Remembering ‘The Reason for the Season’

Father Tony Chakkunga, VC

The brilliant writer, C.S. Lewis, wrote a thought-provoking book called “The Great Divorce”. It is not about the divorce that occurs between husband and wife. It is about the divorce that occurs between our souls and God. In this book, Lewis gives us a picture of Hell as a big city, with all its pressures and problems. In this big city, the weather is always cold and wet with a heavy rain. The light is always grey and murky. The people in this city of Hell become more and more aware of the great divorce that has taken place between their soul and God, and they sink deeper and deeper into their dismal surroundings. Except...there is a way out. There is way out of this terrible condition. God has provided a shuttlebus service from Hell to Heaven: regular bus service. All you need to do is get on the bus and let the power of God carry you into the light. The incredible thing about the story is that the bus is departing all the time. The people find all kinds of excuses for putting the journey off to same vague time - and they miss the opportunity to be carried by the power of God from death to new life, from the misery of being estranged from God to the joy of being in union with God. Though we may stand in the darkness of the “great divorce”, the Christmas promise of God is that He will carry us into the light if only we are willing to get on the bus. We are enjoying (and have enjoyed) these days the beauty of Christmas and beginning of the New Year. In our Christmas celebration, how much importance we give to our spiritual joy and our spiritual growth. There is a tendency among us to celebrate Christmas without child Jesus. Many of us don’t give the place to Jesus to be born among us. Two-thousand years before people in Bethlehem didn’t open their home for Jesus to be born. So He was born in a manger. Today also, there is that kind of tendency. Jesus is rejected in many places, even among the Christian majority countries. Many of us are hesitant to greet “Merry Christmas”, the traditional way to greet each other in Christmas time. If we, the Christians, forget our own traditions, the other traditions will take over and later we will be controlled by other traditions in our own land. We have to respect other traditions and other religious values and greet them in their own festivals in the ways they expect to be greeted. We never hurt other’s feelings. The same way we, the Christians, will also be respected and others should not hurt our feelings. We, the Christians, should also be respected with the greetings of “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays”. We expect this from our civil leaders who are standing for our great country and its values. So we, the Christians, never forget Child Jesus our Saviour when we celebrate Christmas. Let us remember the famous lines of Alexander Pope: “What do I profit if Jesus is born in the thousands of cribs all over the world during this Christmas but is not born in my heart?” Let us allow Him to be reborn in our lives during Christmas 2006 and every day of the New Year 2007! How should we prepare for Christ’s rebirth in our daily lives? As a first step, John the Baptist urges us to repent daily of our sins and to renew our lives by leveling the hills of pride and selfishness, by filling up the valleys of impurity, and by straightening the crooked paths of hatred. Our second step in preparing for Christ’s rebirth in our daily lives is to cultivate the spirit of sacrifice and humility. It was by sacrifice that the shepherds of Bethlehem and the Magi were able to find the Saviour. They were humble enough to see God in the Child Jesus in the manger. We, too, can experience Jesus by sharing Him with others, just as God shared His Son with us. Let us remember that the angels wished peace on earth only to those able to receive that peace, those who possessed the goodwill and largeness of heart to share Jesus our Saviour with others in love, kindness, mercy, forgiveness and humble services.