Bro. Ernest Opoku
Few days to Christmas, tales of anxiety are in the air for most Ghanaians as they gear up for a low-key celebration due to economic hardship coupled with insecurity. Christmas is celebrated every year with funfair as sons and daughters, friends and love ones and family members who have travelled far and near for greener pastures all return home to celebrate the festivity with family and friends.
However, due to the prevailing economic situation in the country, many say it may not be a rosy celebration this year. According to TV3, a visit to the malls and surrounding markets revealed a rise in food prices while retailers and traders complain of low patronage. The question is, how do Catholics celebrate Christmas in the mist of the socio-economic challenges? As a lay Catholic faithful, I would like to express my views on how Christmas should be celebrated by all catholic faithful.
From ancient times, Mass has been at the heart of the celebration of Christ’s birthh, aaccordingly, Christmas is a holy day of obligation, on which the Church calls all Catholics to celebrate Mass.
It’s up to Catholics to treat the Christmas season like Catholics . . . not like seculars, and not even like Protestants. It’s up to Catholics to reign in a trend that’s been getting out of hand, instead of rushing into the madness of non-believers and forgetting entirely the practice of the season’s deeply spiritual and faith-filled roots. Christ-mas is a liturgical season centered upon our Savior, Jesus Christ and how our hearts wait for Him in hopeful anticipation. This means, Catholics should do things differently than everyone else.
Here is what I mean. Starting December 1st to Christmas Eve is the Advent season, not an extension of the Christmas season. This is also known as “Little Lent” with the liturgical color of purple. This marks a time of penance and fasting and prayer. It relieves the darkness that the world waited in for 4,000 years as each millennium brought the world closer and closer to the promised birth of Christ. (In fact, the four candles on the Advent wreath each represent 1,000 years, and this is why one is lit each successive Sunday of Advent). “Rejoice” Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, is marked by the light purple (or pink) Advent candle to emphasize that the celebration of Christ’s birth is very close, only one week away. So, Advent to Christmas is a spiritual movement from a time of darkness and penance to a time of light and joy. There is a natural movement of one into the fullness of the other, but they are distinct.
So, my suggestion is to be different from all the Christmas madness happening outside the Church, and live Advent in your hearts and homes like it’s a time of penance and prayer until Christmas Eve, and live Christmas like it’s a time of light and joy for the whole twelve days of Christmas.
Don’t treat Christmas like it ends on December 25th. Don’t forget that Christmas has 12 days. The 12th day of Christmas is the Feast of the Epiphany, when the three wise men arrived to present Jesus with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Leave your Christmas decorations up the entire twelve days of Christmas. Don’t take them down New Year’s Day. Whatever other Christmas traditions your family keeps, keep them going through the twelve days. This is a time of feasting and joy to finish out the penance and fasting during the first part of December.
I would suggest that if you have the means, you buy at least one gift for each family member this Christmas that encourages them to grow in their Catholic faith. A specifically religious gift that they can use throughout the whole new year. What would they appreciate? What would help them in their state of life, or their spiritual state? This may be a patron saint medal, Catholic books, a rosary, or a saint statue. Anything that will encourage faith, hope, and love in their hearts. And, of course, don’t forget to have your religious gifts blessed by your priest before wrapping!!
The message of the Gospel and the call of the Church is unambiguous: fully celebrating Christmas means reaching out to the poor, the oppressed, and all those in need of our help. Model the true spirit of Christmas for your children by seeking out opportunities to help others throughout the whole Christmas season.
- Pray for Christians being persecuted around the world.
- Give away things you do not need (and maybe some things that others might need more than you), and renew your commitment to Christian stewardship and simple living.
- Consider year-end gifts to charitable organizations that help those in need; let your kids help choose a recipient. Better yet, pool your money as a family and decide to give it to a family or organization in your community.
- Donate goods to your local church, children’s home, prisons, hospitals or other charity organization. Make it a family field trip.
- Commit to at least one work of mercy as part of your family’s resolutions for the New Year.
“Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do during this season, do all to the glory of God. If the Christian had passed from death to life, from darkness to light, it was because he had received the Life of God, and that life was Love. It was impossible to possess that Life and not to love the brethren, and it was equally impossible to love the brethren without showing it in external things. As Christ has laid down His life for us, so we ought to lay down our life for the brethren, says St. John, and he goes on: “He that has the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in need and shall shut up his bowels from him; how doth the Charity of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” This is the spirit of Catholic charity.
Finally, as we celebrate the birth of Christ, amidst economic difficulties, we should remember the poor, the destitute, the sick and those in need. My advice to all Catholics is to be mindful of what they consume during the festivity and make plans for the future. “Parents should equally teach their children the importance of Christmas and not just the celebration. Let love lead, let tolerance guide us and let that humility of Jesus Christ be seen in us. Thank you
The writer is a member of The Noble Order of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall – Council 109, New Aplaku.