The question of whether Christmas as a season is happening this year or not is a legitimate one because it calls to mind that last year’s commemoration almost did not happen. While Christmas last year did not fall under strict Covid-19 lockdown conditions, it was curtailed in many ways in terms of the numbers of people that can attend gatherings, restrictions on travelling, curfew times and alcohol trading because of the second wave of the pandemic that emerged in December 2020.
Over the centuries since its inception as a feast day and a season of the birth of Jesus Christ, Christmas has evolved to include a variety of other purposes. In addition to its original and core purpose of celebrating the birth of Christ, it has been extended to include social, cultural, and commercial purposes. Indeed these later developments around Christmas, to the displeasure and lament of most Christian leaders, appear to have taken over its original purpose as can be seen in some car-bumper stickers making a call “to bring Christ back to Christmas”. There is a feeling that Christmas which was originally a secular feast day marking the return of longer days in European winter and was changed by emperor Constantine when he became Christian into a Christian feast has returned to its secular meaning, but more on that later.
To come back to the question of whether Christmas is happening this year or not, the added cultural and social purposes of event are being achieved better this year than they did last year. On the 17th and 18th of this month I travelled along N2 to KwaZulu-Natal where I noticed that after every few kilometres there were erected tents in a number of homes and scores of cars with people in a celebratory disposition. I took it that these celebrations were an indication of more events that were going on in the villages and which are continuing as we come to Christmas. Thus December which has come to be known as a month of “functions” (iiyanga yemicimbi) because family members are able to gather has become a reality this year. It means that better than last year, more family members are together which is one of the aims of Christmas - spending time with family.
This, however, is not true for all people. It has been reported in the news recently that some Zimbabwean nationals will not be able to go home because their government (I guess in fear of Omicron variant) has indicated that on arrival they will have to quarantine in hotels for 10 days at their own expense even if they test negative for the virus. Others are also discouraged to visit home due to a misunderstanding of the implications of SA's government that Zimbabwean special permit will not be renewed. Last year a lot Zimbabweans could not go home due to Covid-19 regulations which forced some to spend days at the Beitbridge border. In this regard, the reality for some is that Christmas is not happening again.
Then there is the commercial aspect of Christmas which is a cause of annoyance for most Christians because it has “dethroned Christ and enthroned Santa Claus or Father Christmas”. Compared to last year, by the middle of November, malls were already displaying adverts of Christmas sales. So, for the business community, Christmas is indeed happening and come January they are likely to report a better festive profit compared to last year.
The commercialisation of Christmas is very much linked to the happiness that is associated with the day which finds expression in greetings of this time such as “Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas”. As already noted about Imicimbi along the N2, increasing traffic towards destinations of entertainment, and music played in cars at high volumes shows that the merry mood is on the swing. Thus,the merry part of Christmas is indeed happening this year.
Given the relaxing of regulations governing gatherings it could be said that Christmas is also happening at religious level. People are better able to worship during this years’ Christmas season than they did last year. The perennial challenge is that as it has been happening during the period of freedom from Covid-19, this original aspect of Christmas will again receive less attention in two ways. Most people will not bother about participating in this religious aspect of Christmas by going to church or being involved in some form of prayer or worship. Secondly, in celebrating these other aspects of Christmas, some people will do so in ways that are contrary to the values and teachings of Christ yet He is the one whose birthday is the cause of their celebration. How do we deal with this?
While some cultures and systems that have been developed around Christmas will be difficult to change, we must at least begin to have conversations about them.
I want to begin the conversation by noting that these cultural and social meanings that have developed around Christmas are not bad in themselves, but my concern is the corrosive excesses and superficiality that accompany them.
The idea of Christmas being a time for family, for example, is not contrary to the Christian spirit. In Catholic calendar, December 26 is the feast of the Holy Family. The problem comes when we narrow this definition to the confines of nuclear family and do not care about others. We live in a society where family is not a common experience for many people and thus to make this experience true for many if not for all as Christ did.
While Christ had his nuclear family, he viewed the whole of humanity as his family, and so when one day his nuclear family came to claim him, Matthew 12:46-50 tells us that Jesus asked the question “who is my mother and who are my brothers?” And responding to his own question He said “whoever does the will of my Father who is heaven is my brother and sister and mother”. When he was asked who a neighbour was, he told the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and clarifying the criteria for being associated with him, he said,“whatsoever you do the least of my brothers, that you do unto me” (Matthew 25:40).
Excessive concern about nuclear and extended family during this time of the year and spoiling them with an abundance of gifts while the rest of the larger family of humanity remains in need of attention and assistance misses the Christmas understanding of family. The understanding of Christmas as family time calls us at personal level to consider practical and creative ways of making the experience a reality for many who are deprived of it. Making suggestions of what one can do to extend family experience beyond the confines of nuclear family will only stifle creativity. The example of the late former president Nelson Mandela's annual Christmas gatherings with children in Qunu and the reports about humble yet heroic efforts of many ordinary South Africans reaching out and making a difference in the lives of others may serve as a spark towards this end.
When it comes to the commercial part of Christmas, it must be noted that trading is not a bad because producers and traders provide for the needs of people. What is wrong, which happens a lot around the Christmas season it to lure and trick people to buy what they do not need and to buy more than they need and, in that way, making more profit. While we cannot stop the commercialisation of Christmas because it is fed by the powerful worldwide economic capitalistic system at an individual level we can dent it by refusing to be forced into excessive buying. By the end of Christmas season this excessive buying which entices people with the promise of happiness and fulfilment leaves many of them burdened with debt.
Being merry and joyful is not contradictory to the spirit of Christmas because it celebrates the restoration of unity between God and humanity and the establishment of peace among people on earth. The account of Jesus at a wedding at Cana (John 2:1) and many of his parables about feasts and celebrations indicate that Jesus also enjoyed merry moments. The problem about being merry, especially during Christmas season is doing so to the excess. Excessive indulgence is informed by the unrealistic view of life as perpetual enjoyment instead of service and working for a cause. This attitude is particularly true of some young people who are in perpetual pursuit and incremental maximization of indulgence and entertainment, particularly around this time of Christmas, which they call “festive”. Excessive indulgence renders the Christmas season devoid of its spiritual value.
While God in Jesus provides for our physical wellbeing, unlike Santa Clause (Father Christmas) of the shopping malls, he provides us with more. He is the answer to our existential concerns, a guide for the meaning of our life and a quest for our souls. It is for this reason that the main-line churches during the four weeks before Christmas (called Advent) invite members to spiritually prepare themselves rather than being preoccupied with its external celebration.
Christmas is meant to be a moment of our restoration and a time to improve the quality of our being so that in relationship with others we are characterised by the qualities of “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Yet instead of seeing these values, which are also Ubuntu values increasing during this season of Christmas we can expe The prevailing overindulgence and carelessness over the Christmas season also account for much of the littering and pollution that takes place at this time, again in the name of Christmas.
We are happy that Christmas is finally happening after a year of missing it. In enjoying it let us remember that the war against Covid-19 is not yet over. We need to take the necessary precautions and to vaccinate. Christmas is a beautiful season with values that can restore us spiritually and build us as human beings. Let us do our best to rescue it from the capture of excessive materialism and overindulgence so that it becomes a celebration of the renewal of right relationship between God and humanity, between humanity and creation and among people for a world that can only be better because it is infused with values of God’s kingdom.
Bishop Sithembele Sipuka is Catholic Bishop of Mthatha and president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops. He writes in his personal capacity
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