The market plays a significant role in making festivals global. Due to market forces, Christmas has evolved into a festival celebrated by people of various religions across many countries. Today, more than Jesus—the central figure of Christmas—Santa Claus is widely recognised, especially by children. Many children, even those from non-Christian communities, urge their parents to buy Santa Claus caps. According to Forbes, American retailers can expect to generate $1 trillion in Christmas sales, accounting for one-quarter of their annual profits.

In India, many churches hold month-long Christmas celebrations featuring carols and nativity cribs. Numerous parishes organise carol-singing and crib-making competitions, rewarding winners with prizes. Since 2013, the Diocese of Thrissur in Kerala has organised a grand event called Buon Natale (Merry Christmas) to mark the occasion. As reported by Matters India, the 2023 event featured 15,000 participants dressed as Santa Claus and was witnessed by 500,000 people of various faiths. Dancers from 90 parishes participated in the celebration.

Amid these festivities, the core message of Christmas often gets overlooked. This is not unique to Christmas but is true for other religious festivals like Diwali, Eid, and Guru Nanak Jayanti. In some cases, public celebrations of religious festivals, accompanied by processions, even lead to communal riots in India.

The essence of Christmas lies in its message: God became human in the person of Jesus to demonstrate, through His example and teachings, how humans can live authentically, finding meaning, peace, and happiness even in the face of adversity and suffering.

Interestingly, the concept of divine incarnation is found not only in Christianity but also in Hinduism. In the Bhagavad Gita (4:7-8), Krishna declares: "Whenever and wherever there is a decline in righteousness, O descendant of Bharata, and an increase in unrighteousness, at that time I manifest Myself. To protect the virtuous, destroy the wicked, and reestablish dharma, I appear age after age." Krishna is considered an avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu, sent to restore dharma.

The Bible teaches that God created humans in His "image and likeness" (Genesis 1:26). Some Biblical scholars interpret this to mean that humans share in God's freedom and creativity, possessing many divine qualities. At the same time, the Bible also speaks of human fallibility through the story of Adam and Eve. This story underscores the duality within human nature: while humans possess divine qualities, they also harbour animalistic instincts like greed, selfishness, revenge, and violence. As the saying goes, "Man is indeed God, but he is also a monkey."

Christian tradition holds that Jesus is the Saviour who redeemed humanity from its sinful state through His teachings and sacrificial death on the cross. Jesus' life and teachings provide a roadmap for overcoming human flaws and becoming authentically human, akin to Adam and Eve, before their fall.

The central teaching of Jesus is love—love for God and love for others. Jesus emphasised that God is present in humanity, as illustrated in the parable of the Last Judgment, where the Lord says: "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40).

Similarly, the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus conveys that neglecting the needy leads to dire consequences (Luke 16:19-31).
Mahatma Gandhi admired Jesus' revolutionary law of love, contrasting with the Mosaic law of "an eye for an eye." Gandhi interpreted Jesus' teaching as calling for readiness to endure two blows for one received and to walk two miles when asked to walk one.

Another crucial teaching of Jesus is forgiveness and reconciliation. Genuine love cannot exist without forgiveness. Through His parables and His prayer for His tormentors while on the cross—"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34)—Jesus highlighted the transformative power of forgiveness. Inspired by Jesus, Gandhi developed his principle of non-violence, asserting, "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."

Hatred and the refusal to forgive have fuelled wars throughout history. The preamble of UNESCO rightly observes, "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed." As conflicts wreak havoc in Ukraine, Palestine, and Lebanon, Christmas 2024 calls on world leaders to end the madness of war.

Compassion and sharing are also integral to Jesus' message. His healing miracles and the feeding of the 5,000 reflect His deep compassion. Jesus encouraged generosity, urging people to emulate God's perfection in forgiving, loving, and caring for others: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).

Today, global hunger and homelessness are not due to a lack of resources but to human greed and the unwillingness to share. When 40.1% of global wealth is held by the top 1%, while the bottom 50% own only 3%, it is evident that greed and inequality prevail. Christmas 2024 challenges people of all faiths to overcome greed and share generously with the marginalised.

The message of Christmas to every human being on this planet is that God has become human in the person of Jesus, and every human being is raised to the level of Divine. Hence, one has to see God in every human person irrespective of his/her religion, culture, race, gender, nationality, etc. Let the celebration of Christmas inspire all people, particularly the followers of Jesus, to transcend their lower identities of religion, caste, race, language, etc. and experience the highest identities of humanness and the Divine presence in all human beings. Then, people of all nations and societies will experience the whole universe as one family (vasudhaiva kutumbakam).

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, only a few people who can be counted on fingers could recognise a messiah in child Jesus. Mary and Joseph already knew the child was destined to be the Messiah. A group of simple shepherds could see the Messiah in the child born in a manger in Bethlehem, and they came and paid their homage to the child Jesus. Three Wise Men, the Magi, came from the East and paid homage to Jesus after his birth. On the contrary, King Herod the Great, obsessed with power, saw Jesus as a challenger to his authority and, hence, a threat to him. As he was not able to identify child Jesus, he resorted to a heinous crime by ordering the execution of all male children under the age of two in and around Bethlehem.

The birth narrative highlights that to grasp the way of Jesus, one must possess simplicity and openness without prejudice like the shepherds, an intense desire to search for and embrace truth, as the three wise men from the East did, and freedom from obsession with power.

To be authentically human, one must cultivate love, overcome selfishness and ego, embrace forgiveness and reconciliation, and practice compassion and generosity. Do the various Christmas rituals, prayers and celebrations motivate people to undergo this kind of transformation?