Caritas Official in Sierra Leone Cautions against Irresponsible Spending during Christmas

Freetown, 18 December, 2025 / 5:11 PM

The Executive Director of Caritas Freetown in Sierra Leone has cautioned against the pressure to overspend during Christmas festivities, warning against the risk of running into debts and experiencing financial difficulties in the new year.

In his Christmas message titled “Preparing the Heart, Not the Table”, Fr. Peter Konteh says that Christmas is “a spiritual celebration," adding that focus should not just be on “external” celebrations.

“Some people feel pressured to go into debt simply to celebrate Christmas—borrowing, overspending, and exhausting themselves in an attempt to meet expectations or impress others. But this is not the true meaning of Christmas,” Fr. Konteh said in the reflection he shared with ACI Africa on Thursday, December 18.

He added, “Christmas is a sacred moment to cleanse our hearts and make inner room for Christ to be born anew within us.”

“Sadly, instead of preparing the heart, many focus only on external celebrations—eating excessively, drinking excessively, and celebrating without reflection—forgetting what, and whom, we are truly celebrating,” the member of the Clergy of Sierra Leone’s Catholic Archdiocese of Freetown said.

He said that the month of December, often seen as a season of joy, celebration, and festivity, is for some a period of great difficulty. 

“There are homes where even daily bread is uncertain, where parents struggle to put food on the table, and where the simple prayer 'Give us this day our daily bread' becomes a cry from the heart,” the Catholic Priests who is widely famed for humanitarian work in Sierra Leone said.

Calling for modesty in the “physical” celebration of Christmas, Fr. Konteh said, “We are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, who came into the world in humility, born not in abundance, but in a stable.”

He said that Jesus Christ came poor, vulnerable, and dependent, as a reminder that God’s greatest gift is not wealth, but love.

Fr. Konteh said that the key message of Christmas is for those who have abundance to share with those who have little. 

Those who have little, on the other hand, should not compare themselves with others, “or feel compelled to please the eyes of the world,” he said, and explained, “Be content with what you have. God sees your heart, knows your intentions, and understands your joy in simply thanking Him for sending His Son for our salvation.”

The multi-award-winning Sierra Leonean Priest described “true celebration of Christmas” as: a grateful heart, a generous spirit, and a humble soul, adding, “Christ did not come to be celebrated with excess, but to be welcomed with love.”