Many worrying processes are taking place in the world, war, energy crisis, inflation. What can we be filled with, how can we live Christmas in a dignified way?
– Christmas is our Lord Jesus Christ's confession of love for humanity, it is his confession of faith. There were difficulties even 2000 years ago. Father Menei also told his son that people are constantly at war, giving and taking each other, so he sent Jesus Christ among us, who brought us the commandment of love. Jesus Christ believes in us, trusts us! He dared to come among us alone. If God believes in man so much, man would be able to pull himself together, we need to believe in ourselves and our fellow human beings. Christmas is a celebration of faith, of the Incarnation. Kenosis, Jesus emptied himself, became one of us.
He often mentions that it's not okay that Christmas comes with a spending spree.
- It would be nice if the holiday of love was not about that, but about being incarnate to my wife, husband, and child, to be approachable by my mother, to be available to my friends. Jesus is available to the shepherds, to the sages of the east, he can be addressed. How nice it would be if we could consciously incarnate and become available to our loved ones. Jesus can be addressed, is available and not only eight hours a day! He has never said that he cannot reach us, because, for example, he has a heavenly assembly with the archangel St. Michael. It was between us! Since we are all made in the image and likeness of God, we should act in the same way.
How?
- I encourage everyone to take Christianity seriously, it is good to be good and clean. I recommend everyone to gift themselves with good deeds. Come to us, we welcome you, we will have a five-day retreat after the holiday. Happiness is not too far away, it is also there in the children's home. Collect the treasures of good deeds, they will not be eaten by rust or moth. We also go out to the station with our children at this time and offer hot tea and cakes to the homeless. Let's pay attention to the main thing during the holidays! Let's give each other a nice experience. In such cases, I always take our children to the mountains, we go sledding and play snowballs. No matter how poor I may be, I can be enriched by an experience spent together. We try to treat each other with a game of chess, a card party, jokes, good humor, fun, and joy.
People spent a significant part of their time shopping during the holiday preparations.
- The essence of Christmas is not given by material possessions, the child does not need you to bring home a cartload of limo, but to be there, talk to him, to be embodied. The most beautiful gift is presence. Christ didn't bring heavenly souvenirs either, and Mary would certainly have needed a blender, Saint Joseph and a chainsaw, the neighbors would have been envious of them. Jesus did not bring limes, he himself was the gift. It would be nice if we ourselves became a gift to each other.
We live in the age of crises. What do you think about the present?
"We are not preparing for the end of the world." Even if there will be difficult days, weeks and months, the Good Lord has not turned his back on us. This is a period of purification, a period of stillness. The truly valuable things are now separated from the unimportant. What is important in our lives, what makes a person human, the economic crisis affecting our countries cannot take it away from us. Let's choose the golden mean! Let's be honest, we wasted a lot. Many people oversize their house, putting more on their plate than they can consume. This economic crisis can help us assess what we realistically need. God does not want us to be miserable, but neither does he want us to waste the future of our children. If there wasn't a crisis, we wouldn't turn on a single light bulb ourselves, but we must teach us to save so that our children inherit a sustainable world.
Can we preserve our national identity?
- Wherever I go to give a lecture in America, Asia, Australia, where Hungarians live, I see that God has written so deeply in us the love for the native land, the mother tongue and blood relatives that it cannot be plucked out or erased.
The full interview HERE .
Cover image source: csalad.hu
