate with joy but with moderation. Celebration is essential to our well-being and in mid-winter, in particular, we need a lift. There is a time for Christians to feast and there is a time to fast. A sense of proportion is vital for both. At Christmas, we celebrate the most important of all birthdays – the birthday of Jesus Christ our Saviour. He came into the human family as a Babe in a manger. He came in poverty and simplicity. In the words of a Christmas hymn, “A Mother’s milk that strength renewed, which gives the birds of heaven their food”. Reflecting on the touching scene at Bethlehem on the night the angels sang and the simple shepherds came, St. Augustine observed, “God has humbled himself and man is still proud”. The tenderness of God’s love and the simplicity of this wonderful mystery should help us keep our priorities in order. If we keep the real meaning of Christmas in mind we will not, “lose the run of ourselves” in the run up to the feast. Neither will we forget the poor and the lonely at this time. The “spirit of Christmas”, will mean reaching out to those who cannot afford the few extras without which there can be little joy. Then there are those who miss their loved ones who once made Christmas so special. The local charitable organisations, especially the St. Vincent de Paul Society, can help us to restore some of the magic of Christmas for them. With Christmas, then, much depends on our approach. The spiritual should come first. The commercial and the pleasure aspects have their place but should be kept in their place. G.K. Chesterton concluded the article I mentioned above by saying, “Christmas is going…strong” . One thing I can guarantee is that the Dáil and Seanad will not sit on December 25th next to listen to a sermon from the Archbishop of Cashel! Their holiday will be considerably longer than those of the school children who will now get barely two weeks beginning on December 23rd, too little too late. And the “well” woman at the Cathedral will come round too I expect when the Crib is erected and the Choir fill the air with the “Adeste”. I should like to advise my people that I am voting “Yes” to Christmas. Most Rev. Dermot Clifford, DD, Archbishop of Cashel & Emly. December 2003 |