SVP Catholic Primary School

Why Christmas is important to Christians and to our School

Millie Gorka Bond

As the year is coming to an end an important event for many is fast approaching, which is known throughout the world as Christmas, a special holy day of Jesus. People of different faiths celebrate Christmas in a variety of ways. For many, Christmas is a time to come together with friends and family and a time for reflection. At St Vincent de Paul Catholic Primary School, it is an important and special time of year for us as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

There are several ways we mark this special time; it begins on 1 December when we come together to light the first of the four Advent candles. We prepare our Nativity Performance which we present in Westminster Cathedral, with our families, friends and the public watching and celebrating with us. We thank God in our prayers and we begin to reflect on the birth of Jesus and to thank him for the many things he has done to help us try and bring peace to our world. We hold a Christmas fair, when we can all work together to celebrate and raise money to show our love and support for each other in the name of Jesus Christ. We do all of this because we believe that Jesus, the long-awaited saviour, plays a big part in our life.

For Christians throughout the world it is a time for celebration and for us all to take notice of the lessons we can learn from the birth of Jesus and a time for us all to be thankful. The Bible tells us that: ‘When they saw the star they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him’ (Matt 2:10). The scripture shows us the happiness and joy felt by the Magi when Jesus was born, because they knew that he was God’s gift to us.

Over the last couple of years there have been lots of events which have affected everyone throughout the world, now more than ever we need to remember the true meaning of Christmas, it is not about the presents under the tree or who has the most decorations around their house. When Advent begins we should remember that this is a time for prayer, penance, sacrifice and hope. During this time, we pray for those people who cannot be with their loved ones at Christmas. It is important that we keep these people in our thoughts, so that they will not be forgotten. This year we will all be thinking specially of those affected by war and those who are struggling with the increased cost of living. This way we support one another and show our thanks for the birth of Jesus, and we try to keep the important lessons we have been shown by him close to our hearts.