«The real Christmas only happens when I go looking for others, when I include them in my party and in my life. A Christmas turned inward, it doesn't make sense, it's a contradiction», believes Dom Manuel Quintas.
The Bishop of Algarve was the guest of this week before Christmas on the radio program «Impressões», organized jointly by the Sul Informação and by Rádio Universitária do Algarve and left an appeal to the Algarve during this festive season.
“My first call for Christmas is exactly that people look for the essentials of Christmas and life. And the essence of Christmas is very simple: what we celebrate is a God who comes to live with us, who becomes a child, who becomes a boy, who becomes one of us," he said.
Looking for the essentials in life, in the view of Dom Manuel Quintas, it makes a reflection «on the family level, on options, on life projects and even on the level of expenses,
of consumerism”.
“One of the beneficial effects of the crisis we are experiencing is that it helps us to look for the essentials in everything in life and also the essentials of Christmas. For example, in exchanging gifts, I think that in the past there was a very thoughtless consumerism. Today, perhaps people can achieve the same goal by being creative, in the way they express this feeling of brotherhood, closeness and friendship», considered the Bishop of Algarve.
“Crises are always times of growth, of purification of motivations, of deepening the essential elements of life. I think this crisis can help us in this search», he believes.
“Another important aspect at this point is to live life with hope. To live Christmas fully, it has to be with hope. It is this strength that we who have faith receive from the certainty that Christ walks with us, is in our midst and helps us to face the difficulties and to share how much or how little we have with those who have less than us», continued Dom Manuel Thursdays.
"Finally, I appeal to solidarity and sharing Christmas with others and for others," he concluded.
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