The message of the Prince of Peace

By Amal Hewavissenti

Though the biblical account of the Nativity of Jesus Christ is imbued with breathless sense of wonder, the message it carries is a Purely Spiritual one. He exhibited to the whole world that a man not born in a palace but born in the cradle of a manger could easily Proclaim himself the messenger of peace and love. The manger in the stable is a profound symbol of peace and love as it was the place where God in human form came into contact with humans, where kings met Shepherds, and where humans encountered nature. It is probably fair to say that the manger in the stable represents the trio of God, nature and man.

Based on this reality, the manger is viewed to represent the theory that we should make our hearts the abode for God, nature and humanity and provider of lifeblood for humanity, love and peace.

Basic concepts

The Universality of Christianity is widely recognised and it exceeds the boundaries social class, caste, gender, nationality and ethnic differences. Its message addresses the whole mankind. Man is purely a creation of God and man has the freedom and right not to obey the God’s way of life, or conform fully to the God’s ideal. But man has only ‘one life’ to test the sensibility of his choice because the direct outgrowth of man’s disobedience to God’s will is boundless suffering and trials and tribulations. A multitude of destructive forces stay poised to enslave man and destroy him but the God alone has the unique power to reverse and cancel out the strength of those evil powers. Man naturally falls prey to fear, physical torture, disappointment, avarice, lust and selfishness in addition to the evil powers such as Satan, Sin and death which jointly confront him and render him powerless.

Celebration in its real colour

Celebration of Christmas has spiritual and secular aspects which are intertwined. The real celebration of Christmas exhibits plain truth that sins we commit, readily devastate the triangle of relationships. To illustrate it further, if we commit sin, we are flagrantly acting first against God, secondly against neighbours and thirdly against ourselves. Jesus Christ taught that when someone avoids genuinely loving and supporting his neighbours, he is far beyond the reach of God’s kingdom and his love.

It is inevitable that when people’s hearts are imbued with peace and love, they do not limit their overall outlook only to achieving secular pleasures but they concentrate much on spiritual happiness. Apart from that, they develop a tendency to get rid of hatred, anger and jealousy and come in succour of the under-privileged in times of hardship and distress.

An ideal reminder

Like today, the Catholics celebrated Christmas around 70 years back when the country was under the pangs of the influential world war the second. It is interesting to note that a special article that appeared in the famous magazine, ‘Gnyanartha Pradeepaya’ in 1941, set clear boundaries for the celebration of Christmas in its true and obvious implications, come excerpts of the write up read:

“The mere preparation for Christmas itself is wonderfully pleasing to almost every ear and eye. People engaged in whitewashing houses, polishing furniture, writing menus for grand formal dinners are a common sight at every household from the very beginning of this cold month. In every way, the fundamental purpose of everybody is to enjoy the limitless pleasures that the festive season blesses them with...... Yet unfortunately many have failed lamentably in having the fullest fun simply because of the war (The world war the second) and they incessantly grumble about this unexpected disturbance. This is the superficial side of the ‘real joy’ of the Christmas and neither poverty nor war can call a halt to the real joy of Christmas that reaches everybody irrespective of class and creed.”

“We know that the holy family in the stable luxuriated in the “Special Christmas” at Bethlehem amidst freezing child and without protection... Therefore, external griefs and worries should not be made a barrier for the spiritual happiness at the Christmas. The face reflects happiness or griefs in the heart and the face is the mirror which shows the real nature of the heart... In this case we should not impose restrictions on ourselves to dance, sing and enjoy in the festive season because we are gregarious and cannot live as ascetics in a jungle....”

“Yet this happiness must accompany our true values... Jesus Christ spent all his lifetime not with the affluent, kings or scholarly pundits but with poverty-stricken people and the sufferers of all kinds. He honestly loved children and requested His disciples not to stop children coming to him... A true Christian is an ardent follower of Jesus Christ and the ideal chance is open to Him to deliver the Christmas happiness to the helpless children and people during the period... The holy word says that he who shows mercy for the poor is rewarded and saved from destruction.

Therefore we are bringing dishonour on ourselves by celebrating Christmas only with our families and relations.

Such a selfish action is a blatant misinterpretation of the celebration of the birth of the saviour and the real message of Christmas to “love thy neighbours as theyself.”“Today there are thousands of people who suffer excessively with no meals to satisfy the hunger of their children and some other people who cannot afford to buy medicine for them. We see some people move heaven and earth in their effort to buy food for their children and to find a piece of cloth to cover their children sleeping at night... To give a true meaning and colour to the Christmas message, we should have sympathy for the underprivileged people and give them something to eat or something to wear.

Sharing peace

But tragic enough, many falsely believe that Christmas is solely meant for fun and frolic and eating and dancing.

At any rate, Christmas day should be the special occasion to treat and help the poor and desperately miserable...” (excerpts of the article translated from Sinhala).

In an era where accumulators outnumber those who share with others, the importance of the central theme of Christmas can be enhanced by sharing with others as often as possible. The gifts exchanged at this season readily symbolise the exchange of love and peace among those celebrating Christmas. The poor must be given broader attention and care on account that the less privileged occupied a considerable position in Jesus’ life. This humanitarian support should be given in money, goods, clothing, time, labour, knowledge and special acts of charity such as a blood donation or waiting on a patient etc.

Many act under the mistaken belief Christmas solely involves reparation of houses, exchange of different kinds of gifts, wearing elegant clothes, exchange of greeting cards and singing carols.

They must accompany the Christmas but what people symbolise by these joyful activities should be an integral part of their hearts. For instance, the freshness of the new clothes should manifest in one’s heart as well and it is totally pointless clean one’s house when his heart is proved dirty.

The moral framework of life glorified in carols should be truly connected to the actual life and it is pathetic to note that even the symbols of Santa Claus have been commercialised. Let everyone have the enthusiasm to make Christmas the season of love, peace and goodwill as exemplified by Jesus Christ and do something to uplift the lives of the desperately poor.