Laudato Voices | Christmas Reflection | 21st Dec, 2025

This Christmas, we must reject the idea that joy is something to be bought, wasted, or discarded. We must reject celebrations that neglect the poor, harm the earth, or ignore the needs of creation. Keeping in mind that the Child to be born in Bethlehem entered with vulnerability, not comfort. He was laid in a manger, dependent on the earth, and welcomed by shepherds rather than consumers.

The birth of Christ is God’s affirmation to the world, and it also challenges us.

Pope Francis reminds us in Laudato Si’ that. “The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth” (Laudato Si’, 21). Since Christ brought joy to the world, we must keep the flame burning and build homes, communities, and hearts where joy, peace, and unity can thrive.

As we shall see at Christmas, many will proclaim peace and pray for peace on earth, but we need to do more by living the peace we proclaim and by praying for God’s Creation and for the people who experience little peace. Wars are raging in some parts of our world, Forests are being cut down or burning, lakes and rivers are being filled with plastic, and the poorest are suffering most. Our hope is that, as the Prince of Peace is born, we must persist in conflict resolution through dialogue, both with each other and with the earth that sustains us.

The Church teaches that caring for creation is not optional.

“Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue” (Laudato Si’, 217). Long before this, the Church affirmed that creation is a gift meant for all. Gaudium et Spes teaches that. “God intended the earth and all that it contains for the use of every human being and people” (GS, 69). Exploiting the earth without care denies others, especially future generations, their share in God’s gift.

The Child in the manger offers a different example. Jesus enters the world quietly and humbly, without excess. His birth rejects greed, domination, and waste, calling us to simplicity, gratitude, and responsibility. This Christmas, may we reject the following: Indifference to environmental harm, a peace that ignores justice, and a faith that praises the Creator while harming creation. Instead, we choose a joy that safeguards life. A peace that restores both people and the planet. A faith that recognizes the newborn Christ in the world’s fragile beauty.

As Laudato Si’ reminds us,

“Everything is connected” (LS, 91).

To welcome Christ is to care for God’s Creation. St. Joseph, the humble and just man, exemplified it so well when, in his profession as a carpenter, he welcomed Jesus, a new creation, in a manger. a sacred space that communicates humility, connection with welcome creation. To celebrate Christmas is to care for the world He came to save. Let us express our joy by caring for creation. Joy to the world, through our actions this Christmas and beyond. Peace be with u all