22/12/1976,
This Christmas I wanted to share the Christmas message with my non-Christian neighbors beyond Naleba. Armed with illustrated pamphlets about the Christmas story in Hindi, Sog Lingam and I set out from Naleba on the road to Lagalaga 20 miles away. We had a week to call to every house in the settlements on the way. And we travelled in the traditional way of an Indian religious man – we walked.
Everywhere we went we were offered a seat and a cup of tea. In the Indian culture a guest must be welcomed because it is believed, he or she could be God in disguise.
All in the house, and neighbors too, would gather around.
I would begin:
“Do you know the meaning of Christmas?”
“Yes. It is a very sinful day.”
We kill a goat and that’s a sin.
The men drink whiskey and beer. Then they often start fighting. Those are sins too!
Christmas is a very sinful day.
That knocked me off balance – it shocked me!
I explained that sins are committed every day.
But on the first Christmas God sent his Son, Jesus, to save us all from sin and death.
Jesus was born in a poor family in Bethlehem.
Jesus later defeated Satan and brought us new and everlasting life.
No wonder the angels sang of praise and peace that first Christmas.
The Hindu and Muslim villagers listened with rapt attention.
They examined the pictures with interest.
We gave them the Hindi pamphlets and asked them to pray for peace on Christmas day.
Sog Lingam and I would then move on to another house.
The hospitality created a problem for us.You can’t drink too much sweet tea a person. But we couldn’t refuse their hospitality.We solved the problem by asking for water instead of tea.Walking in that heat all day made drinking water easy.Then, at the end of each day we rested our weary legs with a Catholic family.
by Fr. Frank Hoare
