The following article was published by the Mail on Sunday on 22 December by Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan (pictured above).
“Christmas is built upon a beautiful and intentional paradox; that the birth of the homeless should be celebrated in every home,” so GK Chesterton wrote about a hundred years ago. It is still true. We gather in our homes to celebrate the birth of Someone who was denied a place to stay – a homeless one.
But while you and I may be able to celebrate at home, there are many who cannot. Maybe they are broken as a family, or ill or homeless. Maybe their country is in the middle of war. So when I gather with my family this Christmas Day, I do try to realise that I am very fortunate and that I need to do more to reach out to the needy. The work of Trócaire, Saint Vincent de Paul and many other great organisations continue to ease the lives of so many people and to provide hope. I salute the volunteers who work to give dignity and hope to the lives of so many this Christmas time.
While volunteers sacrifice their time and resources, much more is needed. We can always do more. To be provocative: perhaps we should ask ourselves if Christmas serves any purpose at all since, year after year, we are confronted with the same humanitarian and economic problems, the same challenges of poverty, homelessness, displacement and conflict.
The solution, however, lies in plain sight. All of these problems could be solved by human means alone. We have the resources. We could feed the entire world population. There is enormous waste of food in the developed world. We could stop fighting wars and spending vast sums on armaments. We could build enough modular homes for the homeless.
So why can’t we solve these problems? Because there is a flaw in our human make-up. We sin. We can be selfish and grasping and mean. But we can also be generous and caring and kind. There is a battle within every human soul. This is where we need help. This is the mission of Jesus Christ which we sum up in the words of the Creed: “For us men and women and for our Salvation He came down from heaven.”
And this is why I do love Christmas – this mysterious season. How can we put our finger on what makes the Feast of the Nativity so special? It is certainly about family and home but it is much more than that. For me it is all summed up in the Christmas crib. I am not great on decorations. I don’t put much pressure on the national grid! But the only ‘decoration’ for me is a simple representation of the Stable at Bethlehem. I get a few blocks of wood and twigs, some hay (years old) and arrange the figures. The simplicity of it always strikes me. It is all about Jesus Christ being born as truly human and truly God.
Because He is human He knows our human pain and struggle and joys too. Because He is God He can do things which we are unable to do, like, work miracles, rise from the dead and remain with us with His strong presence every day. God is in the human heart which tries to do good, to be faithful, to forgive, to care, to reach out. He is in His Word in Scripture, in His Sacraments and He offers His grace every moment of every day if we choose to take it.
We can refuse His grace or accept it. If we were all to accept fully God’s grace, we could feed the hungry and house the homeless. But, we tend to look out for ourselves first so that we can have enough. But when do we have enough? How hard it is to satisfy the heart. So the struggle goes on – the struggle between light and darkness goes on.
Happily, the Light is coming into our world again on Christmas Day. I will never give up hoping and praying that humanity can change, and I invite you to do the same. There is great power in prayer! Through prayer we can accept His grace, as Saint John writes in His Gospel, “To all who did accept Him, He gave power to become children of God.” He is our hope.
Next year Pope Francis invites us in Ireland and around the world to celebrate a special ‘Jubilee Year’ that will be themed on hope. What a marvellous idea! The Holy Father wants us to look forward in hope. He wants us to look up not down. With Jesus we can always have hope because He has overcome all adversity and has shown us the real meaning of our lives: to know, to love and to serve God, and be happy with Him in heaven by loving God and our neighbour as ourselves.
Therefore, we have every reason to be hopeful even in the midst of chaos or meaninglessness.
With Jesus I can overcome my selfishness and reach out to a much greater extent to those that God puts in my way each day, especially my family, friends and neighbours, including those I may find it difficult to get on with.
I hope that you have a crib in your home. Maybe looking at it you can be caught up like I do in the mystery of it all. God is coming into our world again. He calls me to Him. And in the words of Chesterton again we might accept Christ’s invitation to accept Him, since: “Only where He was homeless Are you and I at home”.
All blessings to you and to your loved ones this Christmas season!
- Bishop Phonsie Cullinan is Bishop of Waterford and Lismore
