This way of living Christmas will make you very happy
The first to come to contemplate the Child Jesus were simple shepherds. Like them, we are all invited to go to the nursery empty-handed, poorly. But how do you do it?
The whole Gospel of Christmas speaks to us of poverty. Poverty of Joseph and Mary, humble servants of an immense mystery and who, far from home, do not even have a roof to offer to the Child who will be born. Poverty of the shepherds, seized with fear when the glory of the Lord manifests itself for them and who, unlike the Magi, have no treasure to give to Jesus. Poverty of God himself, whose divinity hides in our humanity and whose omnipotence consents to become total dependence; God who is the king of kings and yet, from birth, knows precariousness and, soon, persecution and exile; God who does not force anyone to welcome him, no more in the inns of Bethlehem two thousand years ago, than in our hearts today.
When gifts overshadow Christmas
We're going to celebrate Christmas: but in what way? Poorly? Even if we are not rich, our houses do not look like the crèche and in many of us, on this Christmas night, table and shoes will be well stocked.
"Every year," says Jean, a father of four, "I wonder where Christmas is in all this. Finally, the meal and the unpacking of gifts take us more time and energy than the Mass. It's the world upside down. Even Marion's bell rings: "Christmas Day, which should be full of joy and peace, is often marked by the annoyance of the youngest, the jaded boredom of the elders, all against a background of bad mood due to lack of sleep."
Yes, where's Christmas in all this? Sometimes we start dreaming of a simple, stripped-down and peaceful Christmas, without family tensions, without material hassle, where we can pass on to our children the taste of God rather than that of earthly goods, where we could take the time to welcome the good news of the Nativity and announce it around us as the shepherds of Bethlehem.
What poverty should you opt for?
But in practice, things are not so simple. Even if it is good to question ourselves, so as not to be locked in pseudo-traditions that may sometimes take us away from the mystery of the crèche, we must also take into account the reality as it is: certain family customs are dear to those we love, and it is not necessarily possible, nor desirable, to remove them. The Christmas party is often an opportunity to gather around the grandparents, to find rituals full of memories, which some expect from one year to the next. It would be paradoxical if, under the pretext of preserving the meaning of Christmas, we hurt our spouse, our parents, our loved ones.
Perhaps we can decide to simplify certain things, to organize the traditional family reunion or the meal that follows the Mass. But, apart from the fact that we would be wrong to despise the carnal dimension of the Christmas party, we will not be able to change family customs and customs overnight. Except to to pain our mother-in-law or to disappoint our children, we will have to take into account for a long time the needs, desires, habits of each other. Happy are we! If these constraints annoy us, let us not forget that many isolated people would like to have to make such concessions, rather than spending Christmas one-on-one with their screen. And above all, let's rejoice in having to give up our ideal Christmas dreams!
True poverty consists of an inner detachment
Indeed, there may be the poverty that we have to live in: it consists less of an external stripping than of an internal detachment. True poverty is not the result of choice, but of consent. Celebrating Christmas in poverty means welcoming what we are given to live, and joyfully bending to family demands, accepting without bitterness the difficulties, imperfections and burdens that make the Christmas party not really correspond to what we could expect it.
No doubt we cannot fully decide the context in which we will celebrate Christmas, but we are free to choose how we will receive it. Free to let ourselves be stripped of our own will, to seek our joy in that of others, and to marvel at what is instead of dreaming of what is not?
The whole Gospel of Christmas speaks to us of poverty. Poverty of Joseph and Mary, humble servants of an immense mystery and who, far from home, do not even have a roof to offer to the Child who will be born. Poverty of the shepherds, seized with fear when the glory of the Lord manifests itself for them and who, unlike the Magi, have no treasure to give to Jesus. Poverty of God himself, whose divinity hides in our humanity and whose omnipotence consents to become total dependence; God who is the king of kings and yet, from birth, knows precariousness and, soon, persecution and exile; God who does not force anyone to welcome him, no more in the inns of Bethlehem two thousand years ago, than in our hearts today.
When gifts overshadow Christmas
We're going to celebrate Christmas: but in what way? Poorly? Even if we are not rich, our houses do not look like the crèche and in many of us, on this Christmas night, table and shoes will be well stocked.
"Every year," says Jean, a father of four, "I wonder where Christmas is in all this. Finally, the meal and the unpacking of gifts take us more time and energy than the Mass. It's the world upside down. Even Marion's bell rings: "Christmas Day, which should be full of joy and peace, is often marked by the annoyance of the youngest, the jaded boredom of the elders, all against a background of bad mood due to lack of sleep."
Yes, where's Christmas in all this? Sometimes we start dreaming of a simple, stripped-down and peaceful Christmas, without family tensions, without material hassle, where we can pass on to our children the taste of God rather than that of earthly goods, where we could take the time to welcome the good news of the Nativity and announce it around us as the shepherds of Bethlehem.
What poverty should you opt for?
But in practice, things are not so simple. Even if it is good to question ourselves, so as not to be locked in pseudo-traditions that may sometimes take us away from the mystery of the crèche, we must also take into account the reality as it is: certain family customs are dear to those we love, and it is not necessarily possible, nor desirable, to remove them. The Christmas party is often an opportunity to gather around the grandparents, to find rituals full of memories, which some expect from one year to the next. It would be paradoxical if, under the pretext of preserving the meaning of Christmas, we hurt our spouse, our parents, our loved ones.
Perhaps we can decide to simplify certain things, to organize the traditional family reunion or the meal that follows the Mass. But, apart from the fact that we would be wrong to despise the carnal dimension of the Christmas party, we will not be able to change family customs and customs overnight. Except to to pain our mother-in-law or to disappoint our children, we will have to take into account for a long time the needs, desires, habits of each other. Happy are we! If these constraints annoy us, let us not forget that many isolated people would like to have to make such concessions, rather than spending Christmas one-on-one with their screen. And above all, let's rejoice in having to give up our ideal Christmas dreams!
True poverty consists of an inner detachment
Indeed, there may be the poverty that we have to live in: it consists less of an external stripping than of an internal detachment. True poverty is not the result of choice, but of consent. Celebrating Christmas in poverty means welcoming what we are given to live, and joyfully bending to family demands, accepting without bitterness the difficulties, imperfections and burdens that make the Christmas party not really correspond to what we could expect it.
No doubt we cannot fully decide the context in which we will celebrate Christmas, but we are free to choose how we will receive it. Free to let ourselves be stripped of our own will, to seek our joy in that of others, and to marvel at what is instead of dreaming of what is not?
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