This is the article which was published by The Himalayan Times (in two parts) on Dec 25 & 26, 2008. This is original one. Some parts of it was edited by the editor of the paper. THT is the English Daily from Kathmandu Nepal.

Celebrating Christmas

On 25th of December this year Nepal for the first time in its history will be officially celebrating Christmas . With her, over 1,900,000,000 Christians of various sects and denominations from all over the world celebrate the birth day of their God – Jesus Christ. Among these are: Fanatics, Orthodox, Moderates and the Name-Sakes.

Who exactly was this Jesus Christ? The answer is quite a challenging one because people of his time called him with different names: Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Joseph the Carpenter, Friend of the Poor, Friend of the Sinners, Enemy of the Romans, Black Sheep of the Jews, The Messiah, The Son of God, The Risen Lord, Jesus Christ to name a few. His death was one of the heinous acts ever recorded in the history of the world. He was tortured by his own clan and died as an outlaw, crucified between two other outlaws. And yet his impact in the world history is so great that over 33% of the world believe him as their God.

Jesus himself was at times puzzled about his identity and asked his disciples: Who do the people think that I am? The disciples themselves were not sure about what they thought about him because he was so extraordinary.

There are many explanations given to the meaning and purpose of Jesus Christ’s birth. St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order contemplates on the birth of Jesus in this way. According to his vision, God the Father looks down from heaven and he is sad and heart-broken to see the Earth, His most beloved creation being slowly destroyed by sin. He sees disorder everywhere. Greed, lust and violence have become the order of the day. He, then, decides to send his only son, Jesus to put order in the world with His message of love and forgiveness - to bring peace and harmony in the hearts of men and women of goodwill. The Bible says: ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ (John 3: 16). The similar idea is found in the Bhagwad Gita when the Lord Krishna says to Arjuna: ‘Whenever Dharma withers away and Adharma prevails, I generate myself; for the protection of the good, for the destruction of the evil-doers, for the restoration of Dharma I come into being age after age.’ (Bhagawat Gita 4: 7-8).

The central message of Jesus is the establishment of the Kingdom of God ( Hindu equivalent of Ram Rajya). He began his work by declaring: ‘The Kingdom of God is near. Turn away from your sins and believe in the Good News’ (Mathew: 1:4). The only prayer he taught is called the Lord’s Prayer whose opening words are: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, holy be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is heaven….’ Jesus taught us to call God the Father - Daddy – Buba and thus brought God down from heaven in our midst. By declaring and introducing God as our daddy (Buba) he has made us children of one Father.

The vision and mission of Jesus therefore was to bring God’s Kingdom on earth and make all people children of one Father. The qualities of God’s Kingdom are: Love, Forgiveness, Service, Peace and Reconciliation. Hence every Christian is called to transform this world to a better place – more just and humane.

If Jesus were to roam the streets of Kathmandu these days looking at the Christmas decoration items displayed at various departmental stores and supermarkets and read about Christmas sales and entertainment programs advertised in newspapers, what would he think and feel? And if he were to be invited to give a Christmas message to Nepal what would his message be.? There is no doubt his message would be something like this:

My children, remember, God has no boundary. My birth in Palestine was just a historical event. I could have been born anywhere – even in Nepal like my friend Buddha was born. Therefore, every Nepali who believes that I am God, should try to seek and find me in his/her soil, in his/her culture and heritage. Anyone of you who do not respect the beautiful culture of your country is not worthy to be my disciple and go against the spirit of my Good News and will never contribute to the vision of my Father – establishment of the Kingdom of God. Do not waste too much time decorating your homes and partying. I do not need a palatial place to stay as I was born in a cowshed and never owned a house. What I want from you is to decorate your hearts and invite me to stay there. This is best done when you feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless and forgive those who have hurt you. 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers (sisters) of mine, you did for me.' (Mathew 25:40)

Josh B Niraula