By Nwuke Boma
The world is agog in celebration of Christmas , the birthday of a great being , Jesus Christ, the Messiah foretold by many prophets in the Holy Christian Book, the Bible about his coming to give hope and redeem the world .
Across many christian societies, the birth of Jesus is commemorated on 25th December, and Nigeria is not left out of this joyous celebration as every year this period, christians and members of other faiths look forward to celebrate in whatever way, using whatever means to have a feel of the season.
It is a season when wealth is measured by the affluent, where accumulation of more becomes central .a time when the poor look forward to some lifting away from their disadvantaged situation by believing in Angel Gabriel’s announcement of the birth of Jesus and its meaning to mankind.
The Angel’s announcement referred to as the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary or the Annunciation of the Lord is significant in many ways.
“Angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee,named Nazareth to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the House of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.
” And the angel came in unto her and said,Hail,thou art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee,blessed art thou among women.
Going further he said,” Fear not, Mary for thou hast found favour with God. And behold, thou shall conceive in thry womb, and bring forth a son and shall call his name JESUS.
” He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David “.
From the scriptures, Mary, the mother of Jesus was the chosen among women to be the mother of Jesus by her innocence, virtues and above all, favour from God. It was a position she never competed for or jostled to get.
Her response to the Angel’s announcement was humility personified “Behold the handmaid of the Lord,be it unto me according to thy word.”
The Annunciation in today’s world could have triggered a lot of questions by women of Mary’s age. While some would discard the angel’s message as baseless given that “Mary was already betrothed to Joseph,a Carpenter, others would see the messenger as short sighted and missing his way .Yet still, a few could give the message a thought but doubt its potency or the possibility of maturation.
Under the Christian Religion, Christmas is a holy day , the traditional veneration of Jesus Christ. It is a day of reflection on the birth and times of Jesus Christ. A day of thanksgiving ” that the Lord is with us ( Emmanuel). A day for atonement of every wrong doing, and a day the command ” Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself “comes into force.
For love of God and humanity,Mary, selflessly succumbed to the will of God to use her as a vehicle for the birth of Jesus to fulfill the scriptures on salvation of souls.
In other words, Jesus is love and peace .
But while many in the world are celebrating the holy day, others are mourning the loss of dear ones through either natural or man – made disasters.
At the period of Christmas this year, several deaths and severe injuries have occurred as a result of the Israel – Hamas war.
At the time of Christmas,more children have been either orphaned or displaced by the war which began in September following an earlier provocative offence by Hamas against Israel during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot near Kibbutz Reim.
Since then,more than 20,000 people have lost their lives in the silly war that has hindered religious tourism and social life of the people.
In fact ,Bethlehem, the birth place of Jesus Christ and a tourist destination for solemn prayers at the “Manger” and the Church of Nativity is also under siege as reports indicate that since October 7, access to Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns in the West Bank has been difficult. Christmas celebrations in the holy city are reportedly halted due to the war .
For the holy day in Nigeria, the mood across cities are joyful and sombre.
Joyful for those who received salaries and paid bonuses and sombre moments for those without salaries, without jobs and cannot meet the high cost of food items in the market.
Also, the pressure of the removal of subsidy on households , the tumbling Naira and its effect on the Economy, Education, Healthcare and other sectors are dark moments for most Nigerians to comprehend.
But no matter what the situation is, Christmas is Christmas .Its celebration can either be high or low.but the fact remains that it is Christmas. The season is Special. The reason Divine .
At a time of difficulty as the situation in the country presents,the reason for the birth of Jesus is a reminder that God is with us. As faithful can not go to Bethlehem now to see the relics of the birth place,,at least the fundamental reality of the birth of Jesus in the manger provides an avenue for soul lifting.
Songwriters -Carl Mueller ,James R. Murray, and William J. Kirkpatrick
Merry Christmas.
