“Merry Christmas!” we exclaimed to our friends in Congo. They smiled but did not say Merry Christmas back. Big smiles stared back. So we asked, how does one translate the greeting, “Merry Christmas” into your language, into Lingala? “We cannot translate this for you,” noted the pastors. We do not greet each other with this saying so we have no translation. “Whatever do you mean?” I thought. I assumed all Christians around the world greeted each other with the celebratory, “Merry Christmas!” Isn’t this the universal Christian salutation at Christmas time? “When we greet each other,” noted the Congolese pastor, we say “Yesu Aboni” which means “Jesus is born!”
Jesus is born! What a great greeting! Which then, of course, made me wonder what I have been declaring all these years each time I declared my bright and cheerful “Merry Christmas.” What, exactly, have I been saying?
According to my dictionary, “merry” means “cheerful, lively characterized by festivity and rejoicing.” The word, “Christmas,” comes from an Old English word “Christes Maesse” dating back to 1038. Eventually it became “Christes Messe,” then “Christmas.” All of these terms refer to the same reality, the Mass of Christ, that is, the Catholic Mass celebrated in honor of Jesus. Technically speaking, when we are saying “Merry Christmas” we are praying our recipient may participate in a joyous, festive Catholic mass. Is this what I have meant to say each time I greeted someone? Not quite. So maybe this year I will adopt the Congolese salutation for Christmas. Yesu Aboni! Jesus is born!
From all of us at PCP, our deepest blessings to you for the Christmas season.
Yesu Aboni!
Meritt
To learn more about how our Congolese friends celebrate Christmas, click here.
"I can't imagine living in a world without healthcare or showing up to my local healthcare provider to find that the lights don't work and that they are out of medicine. However, this is sadly the reality for many of our Congolese brothers and sisters. But together we change that. That can become history instead of reality. Let's pull together and change their future."
Pastor Steve Bunyard
Rolling Hills Covenant Church
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