Let’s immediately address the big elephant in the room when it comes to celebrating Christmas at the end of this year. How do we keep ourselves safe from the pandemic, whilst we happily celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ during Christmas mass?

Unfortunately, we cannot all be present in the church as a community this year to celebrate Christmas. However, that does not mean that we should still not give our best efforts. Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, but there is a deeper and more symbolic reason why Christmas is just more than just the birth of Christ. Jesus Christ was sent by God to save mankind from darkness. Jesus was born at a time when ignorance and discrimination thrived, hatred and hypocrisy superseded kindness and thoughtfulness. The leaders at the time such as Herod and Caiaphas were arrogant and wicked. Morality and idealism were neglected. In the midst of these impurities and darkness, Jesus Christ was born and devoted his life to transform the lives of the people. He showed and gave mankind a new spiritual ideal, an ideal that was closely intertwined with the true word and will of God. As a result of this transformative change; light began to shine once more in the hearts of man and love for humanity blossomed once more. This is what we Christians are truly celebrating, when we celebrate the birth of our saviour. We are also remembering that no matter how much chaos and darkness the world seems to be plunged in (as is the case with the Covid-19 pandemic), God will not forget us and will deliver his children from all the perils the world is currently facing. So, we need not give up hope and fall into despair. This is why as Christians we must try our best to be part of the ceremonial mass (in spite of Covid-19), to keep that hope and trust in God burning brightly.

If Christmas mass was to be live streamed, then the people that are streaming the Christmas mass can still spiritually support everyone present in the church. We can all sing along to the hymns and the recitals whilst watching the live stream. What could even be better is if the people who are live streaming the Christmas mass come together on a video call together as a church community and sing the hymns and say the recitals together as a virtual community in sync with the live stream.

Celebrating Christmas mass this year will be different with slight adjustments being made here and there. But, hasn’t Christmas always been what you make out of it? Maximum effort usually equates to maximum reward.