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Watching the state of the world

Gerald Hall should be commended for reminding us of the true significance of Christmas

Gerald Hall should be commended for reminding us of the true significance of Christmas, but his interpretation in a recent letter to the editor of Pope Francis’ Christmas message from the Basilica di Santa Maria was a bit shortsighted to say the least.

When Christ admonished the money handlers for their misuse of the temple, was He demeaning the sanctity of the temple? It was in copying Christ’s example that we find Pope Francis penchant for teachable moments.

The dictionary definition of charade is: absurd pretense intended to create a pleasant or respectable appearance. I do not hear the Pope calling the beautiful feast of the birth of Christ a “charade,” but rather I hear him pointing out to all that we need to go deeper than the absurd pretense this world currently offers.

Hall should visit Zenit.org for the complete homilies of Pope Francis. There he will find a humble servant promoting Christ’s birth as “the light which has come to illumine our lives so often beset by the darkness of sin,” sentiments no doubt inspired by Christ himself, looking down from heaven at the state of the world.

John ChambersParksville