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| Christmas crib 2018 in St.Peter's Basilica |
Indian Catholic Church wishes
love, peace, harmony for Christmas
Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, Secretary General of the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), broadcast a Christmas message on
All India Radio World Service on Dec. 25, pledging the continued commitment of
India’s Catholic Church for a world of love and forgiveness, peace and harmony,
and justice and truth.
India’s Catholic bishops have issued a message for Christmas
2018, reiterating the Church’s commitment to the poor, the downtrodden and the
marginalized.
In a message broadcast on All India Radio World Service on
Christmas day, Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, Secretary General of the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), said that the Church in India pledges to
continue in the footsteps of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who was born and died
poor in order to establish the Kingdom of God where love and forgiveness, peace
and harmony, justice and truth may reign.
“May the celebration of birth of our Lord Jesus
Christ give us new encouragement to usher in love, peace and harmony in our
country and in the world.” “May each one of us promote truth and justice
and may we live like true brothers and sisters on this earth,” Bishop
Mascarenhas urged.
Below is the transcript of the Christmas message of
Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas:
It is with great joy and happiness that I bring to
you my dear Indian brothers and sisters and men and women of good will
everywhere the Christmas greetings of the Catholic Church in India. Every year
on 25th of December the world celebrates Christmas the Birth of Jesus Christ.
Even while houses and buildings will be decorated and illuminated with bright
lights and colours, shopping malls will be full with everyone looking for gifts
for dear ones, and Christmas trees, Santa Claus and Christmas functions will
abound, the real attention will be focused on the Holy Mass in the Church and
on the little baby Jesus lying in the manger. The star that shone that night
pointing to the Birth of Jesus Christ and the Crib that we put up in remembrance
of the humble birth of our saviour are just symbols of the message that our
Lord Jesus Christ brought to Humanity. And the Message is GOD LOVES US.
Yes, as St. John tells us, "God so loved the world that he gave his only
son to humankind".
The thirty-three years that Jesus walked on this earth,
especially the last three years of active ministry to the poor, the downtrodden
and the marginalized, reveals what this love means.
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus
Christ, of his life, his ministry his ultimate sacrifice for humanity. It is
the remembrance of all that he stood for and of everything he taught us. As our
Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi would say about Jesus Christ, “A man who
was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others,
including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect
act.”
Jesus proclaimed to us the coming of the Kingdom of God:
a kingdom in which love and forgiveness, peace and harmony, justice and truth
would reign. The Birth of Jesus had been prophesied by the Prophet Isaiah as
the birth of the Prince of peace, his reign was foretold as a
governance of righteousness. About his Kingdom the Prophet had declared,
that on that day, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall
lie down with the baby goat, and the calf and the lion and the fatling will
live together, and a little child shall lead them.” Indeed, Jesus is that
little child who later taught us, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.”
Christmas is an occasion for us in the Catholic Church to
renew our dedication and commitment to continue serving with love and
compassion our countrymen and women as we have been always doing down the ages.
Our nation-building, educational activities, health care services and other
compassionate works are guided by Jesus’ Command, “love your neighbour as yourself.”
Following the example of our Lord and master, our hearts and our lives reach
out in a special way to those abandoned and excluded, to those left out on the
peripheries of development, to the poor, the dalits , the tribals and
to all those who remain on the margins of our society. In the words of St.
Mother Teresa, an ardent follower of Jesus Christ we can say, “I try to give to
the poor people for love what the rich could get for money . No, I
wouldn’t touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly care for him for
the love of God.” We want to continue working with the Government and with all
men and women of good will to bring solace and comfort, education and health
care, love and security to all who need it.
The birth of Jesus changed the world forever. Our
Great Indian spiritual leader, Swami Vivekananda would say, “Had I lived in
Palestine, in the days of Jesus of Nazareth, I would have washed his feet, not
with my tears, but with my heart's blood!” Christmas is the celebration
of the birth of the Prince of Peace. Today more than ever before our country
and the world hunger for peace. Amidst wars and violence, mob lynchings and
religious persecutions, and even as fringe elements become bolder and attempt
to set communities against communities and groups against groups the voice of
Jesus rings loud and clear, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall
be called sons of God". We pray for our country and for the world that the
kingdom of peace and harmony may be ushered in, that the Almighty may raise
many peacemakers among us. We pray for our beloved country India known for its
long tradition of unity in diversity and of tolerance without discrimination,
that the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the baby goat, the calf and the
lion and the fatling may be able to dwell together in peace and harmony without
being forced to be other than what they are.
Christmas is the Birthday of Jesus who lived and died for
truth and justice. Opposing discrimination of any kind he ate with outcasts and
treated women with respect and dignity. He asks a Samaritan woman at the well
to give him water to drink. This was a direct challenge to the social system of
the day in which the Samaritans were considered low castes. In the parable of
"love your neighbour", Jesus portrays the Samaritan, as the real
follower of God, superseding even the Priests and the Levites who do not seem
to understand God’s commandment to love one’s neighbour. We pray for our
country and society that the message of Jesus may echo in our ears and that we
may end all discrimination based on caste or religion, on language or region.
May we learn to treat each other with love, respect, and equal dignity.
Jesus taught his disciples, “The Truth will make you
free”. He stood for truth even to the point of sacrificing his life on the
cross. In a world plagued by fake news, often deceived by manipulations
and lies, when one finds it difficult to trust the Print, electronic and social
media, Christmas reminds us that freedom comes from truth. Christmas is the
celebration of the birth of Christ who taught us to stand by the truth, to live
by the truth with courage and if necessary to die for the truth.
May the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ
give us new encouragement to usher in love, peace and harmony in our country
and in the world. May each one of us promote truth and justice and may we live
like true brothers and sisters on this earth.
In the name of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India
and in the name of the Catholic Church I wish you all God's blessings at
Christmas. We pray for our political, spiritual and civic leaders and for each
one of you and your families. May the Divine Child Jesus accompany you each day
of the New year 2019 and may he grant you prosperity and peace. I wish you a
joy-filled Christmas and a happy New Year.
Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas
Secretary General
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India
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