By Archbishop Emeritus Bernard Moras, Apostolic Administrator, Diocese of Mysore

Christmas is a feast of joy. The spirit of Christmas is Love, Peace and Sharing. Jesus gave us his peace and blessed us by sharing his Love and Peace. May the Joy, Peace and Love remain with us always.

Higher the Office, status or position of a person in the society, lesser are the occasions and opportunities for one to come down to the level of the common man. When a King marries a commoner, it hits the headlines because the royalty and commoner neither go together nor belong to each other. This being the case, the option before the mighty and the powerful, most of the time is to organise humanitarian works for the poor, the neglected and the down-trodden without ever getting into their life situation. The society does not permit them even if they want to. It is easy to help someone in need than to be in need one-self.

The feast of Christmas tells us that God became a commoner. While Jesus’ birth took place in a manger, he lives a life of poverty and died a death meant for criminals. In the words of St. Paul, “Christ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied itself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a Cross” (Phil.2:6-8) A story by Walter B. Knight beautifully expresses what St. Paul says of Jesus of Nazareth:

long ago there ruled in Persia a wise and good King. He loved his people. He wanted to know how they lived. He wanted to know about the hardships they suffered. Often, he dressed in the clothes of a working man or a beggar and went to the homes of the poor. No one he visited thought he                                    was their ruler.

One day he visited a very poor man who lived in a cave. He ate the coarse food the poor man ate. He spoke kind, cheerful words to him. Then he left. Later he visited the poor man again and told him clearly, ‘I am your King.’

The poor man was very surprised to hear this. The King thought that the man would surely ask for some gift or a favour. But he did not. Instead, he said, ‘You left your Palace and your glory to visit me in this dark, dreary place. You ate the coarse food I ate. You brought gladness to my heart. To others you have given your rich gifts. To me you have given yourself.’

The feast of Christmas should remind us that God in the person of Jesus Christ has given himself to us. So much so, he became one of us, one like us in all things except sin. The beauty of Christmas is that God continues to be with us, in fact he lives with us. He is still our Emmanuel (God is with us). But the problem is that the fact that ‘God is with us’ is not the cause for joy and jubilation at Christmas time but the Crib, Christmas tree, three Kings, Santa Claus, the Star and the Cake. In other words, the birth of Jesus is treated as an event, which happened once upon a time.

There is no doubt in my mind about the need of a Crib, Star, three Kings and the Cake when Christmas is celebrated.

What needs to be heard among different nations’ religions and communities is the song of Angels, “Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of goodwill…”

What needs to be lived in our families is the love of Christmas and what needs to be shared among one and all irrespective of the difference of caste or creed, rich or poor is the joy of Christmas. This would surely make us feel that it is truly Christmas that God is with us, that He has given himself to us and that He continues to live with us.

May the Spirit of Christmas bring you Peace, the Joy of Christmas give you Hope and the Warmth of Christmas fill you with His Love.

I wish you all a Happy and Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year-2024.