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From the Editor

Dear JCTR Bulletin Readers:

Towards the very end of each year, 25 December, we celebrate Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  A couple of significant questions can be asked surrounding this event:  What does this birth teach us?  Why should we celebrate the birth of Jesus?  These questions have been posed many times and are usually themes of discussion during the period of Christmas.  Undoubtedly, they will come up again for discussion, especially among readers of our JCTR Bulletin.

Responses to these questions have usually been wide-ranging.  Truly speaking, the birth of Jesus means and implies a lot for us Christians.  Particularly significant is that through Jesus Christ we can have the way to God.  As we recall through the teaching of the Bible, Jesus explicitly told us during the time he walked the earth, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). 

Important too is the fact that there are a myriad of issues upon which we draw the teachings of Jesus.  One of these specific issues is the question of social justice.  Jesus Christ himself, the lead Author, Architect, Proponent, etc., of social justice challenged a lot of unjust social structures, spoke the truth, spoke against evil, etc.  For he is light and truth.  I am reminded of a particular expression found in one of the articles in this issue of the Bulletin:  “Truth? What is that?” said Pontius Pilate, that archetype of a cynical man of power, in his confrontation with Christ, the voice of truth.  Since that confrontation, brute power and defenceless truth have clashed countless times.

Have we examined our social structures in light of what Jesus taught us, stood for, say in the field of education, health, the prevailing problem of hunger in Malawi, Zambia and the rest of Southern Africa?  Admittedly, one of the greatest disappointments that has starkly characterised the human race today is the failure to have a sense of empathy translated into action when dealing with a lot of difficulties of wide and deep deprivation, emotional anguish, HIV/AIDS, etc., confronting many of our disadvantaged sisters and brothers in their daily lives.  I can imagine what Jesus would have done in our situation today. Complete letter

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