A French friend of mine who teaches at a seminary in southern France emailed this today:
“The bishop of Amiens, a city in Northern France, recently published an article calling for support of the people who are in tragic social needs. This support, he offers, could be very simply stated. We should cancel Christmas. No church service, no celebration, no dinner with family and friends. He concludes:
‘The shout of despair throughout France is incompatible with the mystery of Christmas, with the hope of Advent, with the reception of an alien child…’
“[But this] is precisely why we must celebrate Christmas. In times like these, to gather together as the people of the coming Savior is the greatest act of protest we can undertake. To celebrate Christmas is to protest the claim that evil is the last word. It is a radical opposition to the forces of despair and injustice. To celebrate Christmas is to be engaged in one of the greatest acts of counter-cultural activity.”
Amen!
