A ‘different’ nativity

Just like the song says, it’s Christmastime in the city. OK, so in our current culture it’s more likely to be called “holiday time,” and you have to look closely between the decorations which celebrate Snoopy, Mickey Mouse, Frosty and the Grinch to find something which really reflects the season.

I wandered down to the Daley Center Plaza in the Loop the other day to check out the annual nativity scene placed there each year by “the God Squad,” a group of Chicago-area tradesmen. It shares space with the large menorah, symbolic of Hanukkah, the holiday celebrated this time of year by Jews. (If that troubles you, put it into perspective by reminding yourself that Jesus, a faithful Jew, would have celebrated Hanukkah, not Christmas.)

It’s good to see public reminders of faith in a culture which increasingly is unwilling to acknowledge it.

But as good as it is to see the manger in the public square, straw-filled with the traditional statues of Mary, Joseph and assorted animals, Christmas is more than a plaster child in a wooden cradle.

It has to be.

There’s another display at the Daley Center this year. It’s inside, and within sight of the creche. Placed there by Catholic Relief Services, it, too, is a vital part of the faith we share. The two displays are different, but both are necessary and intimately connected to the Scripture story we repeat at this time each year.

Outside, the creche reminds us of who we are: believers in and followers of a God who shares our humanity.

Inside, the other reminds us of why we are: that our faith is rooted in a Gospel call to care, to challenge, to serve.

That display, six panels of powerful words and poignant photos, hugs an inside wall of the Daley Center. It tells an uncomfortable chapter in humanity’s story, the story of orphans left behind by the HIV/AIDS pandemic throughout the world.

Catholic Relief Services is a worldwide agency which, among other efforts, runs 80 AIDS programs in 30 countries. The exhibit, which is on a nationwide tour, has drawings and poems and other writings from children in Uganda, Cambodia, South Africa, Guatemala, India and the United States who are the “survivors” of the AIDS crisis. They have buried parents and siblings all too soon.

The display was put up in Chicago right after World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, and will be at the Daley Center through the month

Talking about AIDS, confronting AIDS, is often disconcerting. That’s because as a culture we associate HIV/AIDS with unworthy, even sinful, activity. That’s sad; but look the photos of these AIDS orphans in the eye, read their words, react to their sketches. Then go outside and look at the creche; the combination will change your outlook, and, I hope, your Christmas. (For information: www.CRS.org)

Christmas cannot be just the painted smile of a plaster statue, or a string of gaily colored lights on a tree or draped around a window. Nor is it only in the glow of a real child’s anticipation of presents on a snowy Christmas morn. And it’s certainly not in the maniacal laughter of a green-faced Grinch.

Christmas is more.

During Advent we are reminded that God’s most powerful gift to humanity is his hope. And that Christmas is the fulfillment of that hope.

This Christmas, let’s all share a little of that hope by remembering that at the heart of the Christmas story about a baby is an even greater story about a man. And about a Gospel which challenges us to see all of humanity in the face of a hurting child. And to act as that adult Jesus would.

To all of you, merry Christmas, good cheer—and most of all, great hope — from all of us at The Catholic New World.

Tom Sheridan
Editor and General Manager

OBSERVATIONS Archive

Top

---