On Christmas morning I drove my motorcycle from Ndoleleji,
Tanzania to an outlying center to celebrate the Eucharist. As I motored along, I
saw men in the fields plowing with oxen and women planting. It struck me that
these farmers knew nothing about this day and its meaning. They were not
Christians. In this rural area there were not even any commercial reminders of
Christmas — no Santa Clauses, Christmas carols, or tinsel.

    At the end of my journey, however, several hundred people
of faith were waiting for me. They had set this day aside to come together to
celebrate their knowledge of God’s love and its breaking into their history.
Latin American theologian Juan Luis Segundo defines a Christian as "a person who
knows." In that remote corner of the world I joined those African people "who
knew" to celebrate the Eucharist, to rejoice in our togetherness, and our
personal sharing with one another in the glorious mystery of Christmas.