The four gospels tell us many stories of the life of the Son of God, Jesus, on earth. They begin with the birth narrative, which we will soon reflect on and culminate at Christmas. Some communities will prepare with a Novena during the nine days leading up to the 25th of December, and others will place a crib in their house. Many will decorate a tree. Its evergreen leaves are to remind us of the eternal life that Jesus came to bring. A star on top is a sign of the star that led the wise men to visit the newly born Christ child.
The Christmas narrative is rich with symbols, but it is unfortunately often overshadowed by another narrative. As the feast day approaches, we will constantly be reminded of the number of days remaining until Christmas. However, the intention of those who inform us is not to prepare us to celebrate with joy the birth of our Saviour but rather to impel us to buy more and more goods. Stock up on loads of special food, the voices tell us, and give expensive presents to all your family and friends.
The two narratives collide. They are contrary to each other. One, the Jesus story, is all about people. Jesus came to bring his message of love, respect, care and support for each other. The other, the consumer, buy, buy, buy narrative is all about things. Which will dominate us in the lead-up to Christmas?
There is a supermarket nearby that always has an enormous Christmas crib outside. Once, I took a Colombian family to see it. As we prayed beside it, another family came by and looked in puzzlement. The only comment from one girl was, ”Look at that big cow.”
May our faith in Jesus help us to overcome other narratives that can lead us away from the true meaning of the beautiful feast of God’s love, who gave his only Son to be born as one of us.
