Last Saturday evening, on the first Vigil of this year’s Advent season, Pope Benedict XVI offered prayers as a “Vigil for All Nascent Human Life”.

With Advent we Christians begin our preparations for Christmas, a central Feast of our faith.

Today, Western society wants to forget its Christian roots, as if this fact were something to be ashamed of, as if this part of human history dishonors man. Slowly slowly we are entering into a post-Christian era. This is done in a very subtle and systematic way: first attempting to render Christian signs and symbols to just signs of European culture, emptying them of their religious and spiritual meaning; then, with the excuse of religious tolerance, not to offend people of other faiths, all effort is employed to ban the image of Christ, even His image of a Baby in a manger, from the public sphere.

It is a pity that not even Christians themselves, and sincere religious people of other faiths are realising the disguised threat to human life. To do away with the idea of “god”, whatever his actual name or face, is the most dangerous thing that can happen to humanity. Because, that is not done just to create a psychological and spiritual vacuum in man, but to replace “god” with man. That is disasterous for humanity.

We are already witnessing a new form of holocust, on a far greater scale than that we have seen happening in the concentration camps; yet, in a very polite, acceptable way, even within a legal framework! 50 million abartions a year! 300,000 children being trained and used as soldiers in wars! Not to mention the widespread mentality against child bearing and child educating.

How can we be so drunk or sleepy not to realise that those who are trying to convince us to grow up and send “god” away, will have nothing to keep them, no conscience, from claiming our lives?! How can there be any religious group, of whatever faith, so alienated from the spirit of the age, not to realise that those who do not care of one “god”, will never care of any other “god”?!

In this context, we celebrate Christmas. Not to affirm ourselves and our religious believes. But to proclaim in a new way the Good News that man of today has forgot; has received in a distorted way; or has not yet heard so clearly.

The Good News is that God is not the enemy of man. God is not against all of man’s endeavors. God is the giver of life; He is the greatest garantor of human life. So much so, that He became man in the womb of a woman. The God we proclaim in Christmas is the God who came to be with us, to accompany man in all his struggles, in all his successes and all his fears and failures.

Advent is a season of waiting with Mary in her pregnancy. The new life is not seen, but believed and expected. However, our faith and waiting are not futile. We feel it coming, we already experience its presence. Not all the signs and effects of pregnancy are nice and beautiful. Sometimes they are inconvinient and painful. But even those signs fill us with hope.

Fr Paul Fenech