By Father Bob Bates
I suspect that I am in a different situation to most of you, in that although we have all been preparing for Christmas 2012 for some time now, there will have been a somewhat different emphasis in my case.
The Carol Services are ready to go; the carols and readings are chosen; the readers, singers and musicians have their parts made clear; the service sheets are printed and the Christmas sermon is ‘in production’. I am also blessed that Diane my wife is so good at the ‘other things’ like sorting and sending Christmas cards, gifts and greetings, as well as helping me in so many ways. So, can I relax and await the Big Day?
Well no! You see, the first Sunday of the New Year is “Twelfth Night”, the Feast of the Epiphany, when the wise men arrive in Bethlehem – that will need a special service. Then it’s the week of prayer for Christian Unity, and worship with our Roman Catholic friends, then a baptism in early February, and through it all sick friends here and in the UK will need prayers and visits. And amidst all this, Advent is once more being swallowed up by the secular world’s insistence in building up Christmas into something that it never was intended to be.
Advent is that four-week period immediately before Christmas when we speculate and wonder at the prospect of the promised second coming of Jesus; when scripture urges us to “Rejoice, for the Lord is Near” and we sing, “Come Thou long expected Jesus” – and how dare the commerce of the secular world steal it from us? Indeed how dare the austerity measures deny us the cheer of our street lights and “Boas Festas” strung across the road, and the Avenida seeking to outdo Regent Street with its lights? ……..But that is about as angry or worked up as I can get.
I am no longer prepared to let anything get in the way of my enjoyment of these two seasons. There was a time I recall when I too got stressed, mainly at seeing others stressed around me.
Thinking further back to the Christmases of my infancy, in the early 1950s, I remember that it was not too long after the end of the war and with the remnants of rationing still with us.
There was only one TV channel on our little black and white set; there were some small presents, and the essential Satsuma in the bottom of the sock. There was a tree and some tinsel, and there was a small turkey or chicken (poultry was a luxury back then). But no one seemed particularly stressed or miserable – there was no reason.
What there was, was that God-given gift of love in togetherness, as the family gathered. That Christmas gift of love and my love for it grew as I did, and as the truth of the Christmas story was revealed, so my approach to the season evolved.
“Christmas is not the same anymore!” I’m sure you’ve heard that said a few times in the past! It is, of course, untrue. It is the way we ‘do’ Christmas that has changed and this is not surprising as the world has changed and we with it.
But Christmas itself is just the same as it always was – a young mother and step-father seeking to do their best; times of austerity and borrowed accommodation, and a small gift (which proved to be the greatest gift) – warmth in togetherness and love coming down from heaven to warm the hearts of all who would take it in.
Much of what I invite folk to do sounds foolish until they actually try it, and you will think this a particularly foolish suggestion. But I invite you to take this Christmas more gently than you have in past years; don’t get worked up or wound up; don’t let it take you over.
Take a step back from what the world demands and look to the bigger picture. Look to what you have, not what you crave, and then spend time with your Father, accept his gift – made flesh as a baby over 2,000 years ago but still “Emmanuel, God with us” – and let him feed and warm you with his eternal love!
I told you it sounded foolish! But try it and you might find that you have the best Christmas ever!!
May God bless each of you. Feliz Natal!
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Father Bob Bates joined St Vincent’s Chaplaincy in the Algarve in May 2009, having previously served in the Peterborough Diocese in the UK. Father Bob and his wife Diane live in the Chaplaincy House in Boliqueime.
