The real message of this Christmas day has today lost much of its power and meaning today mainly due to consumerism. It has become a social event more than a spiritual one, where the giving materialistically is greater than the giving of one's real love for each other. And where we have even forgotten that the name itself of this feast should remind us of Christ's birth.
Christmas has today also come into the spotlight of those who claim it is an infringement of their basic human right to believe in another religion, albeit one that probably also believes in - or points to - the same God. Christians are trying to tell themselves that they must not offend others through their Christmas celebrations and in so doing they do not practice what they preach. They publicly hide their beliefs to allow others to continue to live in theirs comfortably. They call this compassion for others but, in reality, it breaks down their own beliefs as they do not celebrate their own salvation, and that of all humankind. In this way we all do not celebrate the birth of this Great One who came into this world to bring us back to our rightful home, to our Heaven, to our new Jerusalem, our Paradise, our Nirvana ....he who died for us so that we can be freed from the bondage of our worldly lives and live as one with Him who created us. This may, of course, sound like very Christian thinking to some yet is it that especially Christian after all?
Did you know that Jesus Christ features very prominently in the Koran as one of the greatest prophets God has sent, though Mohammed is the greatest? He is known as Isa and his mother Maryam was the chosen one to be born without sin..."Behold! the ANGELS said: "O Mary! Allah hath chosen thee..." (Koran 3:42)... and the whole of Sura (chapter) 19 of the Koran is dedicated to her and the birth of Jesus (who was, it seems, born under a palm tree): "And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree: She (Mary) cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this..." (19:23)
The Jews look to God's promise of this same salvation through him they call The Messiah. In the Books of Genesis, Isaiah and that of Micah we find them already foretelling this promise of the coming of the Saviour. Isaiah states clearly that 'A virgin will conceive and bear a son'. And this was hundreds of years before the actual birth took place. There are numerous other passages in the Bible which attest to God's promise of this Coming. In fact there is so much affinity in the major religions that it is surprising that we still take offence at the different images we project of this same God we believe in. But is this Almighty Good only the God of these great monotheistic religions? Is His coming foretold in other religions too?
Last year I read a comment on the internet by Petronella Cockin who quoted what a Muslim Doctor (of religion) had told The Family Congress in 1990 in Brighton, United Kingdom. He had said: "I am from the youngest of the monotheistic faiths today, so have no axe to grind. 500 years before Christ, when Isaiah was prophesying about the fact that a virgin will conceive and bear a son, Confucius was saying that when the great Teacher does come he will teach with miracles and teach us to forgive each other. Another philosophical school added that he will teach in the open and be a carpenter.
"Buddha simply said, 'At the end of the age will come the greatest of all the Buddhas.' It is well worthwhile reading about the birth of the first Buddha and of his attitude to others. An old man even prophesied about his future importance."
The Muslim doctor explained that we all have to love and understand each other even if we hold different ideas. As with music and literature so with ideas and philosophy there must be different flowerings bringing out the truth for all of us. Petronella's comment last year was made in the light of an interreligious dialogue meeting held in Italy in May 2008, where Buddhists, Christians and the Catholic lay Focolare movement considered the unifying elements in their respective traditions.
Speaking about the importance of this meeting Focolare Fr Cinto Busquet, who has worked for more than 17 years in Japan, said "The sincere and radical openness to the religious experience of the other, on the base of love and compassion lived among us, has permitted being able to have together a shared experience of God, who has illuminated both us Christians and our Buddhist brothers. Certainly, and following their tradition, our Buddhist friends do not speak of God, but rather of Buddha or Dharma, but both we and they have been able to speak with full liberty of the respective faith experiences, feeling welcomed and profoundly understood by each other in the infinite mystery of God," he said. (Source: http://www.zenit.org/)
So, at this point, allow me to wish you all A Very Happy Christmas though you may wish to call it as you feel most comfortable....it is my outstretched hand of solidarity and love in the Light of the Almighty Good that I-we believe in. Take care.
