Christmas inspires people of goodwill, regardless of their religious beliefs, to stand in solidarity with those most marginalised, to pause and envision the people we aspire to become, and to consider the kind of society we wish to create, writes ANDY HAMILTON SJ.
The ways in which we Australians celebrate Christmas are full of contrasts. They are both cultural and countercultural. The cultural aspect can be is seen in the spruiking, advertising and other ways in which money is transferred from families to business. From this point of view the turkeys, the Christmas trees, the Christmas-wrapped grog, chocolates, mince pies, and the toys, clothes and devices also gift-wrapped, and the Cricket on Boxing Day, are about the economy and consumption.
The countercultural aspect of Christmas lies in what people do at Christmas – relax instead of work, eat and drink at leisure, spend time with their families, visit relatives and friend and take holidays, and often think of people who are doing it hard in hospital, nursing homes and on the streets.
For people who have lost family, have no money or are homeless, Christmas is totally countercultural. It is a time when the emphasis on joy, gift -giving and celebration can deepen sadness and isolation and stir memories of past hopes trampled on.
The Catholic tradition that is inherited by Jesuit Social reinforces the countercultural aspects of the Australian Christmas. That is not surprising. In the Christmas story God becomes involved in the minute details of human life. Nothing loved by God is without value. No baby is just a baby. This means we should appreciate the secular customs and practices of our Australian Christmas. To get in touch with people at Christmas, even through online Santa cards, to gather with the extended family, to take time off work, to soften for an hour or so the hard edges of workplace relationships and to donate to charities, all embody the values that are affirmed and grounded in the Christian story.
The Christian stories, however, has a depth that challenges all our practices. It fits well with our values at Jesuit Social Services. They show solidarity with the most hassled people: a heavily pregnant woman compelled to travel for tax purposes, a couple homeless when the baby is due, people sleeping out in the fields, ostracised shepherds, and refugees forced to flee for their lives.
The celebration of Christmas encourages all people of good will, whatever our religious beliefs, to walk for a time in solidarity with people at the bottom of the pile, to take time to dream of who we are invited to be, and to reflect on what kind of a society we want.
The inn with no room, the people in the parks, the threat of Herod, the disreputable shepherds, the refugees in Egypt, the rumour of angels and the realities of refugee life are the characters in the Christmas story. Their counterparts are found in our personal and public stories today. They make a claim on us all the year round.
