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Celebrating
a Just Christmas
December
11, 2005
Fr.
George Smiga
John
1:6-8, 19-28
Christmas
is about justice. But that is not an association that we often
make. When we think about Christmas, we think about love and
peace and joy. We do not think about justice.
But
Christmas is about justice because Christmas is about the
Kingdom, the Kingdom of God . In what does this Kingdom consist?
Isaiah tells us in today's first reading: To proclaim good
news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to announce
liberty to captives, release to prisoners, a year of favor
from the Lord. This is in what God's Kingdom consists, setting
things right in the world, working against everything that
is unjust, giving to each person the dignity that that person
deserves, assuring that every person has the necessary means
for life and happiness.
This
is God's Kingdom, and Christmas is about the Kingdom because
Christ is about the Kingdom. The first sermon that Christ
ever preached in his native town of Nazareth was a sermon
preached upon this text from Isaiah. Jesus announced to all
who would hear that his mission was to care for the poor,
the oppressed, the imprisoned, to make a difference in the
world, to set things right. So it is Jesus himself who places
justice at the center of the Gospel.
Now
if this theme of justice is so central to Jesus, why is it
so absent from our approach to Christmas? It is hard to answer
that question. But there are clear examples that some Christians
knew that Christmas and justice belonged together. Just look
at the origins of the Christmas card. The first Christmas
card was sent in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole, an Englishman. He
was the first curator of the Victoria and Albert Museum in
London . He had a wide circle of friends. Like many other
English people, Sir Henry practiced the custom of sending
Christmas letters to those he knew. But as his circle of associates
grew, that task became overwhelming. Rather than limiting
the number of friends to whom he would write, Sir Henry decided
to commission a card that would express his greetings for
the holidays. This first Christmas card was small, about three
by five inches. But what was significant was its design. It
was divided into three panels. The central panel showed a
joyful family gathering around an abundant table. Underneath
the scene was written: A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
to you. But this central panel was framed by two other panels.
On the left was a scene of the hungry being fed and on the
right was a panel of the poor being clothed. The first Christmas
card knew that Christmas was about justice.
Just
how much this realization has slipped from our consciousness
can be demonstrated by looking at the Christmas cards we send
and receive. Even if we set aside those that have squirrels
and reindeer and snowmen on them and examine only the religious
Christmas cards, they center almost exclusively on the person
of Christ and on scenes from His birth. Our Christmas cards
betray no awareness about the Kingdom that Christ came to
establish or about the call for us to build that Kingdom through
works of justice.
So
here's the challenge for you and I, who hear the words of
the Prophet Isaiah today: How will we include actions of justice
in our celebration of the holidays? What will we do to set
things right in our world? Now, there is nothing wrong with
making the focus our Christmas a time with family and friends
in warm celebration. But, like that first Christmas card,
we should not forget the two side panels that frame the central
scene. As we gather together with those that we love, with
an abundance of food, with an excess of Christmas presents,
we are challenged to remember those who frame our celebration:
those who do not have enough to eat, those whose families
are broken, those who are oppressed or imprisoned, those who
have to scrape together the little they have to buy even one
simple gift to celebrate Christ's birth.
What
actions will we perform for the poor, the oppressed, the alienated
as a part of our Christmas celebration? We cannot remember
Christ's birth if we forget His ministry. We cannot keep Christ
in Christmas if we ignore His mission. We cannot honor the
King if we sidestep the Kingdom. Be simple, be concrete, but
be committed. Identify actions that will testify to the truth
of the season. Act as one who knows that Christmas is about
justice.
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