As the world prepares to celebrate the birth of Christ in various degrees of isolation from our neighbours, it is well to remind ourselves that Christmas should be a celebration by our local communities and that our communion with Christ is also meant to be a communion with our neighbours. The darkness of the virus and our fear of it should not cloud our vision of what Christmas is meant to be. Here’s an essay I wrote in the Spirit of Christmas Past, i.e. pre-COVID, to remind us of what the Spirit of Christmas Present is meant to look like and which, God willing, the Spirit of Christmas Future will look like once again: