Fr. Richard OMOLADE

In all of human history, no season is as popularly celebrated as Christmas. Like Easter, the most important celebration in the Christian calendar, Christmas is also prepared for through the celebration of Advent and one of the key features of Advent apart from the preaching that calls all to prepare the way of the Lord, the Advent songs have a special character and flavour that turn our attention to the celebration about to come. 

The special character of Advent is evoked by the advent songs that looks at human plight and then turns to the hope of Christ’s coming as the saving grace. These songs are inspirational and emotive. They leads us back into ourselves but do not leave us forlorn. We are always led back to God who is able to save us.

We long to see God, so we passionately and patiently yearn for his coming.  We know he will come and we prepare ourselves. This song is thus very engaging and challenging. We wish it could be sooner, but must learn to wait in hope. We then tune ourselves to the voice crying, crying for our love and attention particularly in a world increasingly hostile to God and spiritual matters. How could we not sing with gusto “Come Lord Jesus, the light is dying.” All around us, all is not at peace, poverty a-plenty, there is hunger in the city, death deals a heavy hand and the dreams of all are empty, otherwise how do you explain the “Japa-syndrome” when the people involved know they are going into the unknown? Indeed, the world awaits in darkness, and we must call on the Long-expected saviour, to set us free from our fears. We long to see Thee so, because without you, life is futile.

Having waited in darkness, how could we not sing with joy seeing the bright stars that brightens our world announcing the Saviour’s birth. Even if we still nurse some doubt, how about the angels from the realms of glory announcing peace to people on earth? Our honest response is thus Gloris in excelsis Deo. Christmas brings us joy, but the gloom is not easily dispersed because we remember that in that manger, no crib for a bed, yet Bethlehem remains the noblest city, and this gives us hope, because the House of bread is the city of the one who is our Bread of life. Hence, none can, once with thee compare, thou alone, the Lord from heaven didst for us incarnate bear.

So, our celebration begins, because we have been grace with tidings of comfort and joy. Let all tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born. Christmas is such a joyful season, that wonderful moment in time when swords were turned into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks. At Christmas we celebrate a new beginning, a new beginning of new life, a life filled with promise and hope for a better life. Indeed, Joy to the world! The Lord has come, let earth receive her king. O come, all ye faithful joyful and triumphant. Let us never forget that silent night, when all was still, and no place to rest, yet it was still a very holy night, when Christ the Saviour was born.

Christmas takes us away from our problems, it takes us away from that material and gives us a glimpse of life divine. We peek through to the beauty of God and beauty of heaven. We see it, we feel it, but it will only be ours at the end of time.  Will we still continue to yearn for it till we possess it, or are we going to allow new darkness to envelop us? If we change our world today, then our future will be better. Like the three kings we must become blessings to others by sharing our treasures with the world. We are to give the world our best, not the worst of ourselves. Advent is a beautiful sermon that leads to the joy of Christmas, but Christmas itself is not the goal, it is the start of our pilgrimage through life, our passage to divine life.

No wonder, for Catholics, Christmas is not a day’s celebration. It is a season in our life, a season that allows us to not just eat it in a rush, but to savour its delight and experience its beauty in our life because it impinges itself in our consciousness and we should not let it go without being transformed by such a sacred experience.

Consequently, while we raise our fowls for Christmas party, while we decorate our homes and surroundings with beautiful designs and colourful lights, let us find time to sing and meditate on the hymns of this season.  Let us roll with them on the mountain of grace and come to rest with Christ in His manger. Let the beauty of the season decorate our life with grace and love and let us share the beauty with the world shrouded in darkness. Let this be our Christmas gift to the world, our gift of joy and peace.