Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – We are truly witnessing a loss of the Christian roots characteristic of Europe and of those countries of long-standing Christian tradition. The City Council of Oxford (England) has decided to abolish references to the feast of Christmas this year, replacing it with the “Winter Light Festival.” In response to this decision, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi commented: “If in the past, religious symbols were combated with arguments, with the desire of opposing a totally alternative system, now, on the contrary, this negation is a type of cloud, typical of current secularization.”
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn 1:5). The man of our day continues to need light and hope. It is sad to see how there is a rejection of the light and yet, as Saint Augustine, “The light, which is painful to sore eyes, is a delight to sound ones.”
In response to this radical rejection of rational arguments based on the truth, there is a need for other arguments, based on the strength of charity. Pope Benedict XVI, in his first encyclical entitled “Deus caritas est,” makes reference to the charitable activity of the Church and refers to the witness of Tertulian, showing how the Christians' care for those with needs of any kind, amazed the pagans (cf. DCE, 22). Up against the wall of darkness that tries to hide the light, as Christians we are challenged to present Christ to all humanity, through concrete acts of solidarity and love, as “the true Light that illumines every man” (Jn 1:9).
For those who still do not know Christ, the witness of charity becomes a revelation. While it is true that charity should not be practiced with intentions of proselytism, in an effort to gain members for one's own religion, it is also true that love conquers and attracts others.
Man has been created by love and for love. Every man feels the need to love and to be loved, and when he finds true love, one that is unconditionally and freely given, there he finds the truth; he finds God.
Charitable acts cannot leave God aside. Many times, the greatest suffering of a human heart is the absence of God. “Those who practice charity in the Church's name will never seek to impose the Church's faith upon others. They realize that a pure and generous love is the best witness to the God in whom we believe and by whom we are driven to love. A Christian knows when it is time to speak of God and when it is better to say nothing and to let love alone speak. He knows that God is love (cf. 1 Jn 4:8) and that God's presence is felt at the very time when the only thing we do is to love” (DCE, 31c).
What beauty is held in the feast of Christmas! Contemplating Love become flesh is a mystery that overwhelms us with wonder. In Him we are convinced of the fact that God's love for us has not remained in words. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). God manifests His love through His complete self-surrender, with the gift of His very self.
The Church should be a missionary through her witness to charity. The Love of God enters history in this little Child. God's desire is that through our witness to charity, others can come to know hope, the saving power of love.
Although some prefer to celebrate a “Winter Light Festival,” there is only one Light that can illumine the heart of man, give his life meaning, and offer him hope in the face of his deepest questions, in the face of suffering and death: Jesus Christ, “God from God, Light from Light,” who manifests His love in the poverty of Bethlehem. (Agenzia Fides 25/11/2008)
