So this is Christmas…

So it was my first Christmas on a different continent let alone away from home. The materialistic side of Christmas was almost completely absent, save all the people who kept coming up to me and asking for their Christmas present, which is no different than usual. Life was not visibly different in Sekondi-Takoradi…well I will take that back. On New Year’s Eve day I ventured into Takoradi town with Fr. Bob and John, our security man aka ABO!, and the place was more congested than I have ever seen. Where once was a sidewalk there were hundreds of market women with their goods spread out all over. The police men that used to guide traffic were nowhere to be seen.

There were people yelling and shouting all around. There were tourists walking through looking confused and a little anxious. Basically it was a chaotic scene with the occasional shop selling Christmas garland, which was a nice sight to see. Other than that life went on in Ghana as normal. People have to work to live. Most families cannot afford gifts for each other, but many do get together and have a special meal.

It wasn’t until after we finished decorating the house in the late afternoon that I began to feel the warm, Holy feeling of Christmas. It was different this time however. Instead of celebrating Christmas the whole month and having all those silly images of Christmas gifts and Santa costumes in my head I was preparing myself for something much more joyous, the birth of our Savior, the birth of my Lord.

I spent a lot of time meditating on the great faith of Mary and Joseph which eventually led me to something wonderful. Why is it that they call Christmas a season of wonder? Think about the obscurity of Mary and Joseph, a poor, humble, young girl and a humble, honest carpenter on the outer rim of the Roman Empire. Two very simple people who knew the fears, frustrations, and pains of life just as we do, but who trusted God always. And God chose them. Obviously there is so much to be expanded upon here, but you see how much wonder can be found around the birth of Christ.

So for Christmas Eve Mass we went to Star of the Sea Cathedral in Takoradi at around 8pm for carols. Fr. Bob sat up close to the altar with the other priests and I found my seat by myself. The choir was wonderful. They sang in Fante and in English, thankfully. I closed my eyes and prayed and the beautiful voices carried me away. On many occasions tears were close ‘cuz believe it or not it was hard being so far away from my closest of loved ones at that time.
Mass began at 10pm and was entirely in Fante except for a portion of the Homily given by Arch-Bishop John Martin Darko. I have been to so many Masses in Fante that I can easily follow along and even say some of the responses, but still you aren’t as connected as you would like to be.

There was a second Mass immediately following our Mass, a Mass at dawn I believe it is called. No one went up for communion so it lasted about 20 minutes. I didn’t understand what was happening at all, but I gathered later that it was part of a very old tradition.

We got out of Mass at around 1 in the morning and after dropping someone off at their home we made our way back to Moreau House. On the way back I watched out my window in silence the people wandering the streets late at night. They were headed in no apparent direction, some may not have been up to anything good. It made me feel somewhat sad.
We turned on BBC radio and listened to a story about Christians in Gaza celebrating Christmas under Hamas.

I spent the remainder of my evening making a couple phone calls and sitting in our chapel with the lights off. The tree that we put in there glows just like our tree did at home, in the US. I hummed “All through the night” and went to sleep.

On Christmas morning, I felt sad. After morning prayer and breakfast we began our journey to Cape Coast for Christmas Mass with the rest of our community. I wrote in my journal a bit and then I fell into a light sleep for a while.

It was during Mass that my spirits began to rise. In fact, through the words of Fr. Bob’s homily and the Eucharist I was even filled with joy. I realized that although I miss my family and friends very much this is no time for sadness.

So after Mass, renewed, I joined everyone at our big Christmas feast. We were all very happy and the smiles were endless. I felt at peace.

On the way back home and for the remainder of that Christmas Day I sang my family’s favorite carols and remembered scenes from our favorite Christmas movies. After a long talk with my family I ended my Christmas Day in the chapel…this time it was “Silent Night”.
Merry Christmas to all! And may God bless you in the New Year!