Christmas seems to have become a time of major spending and indebtedness. What is left of the original meaning of this celebration? Wishes, for sure, gifts, family visits and even some renewed generosity towards the economically disadvantaged. This is all very nice, very human and very touching when it is heartfelt and not seen as a chore.

Nevertheless, Christmas seems to me to be linked to another dimension of today’s way of living. Haven’t we become nomads, campers? In fact, man has been a nomad all his life! However, this nomadic lifestyle inherent to our human condition has discovered new roads in a globalizing world that is multiplying the means and places of communication.

Whenever I find myself in an international airport, I am fascinated by these crowds arriving from or leaving for exotic destinations with names that are unknown to me. Their faces, their clothing tell me these are people with distinct cultures arriving in our country or returning to their own. I also think of these migrants who are immigrants, refugees, tourists, merchants, and who else? The « human caravan » is still on the move, and contemporary means are fast-tracking its migrations of all kinds.

And what about our young people? Many of them spend time doing humanitarian work in various countries of the world. They travel across continents that their parents have not even thought of. Think of the major youth rallies and marches during the World Youth Days, in countries like the Philippines, Germany, the United States, Canada and, soon, Spain. They gather in millions and, through their e-mail network, develop a tightly-knit web circling our planet.

And I think of this phenomenon of renewed pilgrimages, these long walks dating from time immemorial. I see people leaving for Compostelle regularly, while others are involved in shorter journeys, drawn mysteriously, as if searching for a way yet to be discovered, to their heart or to their neighbour’s.

Today’s human being is looking as often, if not more, for a meaning to his fate and yearning for reasons to live. And I consider that Christmas does offer profound intuitions to all of us walkers and searchers.

In our Holy Scriptures, God is forever expressing himself through movement. He comes constantly searching for someone, walking with him, sharing his innermost feelings and secrets. Following through on this impulse, He is born, humble and poor, in a manger, to walk closely and without any false pretence with this caravan of ours. Involving himself in the movement marking our intimate and universal history, he invites us to walk with him.

The son of a young couple on a trip, He is born in a manger, the only suitable accommodation that the community could provide. Shepherds, these forever marginalized nomads, feel attracted to Him. They receive from the Child unexpected vitality, an unusual lust for life, a new feeling of solidarity with those they meet along the way. And then came these magi, these thinkers who, to unravel the enigma of their life as seen in a star, went on their way. They are searching. After many wanderings and errors, they come upon the Child and his mother and feel a great joy. They return home, completely transformed. Deep down in their heart, they feel this overwhelming tenderness towards humanity and their own fate. For them also, this meeting will draw them to others, towards those out there who do not know that they are loved. And then the Child in turn will become a refugee, driven away by the jealousy of the little king.

At Christmas, God pitches his tent in our campground. At Christmas, Jesus joins us to show us that there exists a world other than that of mistrust, fear, hate, war, self-interest, shameless exploitation of the wealth in nature and humanity. And I know young people and adults who, in their wanderings, their hurts and their searches, meet the One who changes their lives and makes them happy nomads who radiate love around them.

I like one of Robert Lebel’s songs, where he puts the message of Christmas into words and music so well: « Peuple de pèlerins poursuis ton voyage plus loin que l’incertain et que les mirages! Le monde est un chemin, la terre, un passage! Passe en donnant la main, l’Amour et le pain! » (Nation of pilgrims, continue on your trip, beyond what is uncertain and beyond the mirages! The world is a road, the earth, a passage. Lend a helping hand, give love and give food to the needy!)

Merry Christmas 2009 and may 2010 change our wanderings into joy!