The worldwide action “They Dislodged Jesus” to remember the true meaning of Christmas. Azur Company’s Christmas novelties: puzzles that tell the story of Jesus’ birth and the joy at Christmas for children around the world. Christmas is approaching, and as always, the Gen4 — Focolare boys and girls ages four to ten — are in the forefront of reminding everyone of the true meaning of this celebration, bringing Jesus back to the center of Christmas. In all communities around the world, the production of the small statues of Baby Jesus has begun, which, close to Christmas, the Gen4 will offer in the streets, squares, shopping centers to remind everyone of the birth of Jesus, the “birthday boy”! Any donations received will go to help many children in countries forgotten by the media, but facing serious difficulties, such as the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela or for places where children suffer from ongoing wars or other needs also identified locally. This action, entitled “They Dislodged Jesus,” was born in 1997 and has a very precise meaning: not to be conditioned by consumerism, but to bring back to the center of Christmas the positive values, of peace, solidarity, universal fraternity. The idea had stemmed from a reflection by Chiara Lubich who was in Switzerland in the run-up to Christmas. Walking through the brightly-lit streets of a large city, she had been struck by the lights, the pretty decorations, the lots of richness, but most of all by the absence of reference to the primary meaning of Christmas. And so she wrote: “This rich world has ‘grabbed’ Christmas and all its entailments, and has dislodged Jesus! (…) It is banking on Christmas for the best profit of the year. But it doesn’t think about Jesus.” So, since 1997, thousands of Gen4 around the world have accepted Chiara Lubich’s invitation to bring Jesus back to the center of Christmas. This year’s event has the theme “Let’s bring the joy of Jesus to everyone!”:. And alongside this annual custom, the Gen4 International Center in collaboration with the Azur company produced two Christmas items to bring a message of beauty and peace. These are two puzzles: “the Christmas of the Children of the World” and “the beautiful story of Christmas.” The first is the classic puzzle to be put together, consisting of 96 tiles. The second, on the other hand, consists of six puzzle cards, six drawings that tell the story of Jesus’ birth from the arrival in Bethlehem to the coming of the Magi. On the back you can write Christmas greetings, then you can unravel the puzzle and put it in the enclosed envelope and give it as a gift. But the six puzzles can also be used to retell and relive this beautiful story with the little ones, aided also by a leaflet with the text of the story. The puzzles bear the title in 5 languages (Italian, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese (Brazilian)). If you need any info on the action They dislodged Jesus you can contact the Gen4 Center, while for the two puzzles you can visit the Azur site.

Lorenzo Russo