By Fr. J. Pulinthanath, SDB –
The month of December, despite having 31 days, always feels too short for the many things we want to do that month. We want to make a good ending, and neatly sum up all that we have procrastinated in past months. At least, we want to tie up the butt ends of our days and ways in some satisfactory manner before we take leave of the year.
But December is deceptive. It seldom provides the time we require to do these things. And seldom do we feel more tellingly time’s winged chariot hurrying near than at the twilight time of the year when something like a small regret grips us. It seems there are “too many books I haven’t read, too many places I haven’t seen, too many memories I haven’t kept long enough” (Irwin Shaw) not to mention the set of resolutions we had made at the beginning of the year, most of which are in shambles, really.
A little time we need, indeed, to take in the fact that we’re at the fag end of another year and look back at the path we have trudged. And a little time to relish the memories that still linger because arguably, December is the month that stirs up most memories of Christmas shopping, carols and family reunions.
For the Tripuri tribal, there is Tring too, a different kind of New Year that most brothers and sisters of the tribal community celebrate with a great deal of sacrifice and also mirth. (Sacrifice because it calls for keeping vigil the whole night in some maidan or other, suffering the December cold and fog).
For us Christians December is primarily about none of these, but about getting ready for Christmas and about Christmas itself. It’s the time of the year when our parishes and villages of the Diocese come alive with enthusiasm and fervor. But the popularity that Christmas enjoys is at times part of the very problem. Come December, it’s celebrations already: pre-Christmas gatherings or advanced Christmas as they are called. The practice of plunging into Christmas celebrations from the start of December that some denominations indulge in don’t help much either. The season of Advent struggles to survive.
Even where it survives, it is shorn of the penitential aspect that once surrounded it. The spirit of commerce that surrounds Christmas of the present times has invaded even our remote villages. It takes a great deal of effort to keep the Child Jesus and his story at the centre of Christmas and of the Season.
As a Church it’s perhaps worth the trouble to see if there are ways in which the goodwill and enthusiasm that Christmas generates among our faithful can be better harnessed for deepening their faith. Christmas is round the corner once again “Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of goodwill”. . Merry Christmas!
This article is carried with permission from CBCI.