Christmas Thoughts 2013

Another December means another perfect opportunity to take a time out from the sports world and life in general. Everything somehow suddenly stops with families getting together, the children enjoying their break from classes, and the entire Christian world focusing on just one thing: the birth of Jesus Christ our Savior.

And as we end the year, we can’t help but look back at 2013, a year that was both interesting and full of “learning” experiences that we simply couldn’t ignore. We in the sports world were as always gung ho with all our activities. We had hosted international competitions and games. We took pride in boasting to the whole world that Cebu Sports was the best outside of Manila, and this was illustrated with all our achievements and events. Then came “Linog 7.2” on October 15. And after a break/period that had everyone both worried and in a quandary always asking “why,” Yolanda, a.k.a. Haiyan slammed us on November 8. Linog was the perfect right straight with the power of a Mike Tyson. Several of his jabs before October 15 had already set us up for that perfect straight that landed flush on our jaws and knocked us down. Just when we were about to recover and clear the cobwebs and grogginess, Yolanda finished us off like a Tyson uppercut that was thrown from the hips all the way to the heavens with the perfect torque and twist that generated the most perfect punch in boxing history. Isn’t it ironical that it took a natural calamity to remind us that we can be so defenseless?  So flat footed? So “unready”? All this despite the fact that we prided ourselves with being almost invincible? Almost untouchable?

To me, that was the real 2013. It wasn’t so much about the human achievements for which we are so proud. Nothing wrong with being proud of our achievements, is there? But we must all realize that in the snap of a finger, all this can be wiped out, and this is precisely what happened. Was Our Lord punishing Bohol, the East Visayas and Northern Cebu? And for what? What kind of a signal was he sending to all of us, regardless of whether or not we were directly hit by the natural calamities? While we may never ever be able to answer these questions, one thing is clear. This was no series of accidents.

When one talks about timing, it all somehow finds its way to December 25. I’d like to believe that a huge part of the reason why all this took place was so that we don’t forget what took place on Christmas day some 2,000 years ago. Once again, we are reminded of how Our Lord gave himself and nothing less to mankind. What more can one give outside of oneself? When we hear chants of “Give it your best shot!” or “Give it your all,” we are somehow “outweighed” by someone who gave his own self to us. This had to be the most absolute form of giving of oneself, something which we’ll get to realize even more on Good Friday. Are we ready to take on the call to give oneself? Just last week, the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu community bade farewell to Bro. Louis Tremblay, S.J., a Canadian Jesuit who gave his entire life to the service of the apostolic work of the Society of Jesus. Missioned to China in the 50’s, he found his way to the Philippines along with other Jesuits who were supposed to set foot on Asia’s biggest nation. “Fortunately” for us Pinoys, Bro. Tremblay ended up in our country to serve the Xavier School in San Juan before moving to Cebu in 1977 where he served the community for 36 joyous, persevering, loyal and generous years. For us in the sports world, he was a regular at competitions, and was always quick to talk about the latest games that he had watched on TV over the weekend that passed. Here was a hero in our midst, showing us how it’s done.

There are more examples of Bro. Tremblay around the world, and that may (or should) include you and I. Our Lord has placed us where we are now. No accident here. And the call is on us to give ourselves wherever we are placed: our circumstances at work, with our families and with our own communities. It’s our responsibility to find ways to respond to this call for generosity in our own little way.

But how much to give of oneself? I recall an anecdote on generosity shared by someone, “How much to give? Give until it hurts.”

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Time-out: We would like to thank all our readers for “bearing” with us in 2013, and we look forward to another year of Bleacher Talk in 2014. Cheers! >>> You can reach me at [email protected].