The President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC), Bishop Sithembele Sipuka, has said that the Christmas season should be a time of healing, restoration and mending of broken relationships.
Paul Samasumo – Vatican City.
In his 2022 Christmas Message, Bishop Sipuka called on South Africans to embrace joyous but sober celebrations.
Restoration and healing
“First, Christmas is about love and humility… Second, Christmas is about relationships. God became one of us to heal the relationship between Him and us, between us and creation, and between us. God,’ through Christ, he reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry (work) of reconciliation’ (2 Cor. 5:18).We celebrate Christmas significantly, therefore, if we are also willing to work for peace, the peace in our families, in our neighborhoods, at work, in our country and in the world,” said the Bishop of Mthatha.
He stressed that the festive season is meant to be a time of restoration and a time to improve the quality of relationships with others. We should aspire to relationships that are “characterized by the qualities of ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control’ (Galatians 5:22-23),” the SACBC president said. .
The bishop criticized the fact that the Christmas period is often used as an excuse for overindulgence in alcohol and a period for some to commit horrendous crimes. The Christian values he was promoting are not unrelated to the values fostered in the traditional African way of life, Bishop Sipuka said. They are essentially the values of Ubuntu, for which Africa is known, he emphasized.
Sensitivity towards the poor
It was also important to remember, the Mthatha prelate said, that Christmas “is about the poor. Jesus was born into a poor family. His birth was first announced to the poor shepherds by the angel. When he was being presented in the temple , Mary and Joseph gave the offering of the poor, two doves, since they could not afford the lamb, which was the usual offering.Jesus would later proclaim that He is ‘sent to bring good news to the poor and freedom to the oppressed’ (Luke 4:18) As he summed up His teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, His first words were: ‘Blessed are the poor.’ A meaningful celebration of Christmas invites sensitivity and compassion towards the poor. do our Christmas shopping, we must remember the poor,” said Bishop Sipuka.
Work for social justice
The bishop also stressed that sensitivity towards the poor should not be limited to assisting them or giving them alms only during this Christmas season.
Sensitivity to the plight of the poor among us “must include working for social and economic structures that ensure that no one lives a life of poverty. Our planet has enough resources to feed all of its citizens. Yet our greed, supported by Unjust economic systems and a lack of political will to create economic equity have led to few people having more than they need, while many are left without the basics of life,” said the South African prelate.
it’s good to be happy
However, Bishop Sipuka wanted him not to be misconstrued as cold water in all the Christmas celebrations and festivities, especially given the past two years of the pandemic.
“There is nothing wrong with being cheerful and cheerful during this time because Christmas celebrates the restoration of unity between God and humanity and the establishment of peace among men on earth. The account of Jesus at the Wedding Wedding at Cana (cf. Jn. 2:1) and many of his parables about feasts and celebrations indicate that Jesus also enjoyed joyful moments,” Bishop Sipuka said.
However, Bishop Sipuka said, ‘man does not live by bread alone’. Therefore, it is prudent to avoid the inclination towards excessive indulgences. Most of these indulgences, he said, are informed by an unrealistic view of life that considers only perpetual enjoyment while neglecting the call to duty.
