In the Peace Column of the Catholic Peace Weekly, the journalist reflects on the way we celebrate Christmas.
As the years go by, the decorations and lights that once helped us
prepare for Christmas are becoming less of a sign of anticipation and
more of a device to stimulate consumption. They encourage us to buy
things we don't really need. Of
course, a festival should be celebrated as a festival. Preparing gifts
or special meals is not the problem. Joy is meant to be shared. The
problem is what, or rather, who, we put at the center of our joy.
The
one we follow was born poor, lived poor, and died poor. Jesus' poverty
wasn't misery, but rather an attraction. People gathered around him. At
the same time, that poverty was also a condition for becoming a
disciple.
A few months ago, he wrote a column about the "least
popular virtues." If purity is one of them, then poverty or the spirit
of frugality would also be at the top of that list of unpopular virtues.
Today, success is judged by bank account balances, evaluated by
fashionable clothing, and proven by the latest gadgets, travel
frequency, and the number of social media followers. This society
rewards wealth and punishes poverty. The greatest punishment the poor
receive is indifference.
Following Pope Francis, Pope Leo XIV
also continuously revisits this theme. The Pope's recent apostolic
exhortation, "I Have Loved You" (Dilexi te), is not simply a social
message. It is a confession, "I have loved the poor," and a question
posed to us.
Let us look at Jesus again. He came into the world
with nothing, lived by the work of his hands, and left the world without
even a tomb to be buried in. In the past, poverty was often a given
condition of life. However, today, voluntary poverty is not a forced
fate but a path we can choose. This makes it a more difficult, yet
simultaneously more liberating, choice. Nevertheless, there have always
been those within the Church who intentionally chose this path. Their
poverty attracted people because in them, people saw not trendy leaders
or "cool people," but Jesus himself.
What can we do? I would like
to divide this into two aspects: personal poverty and a life dedicated
to serving the poor. First, personal poverty. We live in the midst of
the world. We need clothes, phones, transportation, and food. The
problem is not "need," but "excess." It's about practicing letting go of
things we don't truly need. If our lives are completely filled, where
can God enter? The reason we strive for the spirit of poverty is because
we want to live like Jesus.
Secondly, it's about dedicating
ourselves to the poor. Today, poverty includes those trapped in
loneliness, those struggling with addiction, those who are sick, and
those in prison. The poor are always among us. How we approach them is a
question we must answer in our lives.
Pope Leo XIV, in his
message for the World Day of the Poor, said, "The greatest poverty is
not knowing God." Caring for the poor is not just about sharing material
possessions, but also about proclaiming God. Poverty cannot be solved
with money; it can only be overcome with love. To love our neighbors, we
must first accept God's love.
