Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Apostles for Today Dec 2020


                JOY AND PEACE TO THE WORLD!

 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on EARTH to those with whom He is pleased!’ (Lk 2: 14) 

The message of Christmas echoed by the angels on Jesus’s birth is very clear: it is to give glory to God and to let peace reign on Earth: our common home! Throughout the year 2020, Apostles for Today, has been reflecting on the care of our common home. More than ever, the Earth today which we commonly call our home has been filled with loss, uncertainty and fear. An invisible virus has made our common home quite a scary place to live in with all its psychological and economical scars that continue to haunt us every day. In these gloomy times, we all have two choices to make, one to be fearful and die in despair or live in eternal hope believing that the Earth, we commonly call home is a divine gift to us. Genesis 1: 31 says, ‘God saw all that he had made, and it was very good…’ Hence, as Christians, we all have every reason to be hopeful that the Earth is in safe hands of our eternal God, the Lord of the entire universe. And more so, Christmas is just another extra-ordinary event and a reminder to reassure this humanity that God loves this home. Each year, God visits this home during the Christmas season with a powerful message of peace, joy, love and hope. As Christians therefore, this Christmas is unique and special as it calls for our commitment to be great witnesses of peace and hope to this world that is gripped with fear and despair. How can then we live and be the true messengers of hope, peace and joy during this Christmas? 

True peace and joy come with the conviction of being satisfied with what we have and just like the Holy Family believing that, the less they had, the more they were blessed with: God Himself! ‘…It is the conviction that ‘less is more’. A constant flood of new consumer goods can baffle the heart and prevent us from cherishing each thing and each moment. To be serenely present to each reality, however small it may be, opens us to much greater horizons of understanding and personal fulfillment. Christian spirituality proposes a growth marked by moderation and the capacity to be happy with little…’ (Laudato Si’, 222). To be happy and serene with what we have and with our present reality is the secret to true joy. There is a popular saying; ‘there is enough for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed. In many parts of the world, a lot of natural places are being turned into concrete jungles. A great portion of natural resources are being destroyed in the name of development. The time of peaceful living with a satisfaction of being happy with what we have, is being substituted by greed and wants by the consumerist society. As during this time of the pandemic, time has slowed down our bustling life, it’s a time given for us too, to stop and reflect and then make wise choices, like the wise men from the East of what gift can I give to the Jesus for His birthday? 

Apparently, our gift to God this Christmas would be to live and spread the message of God’s peace, joy and hope. To make this possible and to understand this concept who can give us more insight than the life of the saints itself who lived on this very earth to make us realize that ‘less is more’. Let’s look at the life of our dear founder, St. Vincent Pallotti itself, who says: “It is necessary to find himself in a poor habitation, in an abject place…to do everything to keep the flesh mortified, the heart detached from pomp and vanities of the earth. (OOCC II, pg. 36). To achieve this one must seek grace to let go of unnecessary attachments and vanities and be happy with what we have, thus the lesser we have the more inner peace, the more interior joy and more fulfillment we will find in our lives. On the other hand, no one can cultivate a sober and satisfying life without being at peace with him or herself…inner peace is closely related to care for ecology and for the common good…Nature is filled with words of love, but how can we listen to them amid noise, interminable and nerve- wracking distractions?... (Laudato Si’ 225) St. Paul’s letter to the Romans 14: 17- 19 tells us: For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 

Therefore, one way to be messengers of hope and peace is to embrace the values of ‘less is more’ and live with total joy and mutual edification. While the whole world reluctantly now accepts to live in discomfort and sacrifice, Christians have a great opportunity to embrace and live the message of Christmas, a message ‘less is more’ an ultimate path to true joy and peace. It’s time we think globally and act locally. ‘Less is more’- are we ready for a change? Mahatma Gandhi, says, ‘Be the Change, you wish to see in this world’. 

Questions to ponder: 

1) What measures can I take personally, as a community/ family to conserve natural resources of the Earth for the future generations? 

2) What steps can I personally take to use and accumulate less and strive after things which bring more inner peace and joy? 3) How can we, as a community/ family and society make this Christmas different by sharing what we have to the less fortunate and bringing hope to their live, thus creating a better world around us? 

Sr. Alda Isa Paes SAC

India