Mental revolution of Christmas Aloys Budi Purnomo  ;   A diocesan priest; Chief of the Commission for Interfaith Affairs at the Archdiocese of Semarang

JAKARTA POST,  24 Desember 2014

                                                                                                                       

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has announced his policy platform known as a mental revolution for this country. To some extent, Christmas provides a foundation for mental revolution, not only from psychological but also moral and spiritual points of view. Questions that immediately arise therefore are how do we understand Christmas and what has it got to do with the mental revolution that we are really looking for? In the context of our society, which is characterized by rampant poverty and sometimes violence, what can we do to realize the mental revolution of Christmas? Poverty remains a challenge which the nation has been unable to address. It can be found anywhere in the country. No doubt poverty is a result of the shape of our economy, our political structure that is corrupt and consumerism which is prevalent in our society. For sure we need to promote a mental revolution as our paradigm of our lives. Then we have to ask, we must change our mentality and struggle for mental revolution from what? First of all, we have to engage in mental revolution from structural sins. Theologically, sins refer not as to a specific culpable action of individuals, but to a state of alienation and disorientation, a condition in which things are not in harmony with God. It is a condition in which the human race is not really responding to what they are created for. In such a condition, we need to promote the mental revolution of Christmas that changes our attitudes from the way of darkness to the way of light, from the way of death to the way of life. The way of darkness and death materializes in confusion, fear, bad relations in society, killings, oppression, hatred and terror. On the contrary, the way of light and life is marked by stability. It is a way of friendship and mutual support, of community and caring for others. It’s also a way of fostering the life of those who are fragile and vulnerable. It is a great mental revolution when we can uphold mutual respect and understanding that our society lived in harmony. Everybody shares resources with those in need that in our communities none should go hungry and thirsty. We live caring for each other believing that nobody is more important than anybody else. Our society is becoming our community when we go beyond ethnic or ideology rivalries, social classes, economic oppression as well as deprivation. Unfortunately, it is not easy to make the dream come true because of the sinful structures which prevail in our society. Some people become oppressed, impoverished and excluded. All of these do not run themselves. It may be very difficult and complicated to be solved, so we need a mental revolution. When we are talking about the mental revolution of Christmas, we are talking about being set free from sinful structures. The new insight of the mental revolution of Christmas is that there is the possibility of not only the transformation of individuals but also the transformation of the society. Its transformation is in the way we relate to one another and, therefore, is it also a transformation of the structure of our society. The mental revolution of Christmas is a kind of repentance which involves not only the admission of guilt, but also a willingness to change. It doesn’t look so much to the past but it also looks to the future, to what we do more in harmony. For the Christians, the person of Jesus Christ is the answer. We believe that the joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter him. Those who accept his offer of redemption are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. We believe that with Jesus Christ joy is constantly born anew. ●