Shikrot Mpwi - Sunday Synopsis with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk 

The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Year A – Dec 25, 2016

  Readings: Is 52:7-10; Responsorial Psalm Ps 98:1-6 (R.v.3); Heb1:1-6; Gospel John 1:1-18 or John 1:1-5.9-14.

Theme: Christ Our Light: Lessons Of Christmas From Rural-Africa!

  In Rural-Africa, the excitement of children when light or power supply is restored after it has been interrupted for days or weeks is akin to that joy you feel when Santa Claus knocks at your door on Christmas morning to surprise you with a box of gifts. Perhaps an erstwhile gathering of African kids at the family compound or village square for tales by the moonlight tells the story of light (energy) deficit in Sub-Sahara Africa more.

Drawing from the latest Africa Progress Panel report 2015 titled “People, Power, Planet,” we are told that TWO in every three people in Africa, around 621 million in total, live in darkness – which means that they have no access to electricity. According to the report, the poor spend the most on energy with Africa’s poorest households spending $10/kWh on lighting, or around 20 times the amount spent by high-income households with a connection to the grid. It surmised that on current trends, it will take Africa until 2080 to achieve universal access to light (electricity).

Many families in Nigeria are unable to catch up with the Christmas vibes in terms of watching the nativity story or Christmas Carols on television. Countless Nigerians are also unable to watch or listen to Christmas jingles or advertorials because there is no electricity. Has Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) suddenly become a “kill joy?” Well, friends in Christ, I tell you - not even the darkness of PHCN can kill the joy of Christmas. This season affords us the opportunity to commit our leaders to the care of God so that His light illumines their path that they may work assiduously to turn things around for good in our country.

The scary scenario of the absence of light reveals the misery of a people living in darkness and unfolds the joy that comes with access to light or power supply. As we celebrate Christmas today, we are quickly reminded that the celebrant (Jesus) is the Light of the World. The gospel of John (1:1-18) emphatically states: “In him was life, and the life was the light of the men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Those who often experience darkness or power outages especially in Rural-Africa and third world countries due to poor leadership have some good news – the good news is that the birth of Christ illumines the world – This in turn challenges the super powers of the world to ensure that the shortfall of infrastructure in smaller countries is top priority. That is not all, Christians too, wherever they are, must not leave the task of ensuring justice, development and peace to the United Nations or G-8 countries alone. The Nativity of Christ challenges us to walk the talk by making sure that the light of Christ is felt in people’s lives in such a manner that that it dispels the darkness of secularism, modernism and consumerism in the world. 

We are equally called to be heralds of Christ’s light just as John the Baptist was. Hear the testimony: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.” At Christmas and beyond this season, it is our task to remind everyone that Christ is the light of the world – we must also allow His light to light up our way so that through us, they might give glory to the father (Matthew 5:16).

The  second reading (Hebrews 1:1-6) assures that God spoke through His Son in the last days and gave Him the sacred duty of purifying sins while insisting that we imitate the angels in worshipping Him. This implies that we ought to cast off the works of darkness and put on the amour of light (Romans 13:12). We are called to equate the sadness and gloom we feel when there is no light (power) to a life of sin. Expectedly, the joy of children in Sub-Sahara Africa when power is restored which we earlier referred to should be ours when are reconnected to Christ and disconnected from the darkness of sin. It is the joy for which the prophet Isaiah in the first reading (Is 52:7-10) says, “Together they shall sing for joy.” The joy of Christians at Christmas is, we won’t have to wait for 2080 to achieve universal access to light because Christ Our Light shines 24/7 – Merry Christmas!