Christmas has arrived. The streets are filled with lights, Christmas decorations flood us everywhere and the inevitable purchases for these dates skyrocket, to the delight of merchants and the regret of our checking accounts.
In recent years it is customary … criticism and even furious attacks against Christmas appear on social networks. I believe that this attitude towards Christmas is largely explained by the dominant cynicism of our timewhich makes it increasingly difficult for us to celebrate the beautiful, the true and the good in public.
The most criticized aspects of Christmas are excesses and even kitsch which sometimes accompanies these dates. You will be with me in that, at least on this point, you are right – take as an example these very impersonal WhatsApp messages, transmitted a thousand times on Christmas Eve.
But in reality, consumerism and kitsch These are not intrinsic qualities of Christmasbut rather some undesirable attributes that have been added to this celebration precisely to the extent that the true meaning has been lost sight of of this feast, that is to say that God was born and that he did it to save us.
And, no matter how much the traditional “Merry Christmas” has been relegated to the politically correct and misleading “Happy Holidays,” or perhaps precisely because of that, something needs to be emphasized which, until recently, was insultingly obvious: Christmas is a Christian holiday.
However, this statement should not be understood in an exclusive sense. Christmas, in addition to its religious significance, has other elements that make it a celebration of great beauty for everyone. Even for the families more distant from Christian beliefs, Christmas serves as an excuse to, even once a year, gather around a table and celebrate this institution as natural as it is inimitable, the family, where we are all accepted and loved as we are. Just for that, Christmas it’s already worth it. And if it didn’t exist, we would have to invent it.
Eduardo Baura
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