A Christmas message

Christmas Day, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, is a time for unity and harmony. Amid the joy it brings, it is a good opportunity to reflect on this past year, including the problems, political bickering and the issues we had to confront as a people. And then, to reflect further on where is our country now?

Our country has suffered this year because of the many challenges both in the international and local scene. The political debates have tested our maturity as a people, and the stability and effectiveness of our institutions. We continue to deal with the threat of terrorism and the fallout from the insurgencies.

On the economic front, we have had to grapple the impact of soaring global oil prices and the continuing impact of the national debt on our ability to provide vital public services.

There are the blessings, too, however. In spite of all this, the peso is one of the best performing currencies in the world. Our migrant workers’ remittances still keep coming in record levels, shoring up our economy and providing our people with resources for their families.

Imagine what more we could have accomplished had we all united and worked together?

These good and bad things that took place in our national life this year encapsulize the lesson of Christmas — that while it is a time for joy at the Savior’s birth, the true source of joy springs from the ability to embrace the life of Jesus in its entirely, the exultation of angels and the Three Kings along with the anxiety of that blessed couple finding no room at the inn for their child.

Christmas is a time to count our blessings, and to give back to the Giver of Life, whose birthday we celebrate today, to thank Him for everything we have received from Him.

For those of us in the government, it is a time for us to consider how we have used the power that has been given us in order to advance, not personal or political gain, but genuine public service.

This should be the essence of Christmas to us as Christians who have been given and who wield power.

We in Manila will continue with our development programs the whole year round, always conscious that the task of uplifting our people’s lives is a never ending exercise of "paying forward" the boundless generosity and mercy of the Savior who came in the humblest of ways.

May we all find the grace to accept Jesus’ life in its entirety, especially His pains, and in so doing, accept as well that we could be happy as a people were we to just unite and work together in the Lord’s vineyard.

Merry Christmas to everyone.