Santa’s gifts and succour

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Francis Gonsalves [1]

We often miss the deeper meaning of Jesus’ birth due to Christmas extravaganzas, with Santa Claus hogging the limelight. Children love Santa Claus because he brings costly gifts. But there’s a danger in sitting back and expecting society’s Santas to keep on giving us gifts. Christmas is not so much about receiving gifts; it’s more about generous giving.

“God so loved the world that He gave us His only Son,” writes Saint John. Jesus is God’s gift of Godself to humanity. Jesus is born among the humblest and lowliest of all people so as to assure each and every human being of being loved and accepted as God’s child.
The circumstances of Jesus’ birth are simple and surprising, Jesus’ foster-father, Joseph, and his pregnant mother, Mary, travel the long road from their hometown, Nazareth, to Bethlehem to enrol themselves in a census decreed by Emperor Augustus. The gospel says, “Mary gave birth to her son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).
Jesus “came to his own people, and his own did not accept him,” writes Saint John (1:11). People were preoccupied with their own little interests that they failed to recognise Jesus and open their doors to him. That’s why he was born in a stable.
Poor shepherds who did not have any social standing were the first ones to welcome baby Jesus. They didn’t have homes to accommodate Jesus, Mary and Joseph, but they are filled with joy at getting a darshan of the Lord. They hurried to be messengers of the good news of his birth.
There’s this kindergarten kid, Vicky, who was acting in a Christmas play depicting the scene of Jesus’ birth. Vicky was acting as an innkeeper. When the time came to shut the doors of the inn to Joseph and Mary, Vicky shouted, “Go! Go away! No place here!” But his heart melted when he saw the characters dressed as Mary and Joseph turn away. So little Vicky said, “Hey, friends, there’s no place for you here; but come to my house, there’s lots of room for you!” The viewers of that drama thought it was the finest play they ever saw.
Christmas time, Baby Jesus reminds us that God is he Father and Mother of all peoples. God comes to embrace those who are “less” than others: homeless, jobless, friendless, loveless and so on. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to include one or two of these into our “family circle”? Perhaps we can be Santa to some less fortunate ones. That way more people can have a truly happy Christmas.
Merry Christmas!

Francis Gonsalves is the principal of the Vidyajyoti College of Theology, Delhi. He can be contacted at fragons@gmail.com