How to celebrate a different kind of Christmas

Usually, we associate warmth and light with positive feelings. For example, a warm, sunny day puts a spring in our step and a smile on our face.

For believers, the Christmas season is the celebration of the Light of Life who has come into our darkened world. Many of us celebrate His coming in the warmth of gatherings with families and friends.

But warmth and light have been hard to come by for Janet, a young mother with three children, 11, 10 and 5. Janet (whose real name has been changed to protect her privacy) has no car, no credit cards and no loans, and receives no public assistance.

But she did have $870 in accumulated utility charges that she had not been able to pay for six months. Although she works full-time at a daycare center, her wages of $10 an hour -þ about $1,400 a month -þ weren't enough to cover this expense.

In late October, Janet turned to Catholic Charities, which referred her to the utility company's various payment plans for spreading out the costs of heat and electricity. Then Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army each paid half of the old debt so that the family would not have its electricity and gas turned off just as days were growing colder and darker.

Through their donations to Catholic Charities, generous Catholics and organizations made it possible to respond to Janet's plight. In giving to her and her children, they gave to Christ.

Everyone's utility bills are expected to rise this winter. In order to pay them, many of us will be forced to cut back on unnecessary spending; others, tragically, will be forced to go without necessities. Perhaps that thought will enable us to observe the birth of our Savior in a more fitting way than we have when economic conditions were more favorable.

An Alternative Christmas celebration is one in which we focus on the miracle of God's unconditional love, which moved Him to become one of us. That divine compassion moves us to act with mercy towards our fellow humans. It becomes our joy not only to give what we can spare, but, as Pope John Paul II urged us, to "give of our substance," as God did for us.

By simplifying our preparations for the holiday, we find the time to contemplate the wonder of God's love. By taking the time to sit quietly and ask what we really want for Christmas, we experience the assurance that the patience, respect, forgiveness, love and companionship that we desire are what our dear ones want from us as well.

What skill do you have that you can share with a youth or child? What chores can be taken on willingly and cheerfully? How many prayers and hugs can be promised for the coming year? How many visits and/or meals with someone who cannot leave their home? How many walks taken together and phone calls to say that someone matters to you?

Such gifts of self cost little or nothing in money, but they do require time and presence. In giving them, we are giving away a part of our lives. The paradox of the manger and the cross is that we receive back far more than we give.

(This is part one of a four-part Advent series. The author of this installment is director of the Albany diocesan Commission on Peace and Justice. Donations to Catholic Charities' fund for assisting people whose utilities are about to be or have been shut off can be sent to Catholic Charities, 40 N. Main Ave., Albany NY 12203-1481.)

(12/1/05) [[In-content Ad]]