202312

THE STORY OF ‘AWAY IN A MANGER’

WHAT THE POPE DOES AT CHRISTMAS

THE ANNUAL BIG CHRISTMAS TRIVIA QUIZ

Southern Cross The

The Catholic Magazine for Southern Africa

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December 2023

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Advent & Christmas Edition HOW A BIG BOSS BECAME A FRANCISCAN PRIEST

THREE TIPS FOR A GOOD ADVENT JOURNEY

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A season of special joy Dear Reader,

HEN wE ARE yOUNG, a year takes so long that when the Advent wreaths go up again, we barely remember last Christmas. For me, and I suspect for most of us, last Christmas is so recent that we still remember vividly taking the decorations out of their storage last December and returning them there in January. And still, despite the relentless passage of time, for us Advent must always be a season of special joy as we anticipate the birth in Bethlehem of the Incarnation.

Time races, and I was jolted to realise that this issue is already the fourth Advent & Christmas edition of The Southern Cross magazine! This year we have the customary popular seasonal material — the Big Christmas Trivia Quiz, Fr Ralph de Hahn’s beloved Christmas story, the biography of a famous Christmas carol, and Grazia Barletta’s seasonal recipe. As before, we also feature Advent advice and reflections.

One story may inspire us as an example of how we can put Christ back into Christmas in places where he is missing. The Schoenstatt Sisters in Cape Town set up a stand outside a shopping mall, inviting passers-by to pray, reflect and engage with the Lord. you can read about their experience on page 25.

If you are part of an apostolate that puts Christ into Christmas, or know of one, please let us know.

Maybe it will feature in next year’s Advent & Christmas issue.

W

O

ne of the joys of producing a publication is in receiving positive feedRefLECTION

I am not myself on my own

All Catholics are part of the royal priesthood, and that means we are a community in which we are called to pray for one another.

FR OSKAR WERMTER SJ explains.

T

HE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC lockdown has isolated us and cut us off from one another.

But we are still a community.

We are still one.

Though not yet fully united and able to share the Eucharist, we pray for one another. I promise my prayers. And you will include me in your prayers.

We are members of families, of communities of consecrated women or men. We are never alone. The Holy Spirit is in all of us and joins us together. We learnt to say “Our Father”, not just “My Father”.

“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own” (1 Peter 2:9). We are a “priestly people”. A priest prays for others. He represents the Lord before the people and the people before the Lord. Ordained ministers are not the only “priestly people”. We all are priestly since we all are baptised and confirmed. We all are priestly in praying for all who belong to us.

A priest makes an offering. He gives gifts. He gives himself as his Lord did. Any prayer is self-giving.

Who is the ‘self’?

Who is this “self”? Is it just me, me alone? No, we have said we are never alone.

My “self” consists of me and all the brothers and sisters, friends and co-workers and companions I have ever known, I have taught or cared for, all those I have healed and been reconciled to, all those whom I have ever loved and that belong to me still, even if our communion was a long time ago.

When I was in isolation, quarantined and cut off, celebrating the Eucharist apparently made no sense because there was

30 The Southern Cross

no community. But I was wrong. Even when “breaking the bread” of the Eucharist alone, I was not just one, but we were many.

I was in the one living Body of Christ and bound together with all whom I had ever shared Holy Com-

My ‘self’: that is countless people who still live in my heart munion with. Together with all whom I had ever proclaimed the Good News to, all I had ever cared about as my pupils or students, as readers of my papers, all with whom I had ever shared a meal with in friendship and kindness.

Maybe life took us to faraway places, maybe we had to say farewell to them, maybe our friends and companions said farewell to us. No matter.

They still belong to me and I belong to them.

“If one part suffers, all the other

parts suffer with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26). And if one has great joy, he shares the joy with all others.

A space for many

I am my “self”. This self is like a hut, a house, indeed a village or a city.

It is my heart which offers much space as a refuge; it welcomes refugees and homeless people. Love makes space for many. And love lasts. I take them along, those whom I have loved, as I walk with Jesus, the Son, to his Father.

Just as Jesus never abandoned one of his own, so we, if we have the Spirit of Christ, will never abandon our loved ones or leave them alone on the road. Can a loving wife leave her husband out of her prayers?

Can parents pray without including their children?

My “self” — that is the history, or the story, of my life. It is a long story, like a drama with many actors. My “self” — that is my memory which is like a big storeroom where all my actions of kindness, compassion and justice, my deeds of charity, my words of truth are held like rare treasures. My “self” — that is all the good relationships I had with different people, that is a network of love and bonds of friendship and compassion.

My “self” — that is countless people who still live in my heart.

Jesus said at the Last Supper: “If I go and prepare a place for you. I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am, you also may be” (John 14:3).

If the Holy Spirit lives in me, he will widen my heart and make it big enough as a home for all the people I ever knew and loved and welcomed. In prayer I open my heart to the Lord to show him all my brothers and sisters, my friends and companions, even my opponents who have hurt me or rivals with whom I now live in the peace of Christ (John 20:21).

“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).  Fr Oskar Wermter SJ is based in Harare.

Amy Maria Jacobs doing a crossword, and Fr Oskar Wermter’s reflection in our October 2020 issue.

THE STORY OF ‘AWAY IN A MANGER’

WHAT THE POPE DOES AT CHRISTMA S

THE ANNUAL BIG CHRISTMAS TRIVIA QUIZ

Souther n Cross The

Est. 1920

The Catholic Magazine

for Southern Africa

December 2023

back on our content and presentation. This encourages and sustains us, while Advent & Christmas Edition constructive criticism can help us improve.

A particularly lovely comment was left on our Facebook page (facebook.com/ScrossZA), where reader Amy Maria Jacobs posted a photo of herself doing the Quick Crossword. She wrote: “we couldn’t wait to get home to solve the puzzles after church this morning, so we did it at breakfast.”

This message delighted us, because all items on the puzzles pages are prepared exclusively for The Southern Cross. But aside from providing entertainment and brain-exercise, we hope that some of the puzzles and quizzes also serve a catechetical function, by including subjects that may help us think and be informed or curious about our faith.

HOW A BIG BOSS BECAME A FRANCISCAN PRIEST

THREE TIPS FOR A GOOD ADVENT JOURNEY

s we were producing this edition, we were sad to learn of the death of Fr Oskar wermter SJ. Although he was based in Harare, where he was wellknown for his courageous and accurate critique of the Mugabe regime’s misrule, Fr wermter wrote many spiritual articles for us over the years. He was also a contributor in the first issue of The Southern Cross magazine, dated October 2020, with a reflection titled “I am not myself on my own” (read it at wwwt.ly/U8HBl). we have lost a fine communicator.

A

n this issue you will find several Catholic institutions conveying their Christmas wishes to the Catholic community. Of course, we reciprocate the good wishes, and do so also on behalf of our readers.

From all at The Southern Cross, may your Advent give you ample peace to quietly contemplate the coming of the Lord, and may your Christmas be holy and filled with joy.

God bless,

I

Günther Simmermacher (Editor)

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Contents DECEMBER 2023

9

Painter behind our cover A look at Peter Paul Rubens and his Christmas art

10

From big boss to simple priest Fr John Allen Green’s journey from business tycoon to Franciscan priest in search of solitude

12

Mandela’s jail letter to an archbishop What Madiba wrote to the archbishop of Cape Town

14

Composer for the pope: A sung hero We interview composer and choirmaster Harry Masenya

16

Pope’s warning: Time is running out A look at Pope Francis’ sequel to Laudato Si’

ADVENT & CHRISTMAS 8

The story of the Holy Innocents

21

The Pope at Christmas What the Holy Father does over Christmas

18

Three Advent lessons from the Church Three tips to help us along on our Advent journey

20

Reflection for Advent How we can block out the noise in Advent

25

Taking Jesus to the mall How Schoenstatt Sisters try to put Christ into Christmas

26

Christmas Traditions in Three Countries Christmas in Germany, Iraq and Ghana

27

Christmas Around the World Last year’s Christmas captures in photos

28

A season of homecoming A Reflection on maintaining joy beyond Christmas

32

The Biography of a Hymn The story behind ‘Away In A Manger’

33

‘A fresh look out of Ward E’ A short Christmas story by Fr Ralph de Hahn

35

In Advent, where is the youth?

Serialong Lebasa writes that we need the energy of the youth

42

The Big Christmas Trivia Quiz Fun for the whole family: Test your festive knowledge

10 From big boss

EVERY MONTH 5

to simple priest

FROM OUR VAULTS The Southern Cross 40 years ago

6

18 Tips for a good Advent journey

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED We answer your questions about Christmas and paganism and when Christmas actually ends

21

SAINTS OF THE MONTH The Holy Innocents — with pull-out poster

30

COOKING WITH SAINTS Grazia Barletta bakes a Spinach Tree

36

RAYMOND PERRIER On the paths to peace

37

FR RON ROLHEISER OMI

Did you know?

In our digital ed ition, all links to websites are live.

Just click, and th e site opens in your br owser!

On overcoming darkness at Christmas

38

Try IT!

PRAY WITH THE POPE Fr Chris Chatteris SJ on the pope’s December prayer intention

39

PRAYER CORNER Your illustrated prayers, to cut out and collect

40

TWO PAGES OF PUZZLES Two Crosswords, Wordsearch, Dropped Letters, Anagrams

44

...AND FINALLY History in Colour, Quotes on Reconciliation, and a Last Laugh

What the Pope does for Christmas

8

Cover image: “The Adoration of the Magi” (1633/34) by Peter Paul Rubens

With pull-out poster!

FROM OUR VAULTS 40 Years Ago: December 18, 1983

Bishop’s Mass for detainees

Bishop John Murphy of Port Elizabeth celebrated a Mass in St Augustine cathedral for detained priest Fr Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, secretary-general of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and other detainees. “We cannot do otherwise than condemn all detentions without trial, and ask that the victims be charged or discharged,” the bishop said.

Priest killed, nuns missing

A Portuguese priest, 53-year-old Fr Alirio Baptista, was murdered by rebel Renamo forces in Mozambique, and four missionary nuns are missing in Angola after anti-government militia Unita attacked a hospital run by the nuns.

Shroud stays in Turin

Pope John Paul II has officially assigned custody of the shroud believed by many to be the burial cloth of Christ to the diocese of Turin, where it has been kept since 1578.

Ex-teacher turns 100

Port Alfred parishioner Emmie Counihan received a greeting and apostolic blessing from Pope John Paul II on occasion of her 100th birthday. Mrs Counihan came to South Africa at the turn of the century and taught at the Ursuline Convent School in Krugersdorp.

Editorial on family rights

In his editorial, Mgr Donald de Beer notes that “Christmas is a good time to think about the rights of families”, which the Vatican has lately published in a charter.

What else made news in December 1983:

• Pope John Paul II visits his would-be assassin Mehmet Ali Agca in Rebibbia prison in Rome, and offers the prisoner his forgiveness for the murder attempt in May 1981.

• The South African Defence Force launches Operation Askari, its sixth large-scale cross-border operation into Angola, on the pretext of attacking the South West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO).

• Dieter Gerhardt, former commanding officer of the Simonstown naval base, and his wife Ruth are sentenced to life imprisonment and ten years’ imprisonment respectively after being found guilty of high treason on charges of spying for the Soviet Union.

• Military rule ends and democracy is restored in Argentina, with the beginning of Raúl Alfonsín’s first term as president of Argentina.

• South African-based English author Mary Renault, dies at 78 in Cape Town.

Above: Bishop Mansuet Biyase and Abbot Gernot Wottawah of the Benedictine Inkamana Abbey lead priests and seminarians in a pilgrimage to the hilltop shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, 30km outside Eshowe.

Left: Fr Bonaventure Hinwood OFM with his mother Clare at the launch of the Franciscan priest’s third book of answers to questions by readers of The Southern Cross.

Did the Church ‘steal’ Christmas from pagans?

Q. According to my priest, December 25 is not the birthday of Our Lord Jesus, and the Church simply turned pagan festivals into Christmas? Can you explain?

A

T THIS TIME OF THE YEAR, Catholics are liable to be lectured with the inaccurate notion that the celebration of Christmas on December 25 derives from an appropriation of pagan feasts. Even some Catholics have bought into that assumption, and repeat it in good faith, as your priest possibly did. More often, however, it is trotted out by people who seek to delegitimise the feast of the Nativity.

In brief, the argument goes, the early Christians deliberately usurped the pagan feasts of Saturnalia (a celebration that fell between December 17 and 23, which at some points in history might have culminated in human sacrifice but also included gift-giving and festivities) and Sol Invictus (worship of the sun god Sol) to create the feast of the Nativity, or Christmas.

Since some of the popular practices of the Christmas celebration that came later — such as the now ubiquitous decorated trees or the use of holly — have pagan origins, the myth has a superficial appearance of plausibility.

However, the canonical dating of Christmas in the 4th century has no relation to the Roman pagan feasts.

The early Christians did not attach great importance to the birth of the Lord. For the first three centuries of Christianity, the celebration of Christ’s birth had no official date or form. For the Church, the principal feast was, as it is today, Easter.

The oldest surviving reference to the official celebration of Christ’s birth is in a document from 336, in

6 The Southern Cross

Your Questions answered Do you have questions about our faith? Send them to: editor@scross.co.za

the Roman Deposito Martyrum. This document was issued before Pope Julius I (337-52) formally set the date for the feast of the Nativity on December 25.

That date most likely had already been widely accepted and marked as Jesus’ “birthday”, based on the calculation by the Jerusalem scholar Sextus Julius Africanus in 221 AD.

Distance from paganism That was a time when Christians were not yet assimilating pagan traditions into their practices. Indeed, the early Christians were prepared to be martyred rather than to submit to pagan observances. They sought distance from paganism, not to copy or usurp it. This changed only after Christianity had become the state religion of the Roman Empire in the late 4th century.

In the early 3rd century, Africanus affirmed that the Annunciation should be dated March 25, the northern spring equinox and the 14th Nisan in the Jewish calendar, which at the time was believed to be the date on which God created the world. Incidentally, it was also believed that Jesus was crucified and died on the date of God’s creation and of his incarnation at the Annunciation — on March 25.

By simple biology and arithmetic,

if we add nine months to March 25, the date on which Mary conceived the Lord by the Holy Spirit, we arrive at December 25 for the date of his birth.

Importantly for the purpose of the present question, the affirmation of the date of the Annunciation on March 25 by Africanus precedes the celebration of the pagan feast Sol Invictus by half a century.

Date of Jesus’ birth Scripture gives no indication as to when Jesus actually was conceived or born, since the evangelists’ concern was theology, not biography. We know neither the date, nor the season, nor even the year (though the latter must have been before 4 BC, the year of King Herod’s death). The references to shepherds tending their sheep at night would suggest that the birth of the Lord could not have taken place in the northern winter.

Speculation about the authentic date of Jesus’ birth can teach us a lot about the historical, social and religious context of Jesus’ time, but nothing about the meaning of Christmas — which is the birth of God-made-human so that we all may be redeemed.

While we must correct the fallacy that Christmas in some ways usurped pagan feasts — with that assertion’s implied delegitimisation of the feast of the Nativity — it is this truth on which we must keep our eyes.

(Günther Simmermacher)

When does Christmas end?

Q. I understand that the Christmas season starts on December 25, the feast of the Nativity, but I have heard different version as to when it actually ends. Some say January 6, the feast of the Epiphany, and others give later dates? What is the correct length of the Christmas season?

T

HE EXACT LENGTH OF THE Christmas season is largely in the eye of the beholder, though the Church has its liturgical rules on the subject.

In the Western world, Christmas, or the feast of the Nativity of the Lord, is celebrated on December 25 (those who begin their celebrations on Christmas Eve are entitled to do so, since the liturgical day begins at sundown, as discussed in this column in the September 2023 issue). But Eastern Churches that use the Julian calendar celebrate Christmas on December 7, and others on January 6.

It can be argued that the Christmas season is eight days long, since the Church regards Christmas an octave, thus ending on January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Others suggest that the Christmas season is 12 days long. The carol

“Twelve Days of Christmas” counts down those days by listing daily gifts.

At the end of the dozen days is the feast of the Epiphany on January 6.

The feast commemorates the visit of the gift-bearing Magi to the Holy Family, and the revelation to them that Jesus was the Son of God. But there is a complication: in many pastoral regions, including Southern Africa, the feast of the Epiphany is moved to the nearest Sunday. In 2024, that is on January 7.

Others hold that the Christmas season continues until the feast of the

Baptism of the Lord, which typically falls on the Sunday after January 6.

Often that is also the Sunday to which the feast of the Epiphany is transferred, as it will be in 2024. On those occasions, the feast of the Baptism is moved to the following day (January 7 in 2024). The latest date for the feast is January 13 (as it last was in 2019).

The usus antiquior of the Roman Breviary states that “Christmastide” includes both “the season of Christmas” (up to the feast of the Epiphany) and the season (previously octave), which takes us to January 13.

Some want to extend the Christmas season up until Candlemas on February 2, but the Church does not support that claim.

In the liturgical calendar, our proper guide to the Church’s year, the Christmas season ends with the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord — so this Christmas season, that will be on January 7 — after which ordinary time begins and clergy resume wearing their green vestments.

So when precisely do you take down your Christmas tree? That is your decision to make, based on your own traditions and practical considerations.

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The pope at Christmas Africa, watch the Mass on TV and the Internet.

‘Urbi et orbi’ Blessing On Christmas Day, the pope gives his traditional blessing “urbi et orbi” from the central balcony of St Peter’s basilica to the city of Rome (urbi) and the world (orbi). This blessing includes a message of peace and goodwill and is an important part of the Vatican’s Christmas celebrations.

Christmas Messages

W

HILE MOST OF US ENJOY FREE TIME OVER Christmas, the pope will be hard at work to meet a tight schedule. Here’s how the pope traditionally spends Christmas:

Midnight Mass

The centrepoint of the Vatican’s Christmas celebrations is the Midnight Mass, held on Christmas Eve in St Peter’s basilica in the Vatican. The pope usually presides over the Mass, delivering a homily that focuses on the significance of Christ’s birth and the Gospel message of hope and love.

Some 7 000 people, including dignitaries and pilgrims fortunate enough to have secured a ticket, attend the Mass. Many thousands more follow it outside in St Peter’s Square on monitors, and millions more around the world, including in South

The pope delivers various Christmas messages and addresses during Advent and the Christmas season. These messages may include reflections on the meaning of Christmas, calls for peace and reconciliation, and messages of solidarity with those on the margins.

Especially important is the New Year’s message, in which Pope Francis often tackles current social themes, such as gender-based violence, war or injustice. Every year the pope celebrates a New Year’s Day Mass at the Vatican.

Vatican Decorations Every year, a large Christmas tree and a Nativity scene, often featuring life-sized figurines, are set up in St Peter’s Square, near the obelisk. The pope usually blesses the Nativity scene at Christmas.

Charitable Activities The pope often highlights the importance of charitable activities during the Christmas season. He leads by example by visiting hospitals, prisons, or other institutions to spend time with those in need of compassion.

Private Celebrations In addition to his public duties, the pope also celebrates Christmas in a more private and personal manner. Like many people, he may exchange gifts with close associates and celebrate with a festive meal.

Last year on Christmas Day, Pope Francis made at least one private phone call. At 19:20, he phoned a man in the Italian city of Brindisi whose wife had died a couple of days earlier during the birth of twins. The Holy Father frequently phones people who have suffered tragedies.

At the centre of all the pope does at Christmas is the celebration of the Saviour’s birth in Bethlehem, which gives us the messages of love, peace, charity, and our hope of redemption.

8 The Southern Cross

2022’s Nativity scene and Christmas tree in St Peter’s Square. On Christmas Day, Pope Francis gives his blessing “urbi et orbi” from the central balcony of St Peter’s basilica. Photos: Vatican Media/Paul Haring/CNS

The story behind the cover The cover image of this issue depicts the Adoration of the Magi. Here’s the story behind the 1633 painting

by Baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens (right).

O

UR CHRISTMAS COVER THIS year shows “The Adoration of the Magi”, painted by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens in 1633–34. Rubens was clearly taken by the subject: he created four different paintings on the same theme.

The painting on the cover is the last of these.

The painter features again in this issue: the centrespread poster of the Holy Innocents is his work, too.

Rubens painted “The Adoration of the Magi” (below) as an altarpiece for the convent of the Carmelite White

Sisters in Louvain, Belgium.

It portrays a lively scene of people in motion. The Blessed Virgin, holding the infant Messiah, is rising from her seat as St Joseph assists her. Two of the Magi are leaning towards the Holy Family as they kneel in homage, presenting their gifts of incense and gold. They are kings, for a page is holding the train of the man in front. The third Magus looks at the Holy Family with concern as he holds a coffin, prefiguring the infant’s terrible fate at the hands of the Romans. Two Roman solders survey the scene.

The large painting— it measures 4,2m by 3,2m — stayed at the Louvain convent for almost 150 years. Then, in 1780, a suppression of convents swept through present-day Belgium and Netherlands. The Rubens painting was sold to an English marquis, and in 1806 came into the possession of the aristocratic Grosvenor family.

In 1959 it was auctioned off for what was then a world-record price of £250 000, paid by property millionaire Alfred Allnatt. Two years later, Allnatt presented it to King’s College in Cambridge. There it was installed in the chapel – the one from which the annual Christmas TV special “Carols from Kings” (or, officially, “Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols”) is broadcast.

A Catholic painter Peter Paul Rubens was born on June 29, the feast of Ss Peter and Paul, in 1577 in Siegen, western Germany, to Flemish parents. Although his father was a Calvinist, Peter Paul was baptised in a Catholic church in Cologne, and raised in the faith of his mother in Cologne and Antwerp.

Rubens saw his art as a vocation in the context of the Catholic CounterReformation. He once said: “My passion comes from the heavens, not from earthly musings.” He was famous in his own times, admired for his religious paintings and later also for his depiction of voluptuous women.

Besides his prodigious paintings, the affable Rubens also acted as a diplomat for the court of the Low Countries.

Rubens died on May 30, 1640, at the age of 62. His tomb is in the church of St James in Antwerp.

To our priests and pilgrims, past and future!

May the love of Our Lord embrace you this Christmas and throughout 2024! www.fowlertours.co.za

The Southern Cross 9

How a big boss became a simple Franciscan Spiritual writer Fr John Allen Green OFM was once a successful business tycoon.

But he left all that behind and became a Franciscan priest in search of silence and solitude, as he told Daluxolo Moloantoa.

A

T THE AGE OF 40 IN THE EARLY 1990s, John Allen Green was diagnosed with cancer. From his second-floor hospital room he could look out over the tops of the trees to the beautiful blue sky beyond. “The sound of the rustling trees gave me some comfort.

A quiet voice inserted into the silence, ‘Come, I will lead you back to my Son’,” he recalls. It was a key moment in a journey of faith that would culminate in the priesthood.

Franciscan Father John Allen Green is a familiar name to many readers of The Southern Cross’ website, where he has been writing his reflections on the Sunday Mass readings since 2016.

This ministry began out of a challenge posed to him by Professor Pierre Brooks of St Pius X parish in Waterkloof, Pretoria. “On one occasion, while they were busy debating a particular understanding of the Gospel passage, Prof Brooks challenged me to write up my reflections and issue them by email before the actual Sunday Mass. This would put us on an equal footing in our debate.” Out of this emerged a constantly growing mailing list, and eventually a blog and the weekly Southern Cross column. Fr Green’s weekly Gospel reflections are internationally read and are now prepared three weeks in advance to allow for translation....

Always walking with Jesus

Fr Green was born in 1952 in Bez Valley, Johannesburg, to parents of Portuguese and Irish descent. As a child, he attended church at Holy Angels parish in Bez Valley. “My earliest recollection as a Catholic was as a very young child falling in love with Jesus at the Exposition and Benediction that I attended with my grandmother each Wednesday evening. With Mario Lanza’s song ‘I’ll never walk alone again’, the promise of Jesus as constant companion touched my heart. At the age of 7, I promised Jesus that I would always walk with him,” he told The Southern Cross.

In 1969, after completing his matriculation at Marist Brothers College (now Sacred Heart College) in Johannesburg, he studied to become an accountant and went on to build a diversified group of companies under the umbrella of the Progress Group, whose products included weaponry.

When he could take time out from work, he made pilgrimages to Fatima, Lourdes, the Miraculous Medal chapel in Paris, Częstochowa in Poland, and the basilica of the Visitation of Our Lady in Hejnice in the Czech Republic.

A pilgrimage to Fatima in Portugal coincided with his fight with cancer. “At the chapel of the Apparitions, I knelt down in silence to pray. Time stopped for me at that moment. With the

10 The Southern Cross

receding light I came back into awareness of the present moment; there was a feeling of a warm glow throughout my body, and I knew immediately that I had been healed. Back in South Africa, this was confirmed by the doctors. I had no trace of cancer remaining in my body,” Fr Green said.

In 1994 he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. “To walk in the footsteps of Jesus seemed appropriate for me at that stage of my life. I had discovered the priority of Jesus’ solitude and silence everywhere in the Gospels. It was in solitude and silence that Jesus dealt with painful emotions like grief, the constant demands of his ministry, and finally how he prepared for his own death on the cross.”

Travelling by road east of Jerusalem into the Judaean desert, he saw something glinting in the sun. Walking over to it, he bent down and picked it up. “It was a brass bullet 76mm cartridge case. I looked at its base. There it was, the year of its manufacturing, the batch number — and my own armaments company’s logo. I was reduced to utter disbelief,” he said.

“This was my Damascus moment, waking from a dreamstate to recognise that I had been slumbering with a serpent coiled on my breast: terrible weapons of destruction spread across the world, greater profits always the goal... To see my actions in their true light against the goodness of God is the deepest sorrow. And once you see, you see it everywhere. My complicity in an oil spill, killing our oceans and sealife, the burning forests of the Amazon, the desperate refugees fleeing war and poverty — this is my guilt as it is also our guilt as a species.”

The Franciscan path

After his retirement, he worked with the late Fr James Fitzsimons SJ, who was also his spiritual director, in the writing, publication and distribution of the Jesuit publication The Sacred Heart Messenger. This was coupled to his work with the Knights of da Gama in their Right to Live Campaign, the Missionaries of Charity at a hospice, and the caring for street children with Secular Franciscan Order member Daisy Rocouste in Bertrams, Johannesburg.

In 1998, he attended an annual convention organised by the Franciscan Order in South Africa. “This was a get-together of the various groups following the Franciscan Charism. There was one person at the convention, Fr Robert Stewart OFM, whose presence captivated me, and would greatly influence me in the years ahead,” Fr Green recalled.

The call to solitude led Fr Green to move into a small cottage in the Swartkopps’ hills, above Eikenhof about 30km south of Johannesburg. After a few weeks, “I had gradually

disengaged myself from all the frenzied activity of the previous five years that had followed my 20-year corporate path of money, prestige and power. The late Bishop Gerard Ndlovu became my monthly director and confessor,” he said. “Increasingly, I turned towards the Franciscan way.”

From 2004 to 2007 he lived in Britain at the Franciscan International Study Centre in Canterbury, earning an honours degree in theology through the University of Lampaster in Wales.

After returning to South Africa, he undertook further postgraduate studies in Christian spiritualty and psychology at St Augustine College in Johannesburg while also teaching at the Franciscan seminary.

Fr Green was ordained in January 2010, and immediately assigned to a parish in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal. “Rebuilding the parish community was my top priority, and I fell into my earlier trap of busyness and frenzied activity. Many of the parish structures required reinvention and rebuilding. Each day was filled with meetings and every night of the week was taken up in teaching, adult catechetics, marriage preparation, financial administration as the bursar for the friary, various committees and a contemplative prayer group. I was also the chaplain to the local Knights of da Gama as well as being the regional chaplain for KwaZulu-Natal,” he said.

Because of his business experience, Bishop Graham Rose of Dundee requested Fr Green’s assistance on the board of the St Antonine’s Old Age Homes, which had been established in the mountainous rural area of Amakhazi to care for the elderly, abused and destitute. The load was further increased when he was requested to chair the board of the Duduza Care Centre, which was run from the Maria Ratschitz mission in Wasbank, started by the Franciscan Nardini Sisters in 1998.

From hospital to cottage

In September 2015, Fr Green suffered acute heart failure, aggravated by chronic obstruction pulmonary disease. He was transferred to a cardiac intensive care unit in Johannesburg, where he spent two weeks in the intensive care unit, followed by a further two weeks in the cardiac care unit.

“This period of total dependence on others became once more a teacher through which I could view and challenge my thought patterns in past events, and especially my role as parish priest and as a pastor. I’d fallen into the trap of the literal

instruction of St Francis to hold back nothing of yourself for yourself,” he said.

In December of the same year, he began a period of recuperation and rest following his hospitalisation. To facilitate this period of recuperation, his brother had a wooden cabin erected in a corner in the gardens of his sister-in-law’s home, situated in Johannesburg and close to the various specialists who were treating Fr Green.

“I spent 15 months in Franciscan solitude in my ‘Little Portion Hermitage’ in Johannesburg. My desire has always been to live this life of Franciscan solitude, shared with two or three other Brothers. This is in accordance with St Francis’ unique vision for solitude lived in fraternitas. Having two or three other friars alternating as Martha and Mary would allow for extended periods of silence. It flows from this silence that I find I am enabled to listen and to hear and to be truly present to others; striving always to become the Christ reflection of joy, peace and love,” Fr Green said.

With the permission of his order, Fr Green is living the Franciscan life and prayer in solitude, in his small hermitage cottage in the corner of the family garden.

“Each one of us is called to make that journey to the centre of our being, finding that core of the divine within us that resonates with the divine beyond space and time,” Fr Green noted. “Touching the eternal transcendent, we come face-toface with Truth that dissolves our illusions of who we are. This is the sacred space of encounter with Jesus who is the Way, the Life and the Truth.”

Read Fr John Allen Green’s reflections on the Sunday Mass readings every week at www.scross.co.za/author/fr-johnallen-green-ofm/

Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all at the Christmas Season. e Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Secretariat and Staff of the SACBC wish all a very happy Christmas and a blessed New Year.

The Southern Cross 11

Nelson Mandela’s letter jail letter from from jail to an archbishop In 1984, the newly-appointed archbishop of Cape Town received a letter from Pollsmoor prisoner D220/82.

On the 10th anniversary of the death of Nelson Mandela, we look back at the future president’s letter to Archbishop Stephen Naidoo.

A

S SOUTH AFRICA MARKS the tenth anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s death at 95 on December 13, 2023, we recall the esteem in which the Father of the Nation held the Catholic Church.

In a letter written from jail in 1984 — bearing the prison censors’ stamp — Mandela commended the Catholic Church’s engagement in social justice issues, and expressed his appreciation for the pastoral care provided by Catholic priests on Robben Island, where he had been imprisoned for almost two decades.

Mandela’s neatly handwritten letter from Cape Town’s Pollsmoor Prison, dated November 1984, was addressed to the newly-appointed archbishop of Cape Town, Stephen Naidoo, who succeeded Cardinal Owen McCann on October 22 that year. Archbishop Naidoo, a Cape Town-born Redemptorist, had served as the cardinal’s auxiliary bishop since 1974.

Mandela and Archbishop Naidoo, who under apartheid was classified as Indian, had become friends during the bishops’ pastoral visits to Robben Island. Other priests who regularly took the ferry to the island jail in Table Bay included Fr Brendan Long (died 2009) and Jesuit Father Gerry Lorriman (died 2011).

In his letter, Mandela also mentions Redemptorist Father Arthur Curry (died 1989) as a regular visitor to Pollsmoor. Addressing a Mass in Athlone, Cape Town, in September 1993, Mandela also noted visits to Pretoria jail by Oblate Father Reginald Webber (died 1980).

Addressing the 1993 Mass, Mandela said: “The [Catholic] Church is important in ordinary life, but you have to be in a South African prison to appreciate the crucial role laid upon the Church in trying to alleviate the suffering which was caused by the cohorts of the national government. We came to appreciate the ecumenical movement and the beneficial care by various denominations, various religions.

which will, I am sure, be welcome not only by your immediate relations and close friends, but also by worshippers of different religious persuasions, and by all those who are perceptive enough to appreciate the innovative historical role played by the church in general, and more particularly its formidable presence today in the fight for a better and peaceful world.

The elevation of black personalities to positions of authority in the church is a development which has far wider significance than many people may realise. For one thing, it will remove a sensitive problem which has repeatedly rocked South African churches, kept each congregation divided against itself, and generated strong, and even violent, passions not compatible with the teachings of the scriptures.

It is a long-overdue but healthy step which will, I hope, go a long way towards narrowing, and even closing, the evident gap between doctrine and practice, idealism and reality—a gap which has unfortunately hampered aspects of the otherwise magnificent efforts of the church. Developments of this nature will, in due course, if not immediately, give the church even wider and more solid mass base which, in turn, will give it a better image and credibility.

I am aware of the welfare work and other social schemes with which your name is associated. My hope is that those welfare projects will benefit immensely from your promotion, bring-

‘The Church has formidable presence today in the fight for a better and peaceful world’

12 The Southern Cross

“The Catholic Church in particular has played a very important role in the fight for justice. [Pope John Paul II] is well known for being upfront in this regard. I made the point to meet him when I was in Rome in 1990 and what he said gave us a great deal of strength and hope.”

Following below is the verbatim text of Mandela’s letter: Pollsmoor Maximum Prison, Private Bag X4, Tokai, 7966 11/84 D220/82: NELSON MANDELA Dear Stephen,

Y

our appointment as Archbishop of Cape Town has pleased me beyond words and I sincerely hope that you will accept my warmest congratulations in the spirit in which they are offered.

You are no doubt aware that in my present situation it will not be possible for me to express myself as I would have liked. It is sufficient merely to observe the appointment is an event

ing a measure of hope and happiness to the needy.

I do not know the extent to which you have been personally involved in the task of the unity of the church. It may well be that in your new office the attainment of that goal will be one of the major challenges which will face you. Obviously, to see Christians, Hindus, Moslems [sic] and other religious adherents speak with one voice is not an ideal which can be accomplished in your lifetime. But it is a goal well worth pursuing, and I believe that in this regard some spade work has already been attempted. I have confidence that your youth and health, your training and sense of commitment makes you a worthy incumbent for this office and attainment of these tasks.

You will be the first to acknowledge that the church (i.e. all denominations) has made many mistakes, some of them very serious, and with repercussions which will take generations to rectify.

As with all institutions whose past history consisted mainly of pioneering work without any previous experience or blueprint some, if not all of these errors were probably unavoidable. It is unnecessary for me to spell them out here. It is sufficient to say that those errors have been completely dwarfed by the enormous achievements which have been made, and this is the aspect on which builders and positive thinkers will concentrate.

I once told you on Robben Island that I had been hammering Father [Brendan] Long for quite some time to come over with Cardinal [Owen] McCann so that I could have the pleasure of meeting him and of listening to his sermons. I was very sorry to leave the island without seeing him.

When the media announced your arrival in the Mother City I insisted on you coming over, and I was indeed very happy when you came at last. I hope the Cardinal is enjoying his well-earned retirement and that his health is reasonably good.

Future President Nelson Mandela during his visit to St Mary of the Angels church in Athlone in 1993.

Inset: Archbishop Stephen Naidoo.

Archbishop [Denis] Hurley [of Durban] is often in my thoughts, especially now. I would like him to know that. You will, of course, give my fondest regards to Father Long about whose health I am anxious to know.

I look forward to seeing Father Curry on his next visit to Pollsmoor.

In conclusion, I think it will interest you to know that I have now had the opportunity of reading the literature you gave me on the history of the Roman Catholic Church, and I found it very informative and stimulating.

But as I have already exceeded the permitted limit of this letter, I will make no further comments, except to say, once again, meherbani!

Sincerely, Nelson.

P.S.: Both my out-going and incoming correspondence tends to go astray if not registered, and that is the reason why I have also registered this one.

Nelson.

Archbishop Naidoo responded on December 5, 1984: Dear Nelson,

Y

our very kind letter was one of the first to reach me after my appoint-

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ment as Archbishop of Cape Town.

Since then life, as you can imagine, has been very busy, hence the delay in replying to your letter.

First of all, let me say how much your letter meant to me. We have been friends for several years now, and although we have not been able to meet as frequently as I would like, I value your friendship greatly. Therefore I have pondered and continue to do so on the contents of your letter.

I have been encouraged by the very positive way in which my appointment has been accepted by our people. It has helped so many to see the Church not as a foreign import, but as ours, rooted in our lives, in our needs, aspirations, sorrows and hopes.

On the one hand, I am awed by this terrible responsibility, but on the other, I am old enough to know that there is only so much I can do. Need I assure you that I shall do the very best I can, never forgetting my roots in this beloved country of ours.

I am sure you will pray with me and for me that I may serve the Lord well, and in doing so serve our brothers and sisters well too.

It would give me great pleasure if I could call on you from time to time.

I am not sure whom the initiative has to come from, but may I state here my readiness to visit you whenever possible.

May God bless you and your family in His gracious way this Christmas and in the New Year.

With my respect, gratitude and prayers, Yours sincerely +Stephen Naidoo C.Ss.R. Alas, Archbishop Naidoo and his friend Nelson did not get to meet in an environment of freedom: the archbishop died suddenly on July 1, 1989 at the age 51.

With thanks to Sydney Duval for the transcript of the 1993 address and photo of Mandela after the Mass. sales@catholicbookshop.co.za Tel 021 465-5904

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The Southern Cross 13

e sung hero

South Africa has a thriving liturgical music scene, and one of its driving forces has been composer and choirmaster Harry Masenya.

He spoke to Daluxolo Moloantoa.

W

HAT GREATER HONOUR CAN ONE RECEIVE in a long music career than to have your songs sung in the presence of a pope and future saint? Harry Masenya could tick this box in 1995 during St John Paul II’s papal Mass in Johannesburgs. It signified a highpoint in a life dedicated to making a significant contribution to home-brewed South African Catholic music, most notably in its recital and composition.

Mr Masenya was born on Sunday, October 29, 1939, at St Gerard’s Mission Maternity Home in Eastwood (now Garsfontein), Pretoria. “I was born at 6am, when the first Angelus bell rang,” he told The Southern Cross. He attended St Gerard Primary School in Eastwood and Little Flower Secondary School in Lady Selbourne, also in Pretoria, matriculating at Pax Training Institution in 1957.

Lack of funds prevented a tertiary education. After a twoyear job-hunt, he found a job as a filing clerk for an insurance group in Pretoria, and in 1962 took up the position of clerk in Pretoria City Council. This was followed by a training officer position in the council, and later for the CSIR, a job which took him across the country running various training courses.

Harry Masenya married his wife Cecilia Rose in 1972.

They had four children, two boys and two girls. One of the boys went to be with the Lord when he was five months old.

At the altar before school

The Catholic faith has been at the centre of Mr Masenya’s life throughout. In 1946 he received First Communion and Confirmation, on the same day, and became an altar server.

“At the time, the Mass was said in Latin, and so were the altar servers’ responses. We had to serve not only on Sundays but also during the week. We had morning Mass at 6:00, and afterwards we would rush home to prepare for school.”

As he progressed through primary school, Harry became engrossed in the hymns during Mass. “When not serving, I would sit at the back of the church, next to the organist, watching her play the organ and wishing that I could emulate her. We sang the hymns in Sesotho, isiZulu, English and Latin,” he recalled.

As youngsters, Mr Masenya and schoolmates would spend a lot of their free time at the mission. They would play football or help the nuns with odd jobs, such as fetching their mail at the nearby Highlands Post Office or delivering the priest’s laundry to St Joseph’s church in Eersterust.

On Sunday afternoons, Harry would join the mission’s priest and a nun on visits to the outstation at Matamong, in the present-day Constantia Park. The priest would hear confessions, and the nun would offer adult catechesis, while Harry taught the children ordinary prayers. “When the priest had other commitments, and because none of the nuns could drive, I would jump on a bicycle and go there to lead the congregation in praying the rosary,” Mr Masenya recalled.

His early desire for good liturgical music was answered when his family moved to Pretoria’s Mamelodi township in 1959. When he went to the local St Raphael’s church to

14 The Southern Cross

Harry Masenya conducts at the episcopal installation of Archbishop Dabula Mpako in Pretoria in 2019.

enquire about Mass times, he encountered four people singing in a small room. “They informed me of the Mass times. Then they told me that they were forming a choir. I happened to know the conductor. I joined them, and became a parishioner of St Raphael’s and a member of the choir.” Almost 65 years later, Mr Masenya is still active in the choir, as its only surviving founding member and choirmaster.

The first first wind wind of of composing composing The

The same year, Mr Masenya visited his parents’ homes in Ga-Dikgale, near Polokwane. “One morning, as we trudged through the barren maize fields in the village, a slight breeze blew in the air. Its blowing produced distinct musical sounds in my ears, over and over again. A week later, I was back at home in Mamelodi. I revived the sound of those melodies, and the final result was my first-ever music composition, devotionally titled ‘Ave Maria’.”

Back at St Raphael’s church, he took on the responsibility of composing the responsorial psalms for the Sunday Mass.

“They were well received by the parish, and that spurred me on to write more responsorial psalms. In 1964, I took over as parish choirmaster,” he said. “I wrote a song for Mass in my mother-tongue, Sepedi. The positive response from the congregation led me to compose hymns in other languages, such as Sesotho, isiZulu and Xitsonga. From then onwards the flood gates opened. I have written many songs. But one of my favourites I composed in 2017, titled ‘Nonwane ya Fatima’, written on the centenary of the apparition of Our Lady in Fatima in Portugal.”

Another milestone came in 2018 when Archbishop William Slattery requested that he compose a song dedicated to Bl Benedict Daswa. “I gathered all the pertinent informa-

Harry Masenya and choir in an older colourised photo.

tion I needed on Bl Benedict from The Southern Cross, and I went ahead writing the song. I wrote its final note on September 13, 2018, which was the third anniversary of his beatification.”

Other songs Mr Masenya has composed include “Hlabela Morena Sefela” (Sing for the Lord), “Sello sa Davida” (The Cry of David), “Morena O re gaugele” (Christ our Redeemer), “O yo Mokgethwa” (You are Chosen), “Konyana ya Modimo” (Lamb of God) and, from Psalm 103, “Reta Morena Mogaugedi” (Praise the Lord our Saviour).

A great influence in Mr Masenya’s formative stage as a Catholic music composer was the slain anti-apartheid activist Dr Fabian Ribeiro, who advised him to learn to play the organ, and also guided the budding composer on how to transcribe hymns from one language to another.

to Mr Masenya, and a copy of it was also hung in the office of then-mayor Solly Msimang. “It was a great day to be honoured in the city which I had served first as a municipal worker and as a musician over the years,” Mr Masenya said.

Like clockwork, Mr Masenya keeps to a strict routine of prayers and meditations. “Firstly, in line with the request of Our Lady in March 1917 at Fatima, I say the rosary every day.

It’s my daily habit to retire to my prayer corner at 14:30 and petition the following prayers: Consecration to the Sacred Heart, Novena to the Sacred Heart, Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Five Fatima Prayers, Novena Prayer to St Joseph, Miraculous Prayer of the Little Flower, St Peregrine (patron of cancer), followed at 15:00 with the Divine Mercy, together with its litany.”

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays he is engaged in various liturgical music ministries. In his spare time, Mr Masenya enjoys cleaning inside and outside the house — “it relaxes me”. The Mamelodi Sundowns and Manchester United fan likes to watch football and to read. “I enjoy reading The Southern Cross magazine. I find it informative when it comes to our Catholic faith. I also enjoy walking long distances; it keeps me fit as a fiddle,” he said.

His advice to aspiring Catholic musicians is to firstly dedicate their music to the Lord. “As King David did in Psalm 9, they should seek to praise God with all their hearts. The gift of music comes from above, and being able to sing is an honour from our Father in heaven. Never give up or be despondent when you feel that there is no recognition, especially as a composer when it seems that only the famous composers are recognised. Remember that God is the one who recognises and rewards in the right season.”

The great choirmaster

For many Pretoria Catholics, Mr Masenya is best-known for his work with the Pretoria Archdiocese Catholic Church Music Association (PACCMA), which organises choral music competitions in the archdiocese, among other functions.

“I became involved with PACCMA in the 1980s under the chairmanship of the late Matthew Sono. At first the music competitions were confined to the archdiocese of Pretoria. As time went on, we introduced interdiocesan competitions. During my tenure as chairperson, the dioceses involved were Pretoria, Johannesburg, Witbank and Durban. Later regions such as Bloemfontein and Gaborone became members,” he said.

It was while still with PACCMA that Mr Masenya had the opportunity to have his music included in a papal Mass. “Fr Buti Tlhagale, now archbishop of Johannesburg, requested that I submit two compositions for the Apostles’ Creed and the responsorial Psalm. They were sung by a big choir at St John Paul II’s Mass at Gosforth Park racecourse in Germiston,” he recalled.

Among other memorable assignments, Mr Masenya was asked to compose and to conduct the Mass choir for the responsorial Psalm at the episcopal installation of Archbishop Dabulo Mpako in Pretoria in 2019.

However, the greatest honour, after the papal Mass, came on April 17, 2017, when the Melodi Ya Tshwane Music Association selected a number of Mr Masenya’s compositions for the African section of a choral music competition held at the State Theatre in Pretoria. “My entire family, including my siblings, were guests of honour at the event. The choirs sang my music accompanied by the Tshwane Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. The winning choirs were given medals which had my effigy incorporated on them, to remind the winners of the composer of the music that they were singing on the day.” A framed picture with a list of all his compositions was handed

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The Southern Cross 15

Pope Francis warns:

Time is running OUT! Almost lost amid the synod buzz was the release of Laudato Deum, Pope Francis’ latest call to action on climate change. Here is what the document means.

P

ope Francis has reiterated his call for greater action in the race to minimise the effects of climate change in his sixth apostolic exhortation, titled Laudate Deum. In it, the pope once again highlights our current global context — one of senseless war on nature and our failure to address the human roots of the social and ecological crisis.

What does Laudate Deum mean?

Laudate Deum means “Praise God”. This exhortation has been called a follow-up to Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ (which was subtitled “On care for our common home”) and the title reflects this. Like Laudato Si’, this new document reminds us of the words of St Francis’ prayer-poem, the Canticle of the Creatures, which praises God by praising God's creation.

Pope Francis states specifically that the title of this letter is “Praise God” because “when human beings claim to take God’s place, they become their own worst enemies” (#73). By this he means that when we seek power for its own sake, we damage both ourselves and the planet. Power should be used to create a better world for all. Read Laudatum Deum at https://t.ly/H8Tdp

What What was was Laudato Laudato Si’ Si’ about? about?

In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis urged society to move away from the myth of perennial progress at the expense of the earth’s resources.

Instead, we need a new definition of progress rooted in “integral ecology”, recognising that “everything is connected” and hearing both “the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor”. Laudato Si’ calls for dialogue in society about how best to tackle the global issues we face. Read Laudato Si’ at https://t.ly/rnNVm

What has changed since Laudato Si’?

The Covid pandemic was a trauma and shock to world order that, in Pope Francis’ words at the beginning of Fratelli Tutti, “exposed our false securities”. Yet, with the direct health threat under control, politics and economic defaulted to business as usual.

As the pope highlights in Laudate Deum (#44-52), representatives from 190 countries have met annually since Laudato Si’ was published to address the issue of climate change. While there has been some progress, the principles agreed on have not yet

16 The Southern Cross

been implemented, and national interests are too often placed before the common good.

What are Laudate Deum’s key messages?

Laudate Deum is an urgent call to tackle the climate crisis, recognising that time is running out. And irreversible damage has already been done. In this letter Pope Francis states that the climate crisis is real and cannot be denied. It is caused by human activity.

But the pope cautions against seeking only technological solutions, noting that although we have more and more tools to manipulate the world, we are still failing to protect the environment from destruction. The more we seek to increase power for its own sake, the less we use our power to protect life. As he states: “Not every increase in power represents progress for humanity” (#24).

At the same time, he says, economic powers are not interested in solving the problem, because they want “the greatest profit possible at minimum cost” (#13). This pursuit of the greatest profit possible at minimum cost makes caring for our common home impossible.

We need political change on a national and international level. While Pope Francis states that individual actions and efforts to minimise waste are important, he also recognises that they are not enough. We are called to continue to transform society through our individual, family and community actions, but also to call on those in power to take urgent action.

Pope Francis is clear that we all have a role to play, pressurising the sources of power and demanding change. He calls us all to be involved, and particularly urges that COP28, the next round of important UN negotiations on climate change held in Dubai from November 30 to December 12, be a historic event, with binding forms of energy transition. For the sake of the future of our children we must take action.

Despite the gravity and urgency of the situation we face, Pope Francis reminds us that we must continue to hope, because to “say there is nothing to hope for... would mean exposing humanity, especially the poorest, to the worst impacts of climate change” (#54).

CNS photos: Arnd Wiegmann, Reuters/Vatican Media

Why Why isis this this message message relevant relevant at at this this time? time?

Pope Francis says that “the world in which we live is collapsing and may be near breaking point” (#2).

The effects of climate change and loss of biodiversity on the poorest and most vulnerable people continue to unfold and have been made worse by conflict and exploitative practices. There has been flooding in Pakistan and Bangladesh, famine and drought in Africa as well as extreme weather and heat in Europe. Inflation of prices of basic goods and loss of livelihood are also chronic.

As this continues, progress towards limiting pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and soil erosion has been slow.

World leaders still chase quick, profitable solutions in new technologies, or cynically through off-setting or off-shoring environmental harms. We still haven’t learnt the biblical truth that human beings and the earth are not replaceable commodities.

Time is running out. Laudate Deum is therefore an urgent plea for us all to take action before it is too late.

What does it mean for us Catholics?

As Christians our motivation to respond is hope-filled, because of the conviction that the risen Christ reconciles all creatures to himself. As Pope Francis says: “The world sings of an infinite Love: how can we fail to care for it?” He asks us not to shy away from the reality that we are facing but to “accompany this pilgrimage of reconciliation with the world that is our home and help to make it more beautiful” (#69).

We all have a role to play in creating processes of transformation and continuing to care for our common home, while also putting pressure on those with the power to make changes. There is a sense that groups coming up from below are stepping in where political leadership is failing, and yet, as the pope observes, they are often negatively portrayed as “radicalised” (#58). In light of

‘Not every increase in power represents progress for humanity.’

Pope Francis in Laudato Deum Pope Francis’ exhortation, Christians could instead see in this “radicalisation” the very “ecological conversion” we are called to.

Can parishes and faith groups join more closely with those who are derided for seeing, like St Francis of Assisi, fellow creatures as “companions along the way”? Can we grow deeper in our conviction that, as the pope notes, “everything is connected” and “no one is saved alone” (#19). Are we ready to turn the world upside down, moving away from an obsession with power and wealth, and towards a greater care for our common home?

The challenge is undeniably urgent — we cannot hide or turn away from it. The lives of our children and their children depend on our actions now. We do not need to be afraid, because we have faith and hope. But it is time to join together with all people of good will to demand change from those with economic and political power.

This is an edited version of an article that first appeared on the website of the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (cafod.org.uk), and is printed with permission.

www.catholicbishopsfoundation.org.za

Christmas Blessings

e Catholic Bishops’ Foundation wishes to extend Christmas best wishes and compliments for the New Year to all its supporters and donors.

The Foundation seeks to establish a self-sustaining Church while supporting charitable outreach projects nationwide focusing on vulnerable women and children, education and poverty alleviation.

For further information visit the SACBC website at sacbc.org.za or Fr Hugh O’Connor on 012 323 6458 or email BishopsFoundation@sacbc.org.za The Southern Cross 17

Three lessons from the Church about

ADVENT

Christmas has a habit of creeping up on us, but the Church offers various

ways of helping us along on our Advent journey, as Kelsey Wicks explains

T

he First Sunday of Advent 2023 is on December 3, exactly four weeks before Christmas Eve. While the Church provides this time to allow you to be immersed in the joy of the Incarnation, you can easily be caught by surprise that it is already Christmas. To help remedy against this surprise, the Church provides songs, signs and symbols to journey through the season of Advent more fruitfully.

Here are three ways in which the Church teaches us about the meaning of the season:

ADVENT HYMNS Advent hymns

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18 The Southern Cross

Many of the customary hymns for Advent highlight the movement of the soul towards what Pope Francis termed in a 2014 homily on Advent as a “horizon of hope”. No hymn epitomises this better than “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”, with its overtones of expectation and its mournful remorse over the state of man, captive to sin.

The cultivation of hope and expectation is also seen in Advent hymns such as “O Come Divine Messiah” and “People Look East”.

The sense of darkness infused with the hope that God will fulfil his promises, a theme characteristic of Advent, deepens with songs like the Spanish carol “Alepun”. The lyrics of “Alepun” move the faithful into an experience of waiting with a pregnant Blessed Virgin Mary while the rhythm and percussion evoke donkey hooves clattering across the plains of Galilee and Judea to Bethlehem.

Hear “Alepun” at youtu.be/1R_ORPy_j7s and read the English lyrics at surl.li/jlqfa.

And instead of playing secular Christmas songs like “Last Christmas”, “White Christmas” or “All I Want For Christmas”, try and play songs with an actual relationship to the Incarnation. Günther Simmermacher’s “Rhythm & Truths Christmas” 30-song playlist on Spotify may set you off to a good start: sptfy.com/OuZf

CHURCH DECOR Church decor

Advent is a season of penance marked by joy and, in many ways, a little Lent. This is why in many places, the colours of purple and pink — with their ties to penance and the Lord’s Passion, and the joy of Gaudete Sunday when the season is almost over — are the colours of Advent.

But did you know that the deep purple of Advent has a blue hue to it to teach the faithful in symbol about the

Marian heart of the season?

The dearth of church decor also teaches about the penitential nature of the season. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, the lack of flowers on the altar, the restrained use of instruments, and the absence of the resounding and angelic Gloria all lead to a deliberate emptiness.

The emptiness will first be filled on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, and later flowers will be allowed on Gaudete Sunday (this year on December 17) as the first expression of the festivity of the coming Christmas.

SAINTS & SOLEMNITIES Saints and solemnities

Following the solemnity of Christ the King (this year on November 26), Advent begins with echoes of the power of Christ coming in glory before the season stretches forward to the humble beginnings of the mystery of the Incarnation.

There is a certain focus into which the Church helps people enter,, even in the way the liturgical calendar is marked by relatively few memorials of saints, of which St Nicholas is the best-known. The feast day of the generous bishop, who inspired the tradition of gift-giving, is celebrated on December 6, this year a Sunday. In some countries, it is a day when children receive gifts. Of course, Santa Claus is based on St Nicholas.

Another saint whose feast falls on a Sunday this year, December 13, is St Lucy, who was martyred in 304 AD. St Lucy’s desire to give charity to prisoners in the catacombs meant she wore candles in her hair to free her hands.

The Church also highlights the importance of Mary during this season. It places the feast of her Immaculate Conception, which is a solemnity and in some countries a holy day of obligation, very early in the liturgical calendar,

on December 8. Combined with the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12, the Church emphasises God's work in a soul full of grace.

Though there are many more signs and symbols that communicate the meaning of Advent, these can assist you as you enter the season of expectation, building anticipation for the celebration of Christmas — so it doesn’t catch you by surprise.–CNA

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The Southern Cross

Associates Campaign wishes all supporters and donors a joyful Christmas and a peaceful 2024!

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wish everyone a Blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year

A fruitful journey through Advent reflection by Mike Krokos HEN THE CHURCH celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Saviour’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming.

By celebrating the precursor’s birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #524, John 3:3).

We enter the season of Advent, a time in which the Church encourages us to listen actively, to prepare our hearts, to form our minds and improve our lives with the help of God’s grace in anticipation of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and his ultimate coming again in glory.

It is the beginning of a new liturgical year, a time we can use to reset how we live as disciples of Christ. It also offers a stirring call to stay awake, to be vigilant for the presence of the Lord.

Because of the secular influences that are around nearly every corner we turn, there are distractions. And they come at us full force without hesitation — whether intentional or not — and offer materialistic things to divert us from centring our lives on the upcoming birth of our Saviour.

W

the Lord calling me to do? Focusing on prayer, Scripture and the sacraments are among the opportunities that come to mind as ways to grow in our lives of faith.

We must keep prayer at the centre of this season. As disciples of Christ, we are called, day in and day out, to offer petitions for those in need. The hungry, the homeless, the unborn, those in war-torn countries and all our brothers and sisters in need should be at the top of our list. It is paramount to remember those who will go without life’s basic needs and be the hands and feet of Christ to them.

Make time for spiritual reading, or pick up a Bible and study in-depth the readings during Advent that will lead to the Nativity of our Lord.

Why not volunteer at your parish, at a shelter or soup kitchen, or at any facility that offers assistance to those in need? Families who do this together offer a beautiful witness of faith — especially during this time of year. Our faith teaches us that Christ makes disciples through other disciples.

In Advent we need to BLOCK OUT THE NOISE

Commerce everywhere!

20 The Southern Cross

Seasonal advertisements — the vast majority of them secular in nature — fill TV and radio airwaves. Turn on your desktop computer or look on your phone, and pop-up ads try to lure you into buying things that you probably don’t need. Our letterboxes include leaflets from supermarkets that are having sales they insist you can’t miss.

In a season where people of faith want to be centred on the awareness that God is coming into the world as a babe in a manger, the temptations to focus on anything but Christ’s birth seem to never end.

As we move through Advent in the weeks leading to Christmas, we need to block out the noise and ask: What is

Confession for Advent Finally, make time to receive the sacrament of reconciliation. Confession cleanses our souls and renews and restores us to receive God’s gift of grace.

In a talk to young people during a visit to Hungary in 2021, Pope Francis called it a sacrament of joy. “One does not go to confession as chastised people who must humble themselves, but as children who run to receive the Father’s embrace,” the pope explained to the young people. “And the Father lifts us up in every situation, he forgives our every sin. Hear this well: God always forgives! Do you understand? God always forgives!”

One is not going to a judge to settle accounts, the Holy Father continued, but “to Jesus who loves me and heals me”.

As we move forward in focusing our attention to the stable in Bethlehem, we pray the coming days are spiritually fruitful for people of faith.

Mike Krokos is the editor of The Criterion, newspaper of the archdiocese of Indianapolis in the US.

Saint of the Month: The Holy Innocents

The first martyrs for Christ After the Magi let it slip that they were looking for the newborn King of the Jews, the tyrant King Herod ordered a massacre of all infant boys in Bethlehem.

T

HE GRUESOME STORY OF THE massacre of the Holy Innocents is told in Chapter 2 of the Gospel of Matthew. Accordingly, after the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, wise men from the East — often referred to as the Magi or, inaccurately, the Three Kings — came to Jerusalem in search of the newborn King of the Jews.

They had seen a star that they believed signalled the birth of a special king. It had guided them so far. King Herod of Judea, the tyrannical and ruthless puppet ruler for the Roman occupation, heard about the Magi’s search and saw this newborn king as a potential threat to his own rule.

Herod summoned the Magi and asked them about the exact time the star had appeared. He then instructed them to find the child and report back, claiming that he too would go and worship the child. The wise men eventually found the child Jesus, giving him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

However, after being warned in a dream not to return to Herod and reveal the child’s identity, the men took a different route home. This infuriated Herod. In a fit of rage and paranoia, he ordered the elimination of any poten-

tial threat to his throne — all male infants aged two years and younger in Bethlehem and its surrounding areas were to be killed.

The “Massacre of the Innocents” fulfilled a prophecy from the Book of Jeremiah (31:15), which Matthew quotes: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

By the time Herod’s order was executed, an angel had warned Joseph in a dream of the impending danger, and he took his family into exile in Egypt.

Reminder of cruelty

The story of the Holy Innocents serves as a reminder of the cruelty and darkness that can exist in the world, as well as the lengths to which some individuals might go to hold on to power.

It’s also a testament to the lengths which God went to protect the infant Jesus and fulfil his divine plan.

The Holy Innocents did not know Jesus, but they died in his place. So the Church regards these boys, unknown in number, as the first martyrs and commemorates them with a feast on December 28 (in the Latin-rite; in some

“The Massacre of the Innocents “

by Guido Reni, painted in 1611.

Eastern rites the feast is on December 27, in the Chaldeans and Syro-Malabar rites on January 10).

Is the story true?

Some scholars dispute the Massacre of the Innocents, noting that there is no historical record of such a bloodbath, other than Matthew’s assertion and a reference in the Protoevangelium of James, which focuses on St Elizabeth’s efforts to hide the infant John, future Baptiser.

The Jewish historian Josephus Flavius made no mention of such a massacre, and Josephus relished any opportunity to paint Herod as a monster (just read his gleefully grotesque description of the dying Herod’s diseased body). Moreover, the sceptics argue, the Roman occupiers — on whose patronage Herod’s reign depended — would not have stood for such a genocidal campaign, because infant-killing rampages have a way of provoking civil uprisings.

On the other hand, Herod was a paranoid sociopath who murdered even three of his own sons and his beloved wife whom he perceived to threaten his power, so the massacre of the infants is not out of character.

A massacre of infants might also Continued on page 24

The Southern Cross 21

The

S outhern C ross The Holy Innocents

“The Virgin and Child surrounded by the Holy Innocents” by Peter Paul Rubens, painted in around 1618,

have escaped popular notice if it was limited to the environs of the small town of Bethlehem, where the numbers of age-appropriate boys would have been relatively small, perhaps a dozen or less (as opposed to the inflated figures offered by excitable Byzantine writers, who suggested tens of thousands of victims).

Another consideration is this: Would Matthew have risked being caught in an easily disputed lie about a massacre of babies, just a few kilometres outside Jerusalem?

Case of martyrdom

For St Augustine (354-430), the case was clear that there was a massacre and that its victims were martyrs for Christ, even if they did not know him.

St Augustine wrote: “The precious death of any martyr deserves high praise because of his heroic confession. The death of these children is precious in the sight of God because of the beatitude they gained so quickly. For already at the beginning of their lives they pass on. The end of the present life is for them the beginning of glory. These then, whom Herod’s cruelty tore as sucklings from their mothers’ bosom, are justly hailed as ‘infant martyr flowers’.”

“The Triumph of the Innocents”, painted by William Holman Hunt in 1883

This position was officially affirmed by the Church about 485 in the Leonine Sacramentary.

Tradition places the bones of the Holy Innocents in the Milk Grotto in Bethlehem, the cave church that has long been regarded as the hiding place of the Holy Family before their flight into Egypt.

The Massacre of the Innocents has been depicted in many works of art, with Peter Paul Rubens offering two

paintings on the subject, as well the artwork of the Madonna with the Holy Innocents that serves as our poster in this issue. The story is also referred to in the famous 16th-century “Coventry Carol”.

The Holy Innocents are the patron saints of foundlings, babies, and children’s choirs. Unofficially, they are often invoked in pro-life issues, especially abortion.

Next Month: St Sebastian

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24 The Southern Cross

— and we’ll do the rest!

Sisters take Christ to the mall Schoenstatt Sisters in Cape Town have responded to the call to put Christ into Christmas by taking up station at a shopping centre during Advent.

T

HE YOUNG MOTHER APPROACHED THE SISTERS IN their white habits who were standing at the entrance of a shopping mall and said: “Thank you, Sisters, for putting Christ back into Christmas!” Schoenstatt Sisters and some members of the Schoenstatt movement were spending the Fourth Sunday of Advent last year at Constantia Village Shopping Centre in Cape Town as part of their “Christ in the Mall” apostolate, which began some years ago.

At the entrance of the shopping centre, they invited people to write down their prayer petitions and light a candle in front of a large icon of Mary, the Mother Thrice Admirable. At another table, children were invited to make their own Christmas cards. One Sister was sitting by the picture of Our Lady, praying for the intentions entrusted to the Sisters, other Sisters spent time in conversation with shoppers.

“Some people walked straight past, avoiding us at all costs; others promised to return but never did. However, many did stop to write a petition or speak with us,” Schoenstatt Sister Ann-Marie Nicholas explained. Others, however, were grateful for their encounters.

Last year, Sr Ann-Marie said, “I spoke with several people who are greatly suffering. One woman, herself walking in pain with a crutch, asked me to pray for her sister who is suffering with cancer. Another man, who at first did not know what to write in a petition book, returned and wrote: ‘Pray for my friends’ son who was recently shot and died.’ And then there was this one teenage boy who asked whether he could write something even though he wasn’t Christian.”

A shopper lights a candle in front of the icon of Mary, the Mother Thrice Admirable, at the stand of the Schoenstatt Sisters outside Constantia Village Mall in Cape Town last Advent.

INDEPENDENT, CATHOLIC SCHOOL

St Joseph’s Marist College www.maristsj.co.za

Calling others to come She added: “We encountered a lot of joy during the day, especially when the head teacher of a local Catholic high school saw us and in no time posted our action on social media, encouraging others to come and engage with us.”

The teacher wrote: “Amazing walking into a mall and seeing the Schoenstatt Sisters putting Christ back into Christmas.

They are also offering to pray for shoppers. What a gift! Also, lovely activities for the children to do. Need more of these initiatives outside our malls, so we are able to keep the real focus of Christmas in our hearts and minds.”

“The children definitely enjoyed making their Christmas cards, with two little girls staying almost a whole hour creating various cards and stars. They and others promised to attend the crib crawl and carols afternoon at Schoenstatt Constantia a few days after Christmas,” Sr Ann-Marie said.

“Many of the parking and shopping trolley attendants are immigrants from other countries in Africa. They are often neglected and live under difficult circumstances. For a number of years, Schoenstatt has approached these groupings and invited them to various activities at our centre in Constantia. During the day we were also able to engage with them. They feel at home in the shrine and at Schoenstatt and are grateful for the interaction,” Sr Ann-Marie said.

Schoenstatt is looking forward to continuing the “Christ in the Mall” apostolate this Advent.

Article and photo courtesy of schoenstattsisters.org.za

Wishing you much peace, love and happiness this Christmas.

The Southern Cross 25

Christmas in 3 countries GE RMANY THE BUZZ: In Germany, Santa Claus visits twice: on December 6 in the form of St Nicholas, who places small gifts in polished shoes, and again in the form of the Weihnachtsmann (literally, “Christmas Man”) on Christmas Eve. During Advent, most German towns have a Christmas market, with a trademark smell of roasted chestnuts and mulled wine. On Christmas Eve, after dinner, children receive their presents (Bescherung). Often they are ushered out of the room while adults set up the gifts and light the Christmas tree candles.

THE LOOK: Traditionally, the German Christmas tree features real candles, as well as sweets and pine cones. The Advent wreath is ubiquitous (with red candles), and Nativity scenes are common, especially in southern Germany.

THE FOOD: Typical Christmas main courses include roast goose or carp, or sausages with potato salad. Sweet stuff includes Stollen (a heavy fruit bread) and Lebkuchen (similar to gingerbread).

FANCY THAT: Many German Christmas

traditions have been exported to the English-speaking world, mainly thanks to the German-born Prince Albert, consort to England’s Queen Victoria.

Day as indicator of fortune — if it burns down to ashes, good luck will follow.

I R AQ

THE BUZZ: Christmas festivities begin on December 20 and last until the first week of January. On Christmas Eve people attend church services with much drumming and dancing — sometimes going on all night long with street processions. On Christmas morning the churches are packed before people go home for lunch.

THE LOOK: Father Christmas, or Papa Bronya (pictured), wears sandals and a gold-trimmed red robe adorned with a traditional patterned sash and a white cloak with a hood.

THE FOOD: Traditional Christmas food may include okra soup, spicy chicken stew with rice, yams, and fufu, a cassavabased starch.

FANCY THAT: The Christmas season coincides with Ghana’s end-of-year cocoa harvest, which adds to the celebratory vibes.

THE BUZZ: The Christian community in Iraq is tiny, so Christmas passes by the general public almost unnoticed. On Christmas Eve, Christian families gather to listen to the story of the Nativity, often recited by one person while the others hold candles. On Christmas Day, clerics carry figures of the Christchild in a procession. Often the priest will bless one congregant, who then blesses the next, who in turn blesses another, and so on.

THE LOOK: While decorations tend to be discreet, bonfires are traditional on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. THE FOOD: Iraqis have no special Christmas food.

FANCY THAT: Thornbushes are burnt on a bonfire on Christmas

GH ANA

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We hope the Christ Child will bring you Love, Hope, Joy and Peace this Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

May God bless you!

Best wishes from Society of Saint Vincent de Paul

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VÕ²İčʣ ;İĔŖʣ ñİõŕÕʣ 26 The Southern Cross

AUSTRIA: Decorations illuminate the entrance to the Christchild Market on Vienna’s City Hall Square.

UKRAINE: People sing Christmas carols inside a metro station in Kyiv during an air raid alarm on Christmas Day last year.

SPAIN: A member of the Madrina Foundation, wearing a blue St Nicholas costume, gives out sweets to Ukrainian refugee children in Madrid.

USA: A man dressed as Santa Claus waterskis on the Potomac River in Alexandria, Virginia.

ITALY: A floating Nativity scene, designed by Francesco Orazio, brings Christmas to Venice’s lagoon, near Burano island.

Christmas Around The World All photos via Catholic News Service

PALESTINE: A pilgrim touches the silver star which marks the spot of Jesus’ birthplace in the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

MExICO: Sheyla Alvarez from Honduras, who lived with her family in a shelter while waiting to apply for asylum in the US, meets Santa Claus during a Christmas celebration in Ciudad Juarez.

VATICAN: Children surround Pope Francis as he visits the Vatican’s Nativity scene after Christmas Eve Mass in St Peter’s basilica.

For your Catholic news, every day:

PHILIPPINES: Nuns take cellphone photos at a Christmas light show in Manila.

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May the love of Our Lord embrace you throughout 2024.

The Southern Cross 27

CHRISTMAS:

A season of homecoming

For many, Christmas is a season of joy – but that joy sometimes is just temporary, or has disappeared altogether.

Sr Rosemary wanyoike urges us to maintain the joy and transformative power of Christmas beyond the season.

T

HE CHRISTMAS SEASON IS characterised by movement.

If I were allowed to rename it, I would call it a “Season of Homecoming”.

At the time of the Annunciation, when Mary was given the message by the angel Gabriel and became aware of her cousin Elizabeth’s pregnancy, we are told that Mary ran into the hill country in Judea and stayed there with her cousin for three months and then went home (Luke 1:39,56). And before the birth of Jesus, there was a census and people were called to move and gather in various places (Luke 2:1).

So, consciously or unconsciously, the birth of Christ brings us energy to move from our comfort zones and look for others. It is one moment in the year that the longing for communion is conspicuously felt.

It gives us the desire to be with our loved ones, some of whom we might not have seen for a while.

I grew up in a rural area, and we had relatives living in the city. At that time, Nairobi was the only city in Kenya, and Christmas was one season when we were almost certain that our aunts and cousins would come home. Every Christmas we looked forward to it. I remember how my aunt, who worked and lived in the city with her three children, made it a practice to come home for Christmas.

This brought a lot of joy to my family and a sense of oneness.

Coming home was not enough; a lot of energy also went into preparing meals, and some families who could afford it got new outfits for that day.

This solemnity has always fascinated me because, though it is only for a day, the preparations begin very early. Some of the shops will put up decorations as early as August! Christmas carols will also begin to be played on the radio and televisions just as early. I remember how on Christmas Day, besides the special meals, we also used to dance, and the joy was immeasurable.

As you might expect, people won’t go to see their relatives empty-handed.

This season is one where generosity is explicitly demonstrated. People buy gifts for relatives and friends. The hosts purchase the type of food they think their loved ones will enjoy eating.

Happiness of Christmas When I was growing up, there was a dish we call chapatti, a kind of pancake made from wheat but harder than an ordinary pancake. It was the “in-thing” and characterised the celebration. At that time, it was an expensive meal. Christmas Day for most families was one of the days that people ate the nicest meals.

As an adult, I have not observed

When I was a student nurse, away from home, we had a tradition for Christmas Eve, with the students going around the wards singing Christmas carols and handing gifts to the patients.

Before that, we would have been practising the Christmas songs for hours. It was awesome and meant so much to me. I learned to think of others, to share what I have with others, and to be kind to them.

The Christmas experience gives me a feeling of what Simon Peter the Apostle must have felt at the moment of the Transfiguration when he said to Jesus: “Lord, it is good for us to be here.

If you wish, I will put up three shelters — one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah” (Matthew 17:4). We all long for happiness and to connect with others; Christmas gives us a glimpse of what this would look like.

A loss of joy It is a time to transform the face of the earth. Where divisions can cease, hope is restored and God with us, Emmanuel, becomes real. However, while this is a deep desire of many hearts, sometimes this joy of Christmas seems to fade as soon as it comes. These days we experience a lot of family breakups and many people feel this loss of joy is justified, with the situation the way it is.

This escalated as the Covid-19 pandemic hit our world. In a way, the situation seemed as if the world had come to an end. the loss of livelihood and interruption of social networks seemed to give way to despair and anger, such that spouse would turn against spouse, child against parent, and sibling against sibling. Hearts have been broken and life continues as if it is business is as usual. This takes away the gains made towards creating a heaven down here on earth.

Joy is a treasure that no one wishes to lose, so it is sad that anyone lets the joy of Christmas go just like that. It is like the prodigal son coming home and enjoying the unconditional love of the father — and then going back to the old way of life. The love experienced needs to bear fruit that will last.

As we celebrate this Christmas, let

When we experience the joy of Christmas, let’s look at ways of sustaining it

28 The Southern Cross

much change; the desire for communion has continued to heighten, especially with increasing urbanisation. I continue to attest to the goodness that comes with Christmas. There is a joy that can’t be concealed.

“The Visitation” by Mariotto Albertinelli (1503), in the Uffizi in Florence, Italy.

The joy of Christmas should inspire us to “move out of our comfort zones and go out to share in the joy of others”, Sr Rosemary Wanyoike writes.

us not treat it as a usual event that comes once a year. Many long to have joy and peace in their lives, without finding it.

When we experience the joy of Christmas, let us look at ways of sustaining it. When people are happy, they are enthusiastic about what they are doing, and life is looked at through a lens of joy and is radiated to others.

Photo: Luc Gnago/Reuters/CNS

Sustain the joy One may ask: How do we sustain this joy of Christmas? As people who share with Mary in her joy of Incarnation, let us become people of Visitation. This implies that we move out of our comfort zones and go out to share in the joy of others. We mourn with those who are mourning, remain cognisant of those who need our assistance and be there with them, as Mary was with Elizabeth.

Most important of all is that we constantly keep seeking ways to deepen our relationship with God, who will fuel our lives and keep us energised. Here we are being called to be people of prayer.

We are to pray not as a duty but by taking up a disposition of contemplation where we can see God in all things and

at every moment.

As I advance in age, I realise that one of our setbacks in sustaining the spirit of homecoming is in a failure to recognise what God is doing in our lives.

Yet we are told in a hymn that “great things happen when God mixes with us” (see hymnsrepo.com/hymns/greatthings-happen/). I relate this to the idea of counting our blessings. If we do so, then the veil of pessimism that falls over

us when we count the losses is removed and we are able to be our brother’s and our sister’s keeper — since all of us are blessed in diverse ways.

In this way, the commonly used phrase “our richness is in our diversity” will make sense and find a home in us.

Come home soon!

Sr Rosemary Wanyoike is a Sister of Mercy in Kenya. This article was first published on globalsistersreport.org.

e Lenten Appeal Office wishes all benefactors and friends a blessed Christmas and every good wish for the New Year.

The Staff and Board of Governors of St Henry’s Marist College wish you a

031 261 7369 sthenrys.co.za

Your kindness and generosity in 2023 has supported the work of the Church in the areas of Justice and Peace, poverty alleviation, feeding schemes, educational outreach and evangelisation.

For further information visit the SACBC website at sacbc.org.za or contact LentenAppeal@sacbc.org.za The Southern Cross 29

Cooking with Saints

Every month in her Cape Town kitchen, GRAZIA BARLETTA prepares a

recipe inspired by the saints and shares it with our readers, in text and photos taken exclusively for The Southern Cross by the chef herself.

THIS MONTH GRAZIA BAKED:

Spinach Christmas Tree

Ingredients

T

HE CHRISTMAS TREE IS SAID to have pagan origins, but for us Christians it is a symbol of Christ: being triangular in shape, it represents the trinity, and the tree is a symbol of new life.

The three things we celebrate during Advent are the Lord’s physical nativity in Bethlehem, the reception of Christ in the heart of the believer and the eschatological second coming. Here are some Advent traditions from around the world. china might not immediately come to mind when you think of Advent, but roughly 5% of the population of 1,4 billion is Christian. During Advent, Chinese Christians put up colourful lights in their homes, and you might find red paper pagodas displayed in their windows. An emerging Christmas tradition is the giving of apples, sometimes wrapped in coloured paper, sold in shops. Otherwise, China’s Christians follow many of the traditions that were brought by western missionaries.

In croatia, about 86% of the people are Catholic, and Advent is a big part of religious life there. For some Croatians, preparations for Christmas actually begin before Advent, on November 25, which is Sveta Kata, the feast of St Catherine of Alexandria. The residents of the

2 sheets puff pastry • 340g chopped steamed spinach • 160g cream cheese • ½ tsp crushed garlic • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper • 1 tsp Italian seasoning • ½ cup grated parmesan cheese • 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese • Salt and black pepper to taste • Milk to brush over the pastry tree • Sweet chilli preserve, if desired capital Zagreb traditionally enjoy going to outdoor wooden stalls to buy handcrafted souvenirs, roasted chestnuts and mulled wine.

Along with the Advent wreath and calendars packed with little chocolates, an Advent tradition in hungary is the matins. These are a daily Mass held every dawn from the first Sunday of Advent to the first day of Christmas. you may hear it called the Angelic Mass or Golden Mass. classic Hungarian Advent treat is the beigli. It’s a rolled crust traditionally filled with poppy seeds or walnuts. Hungarians

A

Nazareth Sisters

Regional House

wishing our Cardinal, Auxiliary Bishop, Clergy, Religious, Benefactors, Friends, Staff, Residents, and all at The Southern Cross

PEACE, JOY AND NEW LIFE

30 The Southern Cross

Our grateful thanks for your prayers and support throughout the year.

The Sisters in the African Region unite in wishing all of you every blessing for the coming year 2024.

are music-loving people, and various Christmas concerts are traditionally held around the capital of Budapest and other cities.

For deeply Catholic poland, Advent brings prayer, fasting and spiritual preparation for Christmas. People stay indoors during the long, dark evenings, making decorations for the Christmas tree and handmade gifts, baking Christmas biscuits, and preparing other delicacies.

Poles traditionally attend early-morning Masses called roraty. It’s still dark out when they start. Congregants light candles during Mass, symbolising the coming light of day and salvation. People also set up outdoor booths in public squares, decorated in themes of Christmas, where they hand out sweets, little gifts and cards. Krakow marks the first Sunday of Advent by decorating its beautiful Rynek Square with lights, boughs and garlands.

Families across Germany set up an Advent wreath with four candles, three red and sometimes one white. Stollen, a sweet bread filled with fruits and marzipan, is one of the oldest Christmas treats in Germany. Advent calendars may hold chocolate treats behind little doors for German children. On December 6, the feast of St Nicholas, children receive small gifts and sweets in their freshly-polished shoes, put out the night before.

Every German city has a festive Christmas market where Christmas decorations, handicrafts, toys, food, sweets and so on can be bought, and where Glühwein and Feuerzangenbowle — both hot mulled wines — are served.

u

v

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x

y

The edible Christmas tree in five steps: 1. Having created two identical Christmas tree shapes, spread the spinach mix (or chocolate spread, for the sweet version) on the bottom layer. 2. Place the second layer on top of the first. 3. Make incisions for the branches into both layers. 4. Twist the branches, and then brush with a little milk and sprinkle parmesan on top. 5. Bake and remove when golden brown and crispy. Decorate as desired.

preparation: 30-35 min • Servings: 6-8

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C and prepare a large baking tin with wax paper. Set to one side.

2. On a chopping board, layer one sheet of puff pastry on top of the other with a sheet of greaseproof paper in between each slice (the packaged pastry sheets are usually

separated with sheets of greaseproof paper — this is great to use).

Cut a tree shape, using a sharp blade. Add one layer on top of each other to ensure that both the top and bottom are the same size and shape. Once sliced, separate the two tree shapes.

The remaining puff pastry can be used to cut stars and other shapes.

3. In a bowl, beat together the spinach and cream cheese. Add garlic, salt, cayenne pepper, and Italian seasoning and beat to combine. Add parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese and mix to combine.

4. Lay the bottom tree shape on the prepared baking tin and spread the mixture on it as neatly as possible. Carefully sandwich the top later on the bottom one. Use a

sharp knife to cut the branches. Make sure to leave space for a little trunk.

5. Once you’ve cut the branches, use your fingers to twist each branch. Once finished place in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.

This will help keep the twists in place.

6. After taking the pastry out of the fridge, use your fingers or a pastry brush to lightly cover with the milk. Scatter some very finely grated parmesan cheese over it.

7. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and crispy, as per the pictures. Decorate to your taste (I used cherry tomatoes).

Smaller pieces of dough used for stars and shapes may be baked separately, as these will be ready quickly.

8. Serve with some chilli jam preserve, and enjoy with an Advent prayer.

Wishing you

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS SOUTH AFRICA

MARISTSOUTHAFRICA.CO.ZA

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For my Advent table, I have prepared an edible Christmas tree. It’s a spinach-twist pastry in the shape of a Christmas tree. It looks pretty and seasonal, and it tastes moreish.

For a sweet version, simply replace the spinach mix with chocolate spread, and the parmesan with a little castor sugar.

1918

ST JOSEPH’S MARIST COLLEGE Rondebosch, Cape Town Est. 1918

SACRED HEART MARIST COLLEGE Observatory, Johannesburg Est. 1924

ST HENRY’S MARIST COLLEGE Berea, Durban Est. 1929

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MARIST BROTHERS LINMEYER Linmeyer, Johannesburg Est. 1966

DOMINICAN CONVENT Belgravia, Johannesburg Est. 1908

Günther Simmermacher’s biography of a Christmas carol

E

The story behind ‘Away In A Manger’

VERYBODY KNOWS THE CAROL “Away In A Manger”, but nobody knows who wrote the words. One tradition has it that the lyrics were written around 500 years ago by Martin Luther, but there is no evidence that he did so, nor of any such hymn existing before 1882.

The origin of “Away In A Manger” — words and music — is in the United States, not Reformation-era Germany.

And the origin of the Luther myth is American too.

In 1887, a hymn writer named James R Murray (1841–1905) set the words of “Away In A Manger” to music.

When he published it in his Dainty Songs for Little Lads and Lasses, he perpetuated the myth, stated in 1882 in a Boston newspaper called The Congregationalist, that Luther wrote the song and sang it every night to his children, and that German mothers had done so to their children ever since.

The trouble with that pious tale is that German mothers had never heard these words until they were imported from the States. They were first published in Germany, in an awkward translation, in 1934. In any case, there is a popular German Christmas hymn, still much beloved today, which actually was written by Luther, “Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her”.

Why the writer of The Congregationalist told the Luther story is anybody’s guess; maybe he (given the era, it probably was a man) was thinking of “Vom Himmel hoch…” and was confused; maybe the looming 400th anniversary of Luther’s birth in 1883 overexcited his imagination; maybe he was a fantasist with a penchant for telling tall tales…

Top: James R Murray and his 1887 score for what he called “Luther’s Cradle Hymn”.

Below: William J Kirkpatrick and his score, which still refers to Luther.

Heresy in a carol?

The reality is that the writer of the words of “Away In A Manger” remains anonymous. What we do know is that the carol was first published with a musical score in a hymnal by Pennsylvanian Lutherans in 1885. The melody did not catch on, which is where our friend Mr Murray comes in two years later. Further verses were added subsequently.

One carol, two melodies

There are two melodies for “Away In A Manger”. In the US, the melody composed by Murray is widely used (inexplicably attributed to “Carl Müller”).

This version is slower and less cheerful than the melody that is popularly used in Britain and its old dominions, includ-

Best Wishes for a Blessed Christmas and a Happy 2024 to all readers,

from the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office.

32 The Southern Cross

ing South Africa. Where Murray’s version sounds like a lullaby, the one we commonly use resembles a more upbeat children’s song. Hear the United States version at youtu.be/ynul3OS_5dY, and the British at youtu.be/MYAJWrFGIrA. The British version also has its provenance in the US, where it was composed by William J Kirkpatrick and first published in 1895 in a collection titled Around the World with Christmas, representing the “German Fatherland”.

That version was exported to Britain by a Baptist minister in 1905, and became popular there.

Kirkpatrick was born in 1838 in Ireland’s County Tyrone and emigrated to Philadelphia in 1854. A carpenter by trade, he soon was mentored in the music ministry of his Methodist parish.

The veteran of the US Civil War (as was James R Murray) published more than a thousand hymns. He died in 1921.

Visit www.cplo.org.za

One thing that we might not expect from a sweet carol such as “Away In A Manger” is an accusation of heresy. The controversy hinges (mostly) on the words “no crying he makes” in the second verse, with the supposed implication that Jesus was unlike all babies — who tend to cry a lot — and therefore not fully human.

If the carol was claiming that the baby Jesus never cried, the accusation of it propagating the heresy of Docetism (the idea that Jesus’ human form was merely an illusion) or Gnosticism (the idea that even in infancy, Jesus had special knowledge) might stick.

However, at the end of verse 1, baby Jesus is sleeping, head resting in hay.

Verse 2 begins with the cattle waking the baby. In this snapshot of the peaceful Nativity scene, the baby does not cry — just as not all babies cry when they awake. The carol makes no wild claims that baby Jesus does not cry at other times. So, happily, there is no need to call a Church council to sort out heresies in “Away In A Manger”.

For more stories behind the carols see www.scross.co.za/category/ features/biography-of-hymns/

S

Father Ralph de Hahn

A fresh look out of Ward E

A Christmas Story by Fr ralph de Hahn

aint Luke’s Hospital stands as a healing light on a hill overlooking the Canadian village of Lock.

This amazing story begins in the lovely season of autumn. It was rather colder than usual that autumn. The trees were shedding their leaves, and everyone was slowly anticipating a snowy Christmas celebration — so many people truly love and welcome the snow.

Matron Joan’s first visit that morning was to Ward E. “And how is my Bobby doing this bright morning?” was her cheerful greeting as she danced into the ward reserved for chronically ill and disabled patients. The humorous response from young Bobby was as sharp as ever: “I am still here, Sister, and not likely to run away — not quite yet!”

And indeed there was no possibility of his ever leaving his bed, for Bobby had a deformed spine and very weak legs which were unable to hold his weight. He couldn’t even move his head from one side to the other, so his eyes focused only on the empty ceiling. However, he was fully alert and able to converse joyfully with his visitors — the few who came. “Well then, young man, don’t ever attempt to leave us in a hurry, because we love you so much,” matron smilingly responded as she ruffled the boy’s curly hair.

It was a penetrating lesson for all the staff and visitors how this lad, unable to walk to the window to view the outside world, had a lovely sense of humour and peaceful disposition. But it was a whole new story when Lorenzo came into his life. It was the month of November when the nursing sister Martha led Lorenzo into Ward E and introduced him to Bobby. The new unexpected visitor was in his forties, rather short with a lovely smooth voice. He was deeply touched to learn of Bobby’s condition, and they became friends after only a few words were exchanged.

The young patient had so many questions to throw at his older visitor. He learnt that Lorenzo was an only child whose parents were killed in a sudden snowstorm not too many years ago. Lorenzo was a motor mechanic by trade but was far more in love with his grand motorcycle. Entering the world of imagination, Lorenzo was able to take his young friend on a motorcycle ride through a number of colourful towns, over mountain passes, from province to province, and even among the stars and planets. He even

painted a colourful picture of Christmas on the very top of a steep snowy mountain.

Time went so swiftly, and Bobby needed the usual medical attention, so his visitor was gently requested to leave. “You will come again, surely?” Bobby pleaded. “I sure will return, but first I need to assist a friend in Vancouver.

But this I promise: I will be with you on Christmas Day,” Lorenzo replied. With a smile, he added: “So, Bobby, don’t go anywhere.” They parted in a deep spirit of friendship.

T

hat promise came to life when on that Christmas morning, Lorenzo appeared again in Ward E, still cheerful but clearly not physically well, for his one

To all my brother clergy and sister religious and the poor missions of Southern Africa

Prayerful, Joyful, Good Wishes to all Missions in South Africa for a Magnificent and Most Blessed Christmas

With much love, Father Ralph de Hahn

Deep gratitude for the Missionaries who serve our poor

Continued on page 34

Within a cave a furnace of ecstatic love Within that mother’s keep the Gift of the Eternal Dove A paradise on earth, a mystery sublime Infinity is helpless in the arms of time.

The Southern Cross 33

arm was heavy in plaster. He wore a small neck guard and on his head he had an ugly scar. He explained briefly to the matron that he had suffered a terrible motorcycle accident.

“I am lucky to have survived, but only by the grace of God.” Still, he was the same loveable Lorenzo. He whispered to Sister Martha to not mention his condition to young Bobby. The boy, of course, was super delighted to hear that familiar voice. “A very happy and joyful Christmas!” they greeted one another.

“Lorenzo, I just knew you would keep your promise,” Bobby said. “I have been counting the days and the hours.”

Lorenzo expressed his joy at being with Bobby again, and mentioned that there was a glorious Christmas spirit out in the village. At once Bobby cried out: “Lorenzo, go to the window and tell me all that is going on out there. I am so excited to hear what you see.”

A

moment of silence betrayed some profound mental activity. Then Lorenzo spoke: “Sure, Bobby, I’ll do that for you. I can see far more than most people see… It’s soft snow all over the village, but the sun is shining, not hot but there it is shining on the children playing around a snowman; I see the ducks at play, the babies following the mother one behind the other.”

Lorenzo paused for a moment, then continued: “And all the trees are dressed in lights, and lanterns of all different shapes and colours. It’s a beautiful sight. The trees are bare but the squirrels are chasing one another in delightful play.

And look the many children skating and screaming on the frozen lake. I can even hear some music as the snowflakes now begin waltzing to the snow-covered earth. And then there’s the park.”

Bobby felt as though he was there. “What’s happening at

the park, tell me!” Lorenzo began to laugh. “The adults are wearing their thick, furry coats and gathering in the park for a sing-song of some kind, I think, and then skate along Robert Avenue.” Bobby exclaimed with delight: “Robert is my real name, that is why they call me Bobby… Maybe that avenue was named after me!” Lorenzo laughingly agreed.

Indeed, the young patient imagined himself skating over the frozen lake on fairy skates, even though he never ever wore a set. Lorenzo painted the best picture possible; his young friend was thrilled with heavenly joy. And the matron and Nurse Martha stood there with open mouths, speechless. For not only had the motorcycle accident broken Lorenzo’s bones and scarred his face — it had also left him totally blind.

Fr Ralph de Hahn is a priest of the archdiocese of Cape Town. Read his first Christmas story in The Southern Cross way back in 1952 at www.bit.ly/3UOyw0L

https://dominican.shc.org.za | Johannesburg

Christmas MERRY

Wishing you well over the Festive Season.

Thanking you for your continued support. www.maristsouthafrica.co.za

In Advent: Where is the youth?

Serialong Lebasa: Advent Reflection

W

E ALL KNOW THE CHRISTIAN MEANING OF Advent, but I am also attracted to the Oxford English Dictionary’s literal and simple definition of the word: “The arrival of a notable person or thing”.

This definition reminds me of 2019 when I first heard about a thing called Comic-Con Africa from my son. I still do not understand what Comic-Con is, other than it being a convention of comic book fans who dress up as their favourite characters. However, based on my son’s animated mood at the time, I can safely classify the event as the arrival of a “notable thing”.

Comic-Con requires of its fans to prepare on time.

Preparation includes budgeting for the event, getting new clothes, and finding fellow fans who are also attending the event. The event is heightened with the arrival of “notable persons” — entertainment stars and artists from abroad.

The enthusiasm, energy and eagerness of the fans which I observed was contagious.

In the context of the Church, Advent is a season of preparation for the arrival of Jesus Christ as our notable Person. We prepare ourselves for the arrival of Christ by spending our energy in prayer and through the sacrament of confession.

Unfortunately, our event — Advent — does not seem to attract as many enthusiastic people as Comic-Con apparently does. There is a category of people which is missing in making our event as energetic and electrifying as the ComicCon was. We do not see our youth.

We need the same youthful energy and enthusiasm that is on display at Comic-Con events in our Advent journey.

We long for the youth’s enthusiasm

The Advent season seems to be a thing attractive only to older people, and only a handful of young people. Where are our young people? Which events have swallowed them?

The Church longs for the youth to prepare for the arrival of Christ, eagerly and enthusiastically.

The Church requires all of us, including the youngsters, to unite in prayer to prepare for the coming of Christ. The Church does not require much from them, just a few hours of their time is enough.

Pope Francis says that “the world needs the youth like the earth needs rain”. The Holy Father, with his wisdom and love for the youth, calls them the “Today” of the Church and of the world. May this much-needed rain come and bring fresh air to the Church.

The pope calls on us the adults to ensure that new generations may “not lack instruction, work, community and family”.

How do we make the Church our own Comic-Con that can attract and encourage our youth to use their energy to “promote a culture of care and be champions” of growing the Church together with their parents, brothers and in Christ? We need our youth to come and use their talents and technologies to revive their Church.

It may be difficult to force our children to go to church.

But we cannot give up. May the Holy Spirit put the words of wisdom in our mouths so that we can remind our children that the Church is waiting for them.

Serialong Lebasa is a parishioner of Our Lady of Perpetual Help church in Vereeniging.

Blessed Christmas wishes May the beautiful Child of Mary bring loads of blessings for you and all your loved ones.

The Southern Cross 35

The winding paths to peace

Raymond Perrier on Faith & Society

I

N SEPTEMBER, WE WELCOMED A group of Northern Irish volunteers in their early twenties to the Denis Hurley Centre in Durban. They spent a few days at the lovely St Augustine’s Primary School nearby, and worked alongside a group of Israeli volunteers who were spending a few months in Durban.

At the end of their time with the schoolchildren, I was pleased to have the chance to reflect jointly with them, and with some South African young adults, on their experience. It is a credit to our Catholic school system that one thing that they were united in was their praise for the young learners — how polite, engaged, curious and full of life they were (in implied contrast to schoolchildren from their home countries).

Then I asked them to reflect on some of the similarities between their situations. I pointed out that, whereas the North of Ireland and South Africa were now (relatively) peaceful, stable societies, both countries had come out of a recent history of violence and human rights abuses. And that for the Israelis, the experience (or fear) of communal violence was still present. Moreover, I pointed out that in all three regions, religion had in various ways been used to weaponise the situation.

I was struck by the fact that the Northern Irish and South Africans — all in their early twenties — were not at all interested in the past. “We just want a good education and a job,” was the common response; any looking back to historic conflicts was seen as hindering those goals. “We can’t keep blaming the past for the present,” they were saying.

A wall at Netiv HaAsara in Israel facing the Gaza border reads the words “Path to Peace” in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.

Photo: Cole Keister/Unsplash

Meanwhile, as we absorb the news from the Holy Land, we are also receiving ghastly news from what is happening in Ukraine; and we are probably not hearing (unless we look very hard) updates on the armed conflicts and fatalities in Yemen, Myanmar, Syria, the Maghreb, or Ethiopia.

How can we celebrate?

To offer them some hope, I shared my own reflection. I pointed out that when I grew up in the 1970s and ’80s, there were four major political problems that dominated our worldview and which seemed completely intractable: the Cold War, the Irish Troubles, apartheid in South Africa, and the Middle East. And yet, with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990, and the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, three of those problems had — in some way — been resolved. And while none of those situations are perfect today, they are certainly better than they were.

In the face of all this, one may ask, how can we celebrate Christmas? I would suggest that it is precisely because of these conflicts — and all the other reasons we have to despair — that we need to be celebrating the arrival on earth of the Son of God. My challenge to the young Israelis to imagine a better world would have been no less a challenge to previous generations of Irish or South Africans facing political stalemate. Many readers of these lines grew up in a South Africa where it seemed that nothing would ever change: or you worked hard and made sacrifices to ensure that things did change. And change did come about!

Weighed down by today’s worries about corruption, unemployment, loadshedding, poor service delivery, decaying infrastructure and crime, we can easily forget the victories against injustice that were won so relatively recently.

There is probably little that we can do from here to make a direct difference to what is happening in the Holy Land and other conflicts. But we can pray for victims and perpetrators of violence, as I once prayed, in faraway England, for the victims and perpetrators of apartheid.

And we can also commit to keeping ourselves informed of the facts — not to gorge on the digest of violence but to ensure that we do not forget those who are suffering. We can also resolve to try and learn more about the sources of a conflict and so move beyond the headlines to a

We need to celebrate the arrival of the Son of God

Held back by the past

The Israelis so wished that they could agree. “If only we were not held back by the past,” they said, not to wilfully ignore history but to dream of a life which was not weighed down by it. cApE toWn holiDAY AccoMMoDAtion Looking for reasonably priced accommodation over the December/January holiday period?

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36 The Southern Cross

Without offering my views of what a solution might be, I wanted to give hope to the Israelis who were there — and the Palestinians who were not — that even in their situation there might be a resolution.

A few weeks later, Hamas’ terrorist attacks in Israel and Israel's ruthless response in Gaza triggered a new stage in an old conflict. By the time you read these words, who knows how far it will have gone? The one outcome that I can pretty safely predict will not happen by Christmas is a peaceful resolution.

It is impossible to imagine how we could reach that in the next few months from where we are now; it is increasingly impossible to imagine that we could ever reach it in this particular conflict.

In Memoriam

In December we at The Southern Cross remember with affection our late colleagues Noel Bruyns (December 6, 2004) and Gene Donnelly (December 18, 2011).

May their souls rest in heavenly peace!

MARIANELLA

Guest House, Simon’s Town — experience the peace and beauty of God and nature with us”. Fully equipped, with amazing sea views. Secure parking, ideal for rest and relaxation. Special rates for families, pensioners and clergy.

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Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI more thoughtful understanding.

And one thing that we can all do is commit not to add to the violence: social media, the knee jerk sharing of videos and disinformation, or the rehashing of other people’s opinions as our own which might make us feel righteous but may actually cause more harm than good.

Thoughts on a carol

One of my favourite Christmas carols (rarely sung here) is “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”. The words were written by US pastor Edmund Sears in 1849. He was reflecting on the Mexican-American War that had been raging; he must have also been conscious of the world of military occupation and violence into which Jesus had chosen to be born. Sears offers an image in which “angels bending near the earth” bring a message of peace. But he reminds us of how hard it is for us to hear that message: And man, at war with man, hears not the love-song which they bring/“Oh hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing.”

I usually try to avoid gendered language in hymns: surely, Jesus was not born “that man no more may die” or “to raise the sons of earth”. But in this case, I think the carol’s gendered language is appropriate. It is usually men whose noisy violence drowns out the call for peace: just think of the role of women in the peace movement in Ireland or in reconciliation in South Africa.

I was pleased that a group of “women for peace” (Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Hindu and Baha’i) recently came together in Durban to pray for peace. I was also shocked — but not surprised — that both the Muslim and Jewish women in the group had been attacked by members of their own communities for daring to pray for peace, as though peace was not the desired goal.

Pope Francis has reminded us: “War is always a defeat.” Into a world of “sin and strife” this Christmas, let us do whatever we can to bring peace and faith, silence and prayer. Prayer might feel like a tiny contribution, but it is a way of reminding us all not to lose our hopes and dreams: When Peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendours fling/ And the whole world give back the song which now the angels sing.

A light in the darkness

I

N 1986, DURING THE DARK DAYS OF apartheid, one of the ways people expressed their opposition and their belief that someday it would be overcome, was to light a candle and put it in a window where it could be seen by anyone passing by. A lit candle, publicly displayed, made a prophetic statement. It didn’t take long for the government to react.

Promoting the placement of a lit candle in your window was banned. The irony was not lost on children. They joked: “The government is afraid of lit candles!”

And well they should be! To light a candle for a moral or religious reason — be it for protest, for Hanukkah, for Advent, or for Christmas — is to make a prophetic statement of faith and, in essence, make a public prayer.

Admittedly, this can be hard to read inside the glow of the millions of Christmas tree lights that we see everywhere. Why do we put up all these lights at Christmas? A cynical answer suggests that this is done for purely commercial purposes. For many of us, these lights are also simply a question of aesthetics, colour, and celebration, mostly devoid of any religious meaning.

However, even here, there is still something deeper going on. Why do we put up lights at Christmas? Why do we light our homes and our streets with colourful lights at this time of year?

No doubt, we do it for colour, for celebration, and for commercial reasons; but we also do it because, more deeply, it expresses a faith, however inchoately this might still be felt, that in Christ a final victory has been won and light has forever conquered darkness. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.

A public prayer Our Christmas lights are, in the end, an expression of faith and in essence a public prayer. Nevertheless, we might still ask, to what end? What difference can this possibly make? Putting up lights as a symbol of faith can seem like a very insignificant and naïve thing to do in the face of the seeming overwhelming darkness of our world. We look at our world and we see millions suffering from war, millions of refugees on borders around the world, and hundreds of millions suffering from food shortages.

Moreover, when we know that thousands of people every day are dying from domestic violence, drug violence, and gang violence, and when we see tension everywhere within our governments, our churches, our neighbourhoods,

and our families, we might ask ourselves: What difference do our little strings of lights, or indeed all the Christmas lights in the world, make?

Well, in the words of the late Jesuit Michael Buckley, “Prayer is most needed, just when it is deemed most useless.”

These are words to hang on to.

Given the magnitude of our world’s problems, given the magnitude of the darkness that threatens us, now more than ever, it is imperative that we express our faith publicly, as a prayer. Now, more than ever, we need to show publicly that we still believe faith works, that we still believe in the power of prayer, and that we still believe that, in Christ, the power of darkness has been forever overcome.

This is expressed wonderfully in a poem the theologian John Shea inscribed inside his Christmas card one year:

Our Christmas trees want to talk to us. The greater darkness of December can take its toll and strengthen what afflicts us.

Our Christmas trees beg to differ. Their branches are full, leafy, strung with lights.

The brightness is defiant. We want a perfect world. But that is not always what we get.

We may experience catastrophic weather; a pandemic; threatened health; overstressed work, dipping finances, struggling relationships, and society and world either slightly or wildly insane.

Our Christmas trees glow. Their lights whisper: “Give all the things that afflict you their due, but do not give them your soul.

You are more than the surrounding darkness.”

Welcome to winning side During the struggle, Archbishop Desmond Tutu was sometimes confronted by soldiers who came into his church while he was preaching, flashing their guns to intimidate him. He would smile at them and say: “I’m glad you have come to join the winning side!” He wasn’t talking about the anti-apartheid struggle; he was talking about the forever-victory that Christ has won for us. The most important of all battles has already been won, and our faith puts us on the winning side.

Our Christmas lights express this, however consciously unaware of it we may be.

Fr Karl Rahner once wrote that, at Christmas, God gives us sacred permission to be happy. Christmas also assures us that we have more than sufficient grounds to be happy, regardless of what might still be happening in our lives and in our world.

We can be defiant in the face of everything that demands we be downcast.

Our Christmas lights express that defiance.

The Southern Cross 37

PRAY WITH THE POPE Every month Fr chris chatteris SJ reflects on Pope Francis’ prayer intention

Caregivers push the sick and disabled at the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, France. Photo: Paul Haring/CNS

People with disabilities at the centre Intention: We pray that people living with disabilities may be at the centre of attention in society, and that institutions may offer inclusive programmes which value their active participation.

P

EOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE indeed often at the centre of attention — but in an undesirable sense, namely when they have to endure stares in public places.

Acknowledging people with physical or mental disabilities without displaying insensitivity or condescension is a gentle, discerning art. It requires the experience of actually meeting, interacting naturally, and getting to know those whom society often finds it awkward to encounter.

At an airport recently, I saw a family queuing in the check-in queue.

They had their young son with Down’s syndrome with them, a lively and slightly mischievous youngster who drew a certain amount of attention to himself. However, he was so obviously loved and cherished by his parents that

I had the strong impression that the people in the queue were put at ease.

In my lifetime, society has changed greatly for the better in regard to people with disabilities. Facilities for access to public buildings are standard

The Camino is clearly a journey which attracts many people who are aware of the fact that they are walking wounded, whether this is obvious or not.

What is particularly striking about this month’s intention is that it doesn’t ask us just to tolerate and respect people with disabilities, but to go much further and place them right in the centre of our loving gaze, and to change our institutions so comprehensively that they can make their unique contribution to our world.

A place in the Catholic world where this can be witnessed in action is at Lourdes in France, where the thousands of seriously ill pilgrims who visit the shrine every year are truly at the centre of things.

They have priority in the Masses, processions and other liturgical events. All the facilities in and around the grotto and in the town are accessible to those in wheelchairs and people who are not fully mobile. Many volunteers are at hand to assist them and ensure their ease of access.

Everything points to the fact that the sick and those suffering from disabilities are considered not just as being of equal value to the healthy, but in fact are special in the sight of God and in the lives of their brothers and sisters.

This is how we bring about the realisation of the Kingdom of God.

These days we notice the absence of ramps and adapted toilets in public spaces today. Whereas in the past, ramps and adapted toilets were something one noticed, today it's their absence which is noticed.

The Camino call

And there are frequent calls to improve such facilities. For example, there is a call to make the accommodation and other amenities for pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago Compostela more in keeping with this spirit of inclusivity towards people with disabilities. It might be surprising to hear that people with disabilities undertake the Camino at all, but they do — and if one thinks about it, it makes a lot of sense.

WALK THE CAMINO

Walk the camino to Santiago de compostela. Accommodation in hotels with breakfast & dinner.

Your luggage will be transported every day. Different routes available!

38 The Southern Cross

Call Gail at 076 352-3809 or email info@fowlertravel.co.za

Dear Lord, as the new year begins, I look to You for our hope, joy, and peace. Give me the courage to do all that You ask of me.

Please also make me brave to not do what isn’t from You. Show me how to walk in grace and embrace Your love for me even more.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Prayer Corner

Your prayers to cut out and collect

Do you have a favourite prayer?

Please send to editor@scross.co.za

O Sweet Child of Bethlehem, grant that we may share with all our hearts in this profound mystery of Christmas.

Put into the hearts of men and women this peace for which they sometimes seek so desperately and which You alone can give to them.

Help them to know one another better, and to live as brothers and sisters, children of the same Father.

Reveal to them also Your beauty, holiness and purity. Awaken in their hearts love and gratitude for Your infinite goodness.

Join them all together in Your love and give us Your heavenly peace. Amen

Lord, thank you for family. I pray that if anyone in my family is struggling, You would help them to come to me or others for help and come to You for forgiveness and strength.

God give me wisdom to know what to say, how to encourage, and how to show love to my family, even when it is difficult. Amen

Heavenly Father, I thank you for loving me.

I thank you for sending your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, to the world to save and to set me free. I trust in your power and grace that sustain and restore me.

Loving Father, touch me now with your healing hands, for I believe that your will is for me to be well in mind, body, soul and spirit.

Cover me with the most precious blood of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ from the top of my head to the soles of my feet.

Cast anything that should not be in me.

Root out any unhealthy and abnormal cells.

Open any blocked arteries or veins and rebuild and replenish any damaged areas.

Remove all inflammation and cleanse

any infection by the power of Jesus’ precious blood.

Let the fire of your healing love pass through my entire body to heal and make new any diseased areas so that my body will function the way you created it to function.

Touch also my mind and my emotion, even the deepest recesses of my heart.

Saturate my entire being with your presence, love, joy and peace and draw me ever closer to you every moment of my life.

And Father, fill me with your Holy Spirit and empower me to do your works so that my life will bring glory and honour to your holy name.

I ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

The Southern Cross 39

Anagram Challenge 1

12 Days Word Search

Unscramble the clues below to work out which CHRISTMAS HITS hide in these words

HI S WA R ME ST I TCH

2

A S THI R ST CA LMS

3

O H YE A H I A U THO R E D WA R

4

FIND AVID ZEAL

5

ME LT B R O THE R LY TE DI U M

5

G O SH I T’S ME R CHA N TS

Find these 12 Days of Christmas gifts in the puzzle above, to add to the 12 drummers drumming

PARTRIDGE

TURTLEDOVES FRENCH HENS

CALLING BIRDS

MAIDS A-MILKING LADIES DANCING

GOLD RINGS

GEESE A-LAYING

SWANS A-SWIMMING

LORDS A-LEAPING PIPERS PIPING

DroPPeD LeTTerS: Place the missing letters to get the names of Christmas carols T

I E

K E

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H , Y

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O I

D O

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THELG SCONE TOWN SHARL LICEY DARTY NIFTY GIRNOT JOLAV STOWN VORET YORNE CHERLN

AcroSS

3. They watched by night (9) 8. Openly confess a very old wickedness first (4) 9. They live an insular life (9) 10. Mad son among the wanderers (6) 11. Judaism (5) 14. A big inn (5) 15. Securely close the confessional? (4) 16. Island visited by St Paul (Acts 20) (5) 18. Portent of great moment (4) 20. and 19. down: Lord’s Prayer in the Roman Rite (5,6) 21. Coverings for the churches (5) 24. How your eyes will be in the heavens? (6) 25. Prolongs for religious pamphlets (9) 26. Place of wedding miracle (4) 27. Singer from the choir rest (9)

40 The Southern Cross

DoWn

1. State of heroic sanctity (9) 2. At the font she is promising (9) 4. Egypt will do it like a slithering snake (Jer 46:22) (4) 5. Pontius eats off it without I (5) 6. Senior churchmen (6) 7. Night of the Soul of St John of the Cross (4) 9. They are solid and worshipped (5) 11. He wrote one epistle (5) 12. Jesus Christ the same ..., today and forever (Heb 13) 13. He is not among the laity (9) 17. They turn the meat on the fire (5) 19. See 20 across 22. The angel said not have them (5) 23. Char turns architect’s design around (4) 24. you’ll get it on the lid (4)

For all solutions turn to page 42

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17. Popular SA Christmas desert (5,7) 18. Christmas tree variety (4) 20. Baby Jesus’ bed (6) 21. Feast ends Christmas season (7,2,3,4) 22. Colour of Star in Nativity church (6) 25. ‘A Christmas Carol’ character (3,8) 26. Jesus’ cousin (4) 29. Had Christmas hit with Bing Crosby (5,5) 31. Santa’s reindeer (7) 32. SA region named after Nativity (5) 33. Tree of the partridge (4) 34. Trad. Christmas biscuit (11) 36. Day after feast of Nativity (6,3) 37. Christmas charity single group (4,3) 38. City of St Nicholas’ relics (4)

DoWn

AcroSS

7. Christmas decoration (6) 8. Magi’s gift (12) 10. ‘Step Into Christmas’ singer (5,4) 11. Jesus’ grandmother (var.) (4) 12. Originator of Nativity Scenes (2,6) 13. King from Bethlehem (5) 15. Animated Christmas movie (3,5,7) 16. French Father Christmas (4,4)

1. Merry Christmas in Italian (4,6) 2. Victims of Herod’s massacre (4,9) 3. Archangel of Annunciation (7) 4. One of the Magi (9) 5. Country of Good King wenceslas (7) 6. German for Christmas (11) 9. Third Sunday of Advent (7) 10. Christmas plant (9) 11. Christmas carol (1,4,3,2,8) 12. Jesus was born of one (6) 14. Alternative name for Christmas (8) 15. Reason for Bethlehem journey (6) 16. “...! The Herald Angels Sing” (4) 18 Guide of Magi (4) 19. Dr Seuss’ Christmas villain (6) 23. ‘Tis the season to be … (5) 24. Our Christmas story writer (5,2,4) 25. Tie on Christmas gifts (3) 26. Joy to the … (5) 27. Christmas flower (10) 28. Nativity evangelist (7) 30. Prophet of Messiah (6) 35. Ordered the census (9)

The Southern Cross 41

Q6: Jesus in art

Q11: Charlie Brown Christmas

1. Which city is furthest from bethlehem? a) Cairo b) Jerusalem c) Nazareth

2. Which South African archbishop was born on boxing Day? a) Buti Tlhagale b) Dabula Mpako c) Siegfried Mandla Jwara

3. Which of these 1980s action cop movies was not set at christmas? a) Beverley Hills Cop 2 b) Die Hard c) Lethal weapon

4. in charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, who says: “God bless us, everyone”? a) Ebenezer Scrooge b) Mr. Fezziwig c) Tiny Tim 5. on christmas Eve of which year did Vasco da Gama name natal after the feast of the lord’s nativity? a) 1497 b) 1597 c) 1697 6. in a painting by which artist does baby Jesus suck his fingers? a) Caravaggio b) Raphael c) Tomaso Guidi

7. Who was the Austrian composer of “Silent night”? a) Franz Gruber b) Fred Strasser c) Fritz Stromberg 8. Who invented mince pies for christmas? a) Crusaders b) Pope John IV c) Spanish Inquisition 9. Who wrote “the Messiah”? a) Bach b) Händel c) Vivaldi

Q16: Bibingka

10. Which country has a Father christmas figure called “Joulupukki”? a) Bulgaria b) Finland c) Spain

11. in A Charlie Brown Christmas, who recites from the Gospel of luke? a) Charlie Brown b) Linus c) Lucy 12. in which language would one say “Masego a Keresemose” to wish you a Merry christmas? a) isiNdebele b) SeSotho c) SeTswana 13. What did my true love give to me on the 11th day of christmas? a) Drummers drumming b) Ladies dancing c) Pipers piping 14. Which famous ballet takes place at christmas? a) La Bayadère b) Swan Lake c) The Nutcracker 15. how many angels spoke to the shepherds? a) One b) Three c) Nine

16. Where would you eat a traditional christmas food called “bibingka”? a) Peru b) Philippines c) Poland

17. the last-ever English Football league match to be played on christmas Day was in 1965, when blackpool beat which team 4-2? a) Birmingham City b) Blackburn Rovers c) Burnley FC 18. Which christmas carol includes the lines, “remember christ our Saviour was born on christmas Day to save us

Solutions SouthernCrossword: ACROSS: 3 Shepherds, 8 Avow, 9 Islanders, 10 Nomads, 11 Jewry, 14 Hotel, 15 Seal, 16 Samos, 18 Omen, 20 Pater, 21 Roofs, 24 Starry, 25 Protracts, 26 Cana, 27 Chorister DOWN: 1 Sainthood, 2 Godmother, 4 Hiss, 5 Plate, 6 Elders, 7 Dark, 9 Idols, 11 Jewry, 12 Yesterday, 13 Clergyman, 17 Spits, 19 Noster, 22 Fears, 23 Arch, 24 Stye Anagram Challenge:

1 White Christmas, 2 Last Christmas, 3 Do You Hear What I Hear, 4 Feliz Navidad, 5 The Little Drummer Boy, 6 The Christmas Song

Dropped Letters: Silent Night, O Holy Night, We

Three Kings, Joy To The World, Once in Royal David’s City, Coventry Carol, The First Noel

Quick Christmas Crossword: ACROSS: 7 Tinsel, 8 Frankincense, 10 Elton John, 11 Anna, 12 St Francis, 15 The Polar Express, 16 Père Noel, 17 Malva

42 The Southern Cross

Pudding, 18 Pine, 20 Manger, 21 Baptism of the Lord, 22 Silver, 25 Bob Cratchit, 26 John, 29 David Bowie, 31 Prancer, 32 Natal, 33 Pear, 34 Gingerbread, 36 Boxing Day, 37 Band Aid, 38 Bari DOWN: 1 Buon Natale, 2 Holy Innocents, 3 Gabriel, 4 Balthasar, 5 Czechia, 6 Weihnachten, 9 Gaudete, 10 Mistletoe, 11 O Come All Ye Faithful, 12 Virgin, 14 Yuletide, 15 Census, 16 Hark, 18 Star, 19 Grinch, 23 Jolly, 24 Ralph de Hahn, 25 Bow, 26 World, 27 Poinsettia, 28 Matthew, 30 Isaiah, 35 Quirinius

Christmas Trivia Quiz: 1. a) Cairo, 2. a) Buti Tlhagale, 3. a) Beverley Hills Cop 2, 4. c) Tiny Tim, 5. a) 1497, 6. c) Tommaso Guidi, 7. a) Franz Gruber, 8. a) The Crusaders, 9. b) Händel, 10. b) Finland, 11. b) Linus, 12. c) SeTswana, 13. c) Pipers piping, 14. c) The Nutcracker, 15. a) One, 16. b) Philippines, 17. b) Blackburn Rovers, 18. b) God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, 19. a) Harry Potter and the Scorcerer’s Stone (spoken by Dumbledore), 20. b) 800, 21. c) None, 22. b) Red, 23. a) Jan de Groef, 24. c) 4 (since 1920), 25. a ) A Beatle

Q21: Mary’s donkey

all from Satan’s pow’r”? a) Ding Dong Merrily On High b) God Rest ye Merry, Gentlemen c) It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

19. in which novel does a character complain: “one can never have enough socks. Another christmas has come and gone and i didn’t get a single pair. people will insist on giving me books”? a) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone b) How the Grinch Stole Christmas c) Pippi Longstocking 20. on christmas Day of which year did pope leo iii crown charlemagne emperor? a) 500 b) 800 c) 1100

21. in which Gospel does Mary enter bethlehem on a donkey? a) Matthew c) Luke c) None 22. What colour are the candles on the Vatican Advent wreath? a) Brown b) Red c) Purple

23. Who is the bishop of bethlehem in the Free State? a) Jan de Groef b) Joseph Kizito c) Zolile Mpambani 24. by December 1923, how many christmas issues had The Southern Cross published? a) 2 b) 3 c) 4

25. What is all that Dora bryan wanted for christmas in her 1963 uK hit? a) A Beatle b) Front-teeth c) you

Next month in The Southern Cross A preview of some of our top stories in the January issue.

Digital issue out on December 22 • Subscribe at digital.scross.co.za/subscribe

Keeping up resolutions

Convert Priest’s Story

Life of St Sebastian

With pull-out poster!

S outhern C ross Pilgrimages CATHOLIC PORTUGAL Led Fr Russell Pollitt SJ 8 to 17 October 2024

Visit the holy shrines of Catholic Portugal, with Fatima, Sr Lucia’s convent in Coimbra, Eucharistic Miracle of Santarém, Lisbon (with St Anthony’s birthplace), shrine of Nazaré, Bom Jesus do Monte at Braga and much more...

www.fowlertours.co.za/portugal

ROME • ASSISI • MEDJUGORJE Led by Bishop Victor Phalana 16 to 25 September 2024

Visit Rome (with papal audience in St Peter’s Square and all four major basilicas), Assisi, Loreto (with the House of Our Lady), and then pray in Medjugorje. Plus a tour of beautiful Split in Croatia. Three countries in one tour!

www.fowlertours.co.za/medju

Please note: Our planned pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Rome with Mgr Simon Donnelly in May 2024 has been deferred to May 2025.

Contact Gail at info@fowlertours.co.za or 076 352-3809 Our pilgrimages are expertly arranged by

Final Words Great Quotes on

RECONCILIATION

History in Colour

A snapshot from the past, colourised exclusively for The Southern Cross

‘Reconciliation does not mean forgetting or trying to bury the pain of conflict, but reconciliation means working together to correct the legacy of past injustice.’

– Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

‘Proclaim forgiveness and reconciliation, which are the only way to achieve stable harmony.’

– Pope Benedict XVI (1927-2022)

‘True reconciliation is never cheap, for it is based on forgiveness which is costly.

Forgiveness in turn depends on repentance, which has to be based on an acknowledgment of what was done wrong, and therefore on disclosure of the truth. You cannot forgive what you do not know.’

– Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1931-2022)

‘Reconciliation should be accompanied by justice, otherwise it will not last.

While we all hope for peace, it shouldn’t be peace at any cost but peace based on principle, on justice.’

– Corazon Aquino (1933-2009)

‘Reconciliation always brings a springtime to the soul.’

– Brother Roger Schutz (1915-2005)

‘All religions remind us that actions have consequences for which guilt can and must be acknowledged, forgiveness humbly begged, reconciliation sought.’

– Kenneth L Woodward (b.1935)

‘If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.

If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.’

– Matthew 18:15

Children in New York City go window-shopping as Christmas approaches in 1910. The practice of gift-giving at Christmas can be linked to the story of the Magi who brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the infant Jesus. This narrative in the Gospel of Matthew helped establish the custom of offering gifts during the Christmas season as a way of commemorating the birth of Jesus.

During the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries, Puritans in England and its American colonies objected to and even prohibited traditions associated with Christmas, including the giving of gifts.

However, gift-giving remained popular among many other communities.

The Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, with the rise of mass production, brought about significant changes in gift-giving. Christmas became increasingly commercialised, and the emphasis on buying presents grew stronger. Retailers capitalised on the season, promoting the exchange of gifts as a more essential aspect of Christmas than the celebration of the birth of the Saviour, Jesus Christ.

D

T

The last laugh

uring Advent, the catechist explains to the Grade 1 children: “Only those who have been very obedient will receive a present from the parish Santa next week.”

So she asked: “And who has obeyed all the instructions and wishes of your mom throughout the year?”

Disappointed, the little ones sigh unanimously: “Daddy!”

*

*

*

he president of a certain country was not known to be the smartest knife in the drawer. One day in early December, he and an archbishop were making small-talk at a cocktail party.

In the course of the conversation, the archbishop noted: “Christmas is falling on a Friday this year.”

The president suddenly looked alarmed and said: “Oh dear, I hope it’s not on the 13th!”

Buy the Church Chuckles book of Catholic jokes!

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