Still at the beginning of this Millennium, in our Western world, the month of December is a moment at which social, economic and cultural contrasts take on an even more expressive meaning.

Alongside the Christian calendar, in which there is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, with all that this signifies from the religious point of view, there has been a progressive imposing of the image of Father Christmas, generalized throughout the Anglo-Saxon world. The symbolic act of the birth of Jesus and of the gift this meant for men, shown for children in the gifts He offered, has been replaced somewhat by the mysticism associated to the Santa Claus who gives presents to the poor. Thus our consumer society’s appropriating of the act of giving presents and forgetting what is associated to it was only a small step.

Today, in the month of December, one tends to forget what was at the origin of these traditions and feasts, one forgets the religious, spiritual and human aspects, and pays more attention to the material element, the often excessive and unnecessary consumerism, confusing being with having, deepening and worsening the contrasts that surround us.

Fortunately, solidarity with and respect for others, and love for one’s fellow man are not yet vain words. There are many initiatives promoted by non-government organisations, by private and public institutions and by citizens who are mobilised around simple ideas, such as the Food Bank Against Hunger, in which the Faculty of Medicine and its collaborators have participated actively, which rehabilitate the spirit of Christmas and above all allow Christmas to always be what man wishes it to be, as the poet used to say.

Luís Pereira
Coordinating Secretary | Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon