Meaning of Christmas

I wish each of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, especially to my family in Indonesia as well as all my brothers and sisters who have come all the way from Indonesia to Hong Kong to study, work, and so on. May the peace and joy of this Christmas warm the hearts of all of us to live a new life in the New Year too.

Christmas and New Year are fun times, aren’t they? Yes, there are lots of decorations everywhere, roast turkey meat is ready to be served on a plate, chocolate bars, chocolate candy, chocolate ice cream, marshmallows are right in front of your eyes, as well as hot chocolate and tik-tak-toe games are ready to fill in the activities in the family. The New Year’s countdown is ready to be shouted, as if your wishes are ready to come true in the new year. We say: “Let’s celebrate this Christmas and New Year party with great splendor.”

But are Christmas and New Year celebrations that beautiful? Sometimes it is just a mirage that comes and quickly disappears. Christmas is just a Church activity, because there are no members at home to celebrate, the house feels empty as if we are entering the Lenten season. The new year which is expected to be an opportunity to live a new life, in the end is just an expression of escape from the inability to accept yourself as you are. Christmas which brings peace and joy, new year which gives birth to new life — everything is the same as last year. The papers with the sorts of hope were burned and turned into ashes. Everything is hollow and purely artificial.

One day a priest, during his daily Mass homily, asked me: “Kevin, is life beautiful?” Maybe this question was also asked of you. Is your life beautiful? Maybe those of us who are given more opportunities can respond with a series of extraordinary activities and experiences that can prove that our lives are beautiful and even happy. 

But not infrequently, the answer is no. 

This life is not beautiful. After hearing this question, I inadvertently looked at the nativity scene. There was Jesus lying in a manger. His hands were open, full of warmth. His eyes and smile were full of peace. Silent for a moment, I raised my head and said, “Yes, Father, life is beautiful, with full confidence!”

A famous song in Indonesia among young people in its lyrics says, “happiness is simple”

Being simple does not mean living simply, but the principles of our happiness which have been obscured by the world today must be simplified. The world offers good things, but also a desire for pleasure that can never be satisfied. Happiness seems conditional and no longer belongs to us. It lies in goods, hopes, investments and idealism. 

Be happy and peaceful in your heart. Also sharing peace and happiness does not actually require anything. Sharing happiness and peace is as simple as having Jesus in your heart and putting Jesus in the manger of your brothers and sisters’ hearts. Jesus, the bringer of peace-joy in the heart, came to the world not in luxury but in simplicity, so that peace and joy does not belong to the privacy of certain people but to every one. 

Right now, Jesus has been born in the hearts of each of us. Peace and joy exist in the hearts of each of us. The light of the stars actually guides those of us who have had a calm understanding of the meaning of life, identity and lifestyle. The light of the star rekindles our frozen hearts and fosters a longing to get true peace again. This peace is what keeps our hearts warm in the midst of the winter of life, as we face frustration, depression, self-rejection, hopelessness and sadness.

What should we do? Back to the manger! Returning to our hearts, where Jesus resides, there our true happiness lies. That’s where our Christmas season becomes a time full of joy. That’s where in the new year you are born into a new person. In your heart.

Brother Kevin Hendrarto Tandautama, O. Carm.