Season of Good Will

GOOD WILL

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Vol. XVI × No. 11

DECEMBER 2004

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by Corrado De Robertis

Christmas is often also called the season of Good Will. It is not by chance, I think, that the word Good is close enough to “God”, who is ultimately good and willing to the point of deciding to set up His dwelling among us common mortals - an act of good will that actually describes fully the meaning of good will itself: deciding to be-with, make common cause, live in solidarity.

At the beginning of this third millennium the world is very different from when Christ was born, and the expectations of a new era of understanding and peace have been overshadowed by heinous acts of violence and terrorism. Since September 11, 2001, a chain of death and destruction has been deeply wounding nations and people. Fear and insecurity appear to be the dominant emotions of the day.

“The world needs peace,” declared Pope John Paul to an inter-religious meeting held recently in Milan, Italy on dialogue and peace. “Is the world giving up its hope for peace?” he asked. “It appears as if the world is getting used to violence and bloodshed… We need to break the deadly chains that hold captive and cause too many parts of the planet to bleed.”

Christmas is definitely the occasion to remind us to exercise good will to break the chains of hatred and division as the way to welcome the ‘prince of peace’ who is truly ‘our peace’. There cannot be a significant celebration of the birth of Christ, if not accompanied by a genuine effort on the part of us all to make peace possible and work at it in all our places and professions. We cannot allow fear to overwhelm us or cause us to withdraw into selfish acquiescence and indifference.

We all would like to be able to say with more certainty “happy new year”. No effort should be spared to fight for peace - not with weapons or military divisions, but with sincere good will to be with others, as we become people of solidarity.

This is not an impossible task: this month’s WM Special (see pages 20-25) offers encouragement and guidelines on how to foster a culture of peace. Surely this Christmas season we’ll need to contribute more decisively to the globalization of peace, well mirroring the tangible globalization of God’s presence and solidarity with us which began in the little town of Bethlehem about 2004 years ago.

Wishing you a very blessed Christmas!