Spirituality of Christmas

Most people have a fantasy of what a perfect Christmas should be. For some it is a gathering of the family from around the world. For others, it is a month-long festival where going to Simbang Gabi is part of the festivities. It is, in their eyes, a time to splurge on gifts and food.

These people have forgotten that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a holy day, not a holiday. Today, Christmas is celebrated all over the world even in countries, like Japan and Thailand, where the majority of people do not believe in Jesus Christ. It seems that Santa Claus rather that Jesus Christ has become the symbol of Christmas. This is true for those who identify Christmas with horrendous traffic, the need to buy gifts and to cook special meals. Unfortunately this is also true with many Christians. Then there are those who perceive Christmas as principally for children.

The real joy of Christmas celebration comes to those who remember the spirituality of this event. Spend Christmas where, in spirit and in truth, you are in the presence of the Christ Child, knowing that every year is a rebirth of goodwill, joy and peace.

Many will wonder what the meaning of spirituality is. The late Bro. Andrew Gonzalez FSC, former president of De La Salle University, addressed it when he wrote “Towards a Lasallian Spirituality for our Students.”

“In his or her quest for religio (right relations with God), mores (right relations with one’s fellow men and women), cultura (right appreciation of one’s tradition), the Lasallian likewise has a need for a spirituality, a core of internalized beliefs and values about God, fellow beings and country. The particular facets of emphasis in this core of internalized beliefs and values constitute a spirituality.”

The Lasallian concept of spirituality is composed of three components which can become the bases for a spiritual celebration of Christmas. The first is the emphasis on the presence of God. This is the reason why Lasallians always begin a prayer with the invitation : “Let remember that we are in the holy presence of God.”

The second, the dedication to the welfare of the poor, is oriented towards them with the most precious equipment one can give them, what St. John Baptist de la Salle called a “suitable education.” The third is an abiding and firm but rational acceptance of the equality of humankind no matter which social class, and the attendant respect  for all persons that this entails.

One of the most touching and graphic illustrations of Christmas is a homily  by Fr. Horacio de la Costa, SJ delivered many decades ago which has remained so relevant even today. Here is the homily:

“Christmas is when we celebrate the unexpected; it is the festival of surprise....

“This is the night when shepherds wake to the song of angels; when the Earth has a star for a satellite; when wise men go on a fool’s errand, bringing gifts to a Prince they have not seen, in a country they do not know.

This is the night when one small donkey bears on its back the weight of the world’s desire, and an ox plays host to the Lord of heaven. This is the night when we are told to seek our king, not in a palace, but in a stable.

“Although we have stood here, year after year, as our fathers before us, the wonder has not faded, nor will it ever fade; the wonder of that moment when we push open that little door and enter, and entering find a mother who is virgin, and a baby who is God.

“Chesterton has said it for us all: The only way to view Christmas properly is to stand on one’s head. Was there ever a home more topsy-turvy than on Christmas, the cave where Christ was born?

“For here, suddenly, in the very heart of Earth, is heaven; down is up, and up is down; the angels look down on the God who made them, and God looks up to the things He made. There is no room in an inn for Him who made room and to spare, for the Milky Way, and where God is homeless, all men are at home.

“We were promised a savior, but we never dreamed God Himself would come and save us. We know that He loved us, but we never dared to think that He loved us so much as to become one of us.

“But that is the way God gives. His gifts are never quite what we expect, but always something better than we hoped for. We can only dream of things too good to be true; God has a habit of giving things too true to be false. That is why our faith is a faith of the unexpected, a religion of surprise.

“Now, more than ever, living in times so troubled, facing a future so uncertain, we need such faith. We need it for ourselves, and we need to give it to others.

“We must remind the world that if Christmas comes in the depths of winter, it is that there may be an Easter in the spring.”

This Christmas, amidst the materialistic celebrations of the season, no one, especially Christians, should forget that this holy day should serve as a constant reminder of the presence of the Son of God. He was born to a poor family and His own personal bias was for the poor.

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