It’s Christmas tomorrow and, like any other Christmas, it is time to take a short break from the daily routine and celebrate the day with family and friends.

Many of our homes are decorated with cribs and Christmas trees, while many of our more important roads have been decorated since the last week of October, perhaps a little bit too early. Today is the last day one can buy Christmas gifts, and shops will stay open later than usual to allow for those who leave it to the last minute to do their Christmas shopping.

This is part of tradition, one that has commercialised Christmas and reduced its real and true meaning. But Christmas it is, a special time of the year, and it is hoped that this year it will make a difference in our lives.

That Christmas will this year fall on a Sunday will by no means reduce the Christmas spirit, especially since many have taken vacation leave – some because their company closes down between Christmas and the New Year, and others because they left the last few days they are allotted for this special time.

Many families will re-unite – perhaps for the first time since last Christmas – and pass the day together, exchanging gifts and news. Others will not be that fortunate, as family members may be living abroad; while for other families it may be a different Christmas because they lost a loved one during the course of the year.

Most of all, Christmas is the time of the year children enjoy the most, and their presence may re-ignite the Christmas feeling many adults would have lost through time. Seeing their eyes sparkle as they open their presents is enough for their older relatives and friends to rediscover the joy they felt, as children, when they were the ones to wait for midnight to strike and “Santa Claus” to arrive with the gifts.

The more spiritual among us call upon the rest to open their hearts to Jesus Christ, saying that 25 December is no day like the rest, and should not just be considered as just a day to make merry.

It is the day when the Church celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, in a cold stable in Bethlehem.

And the poor and humble way Jesus was born ought to make us reflect on our lives, and perhaps spare a thought to others who may not have been that lucky. So, when Monday comes and the yearly Strina fund-raising activity is held – an event that is one of the few that unites us as a country – we should all do our best to help others in need. Who knows, maybe one day we will need help too.

The Malta Independent wishes all its readers a wonderful Christmas.