Christmas gifts

In the wink of an eye, the most awaited event of the year has come and gone. It is already the day after Christmas but the joy that goes with the occasion has not yet been truly felt by many of us. It is indeed difficult to be “Merry” and “Happy” amidst the numerous calamities that devastated our country, especially in the Compostela Valley, causing so much grief and pain to our countrymen there. Harder yet is to enjoy partying while most of our countrymen continue to suffer not only the tragic loss of lives and properties but also the harshness of living in poverty and want.

On the other hand the real joy of Christmas also continue to elude us, perhaps because we are more swayed by the modern ways of celebrating the event where Santa Claus and his reindeers have replaced the Belen or the Nativity scene as the more popular Christmas décor; where children look up to a fictional figure of a roly-poly man in red and white costume than the Baby Jesus in the manger granting their Christmas wishes; and where more stories are woven around the magical voyage of jolly good old Santa with bag full of toys, than the arduous trek of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem where they could not even find a room in an inn.

Of course there are also some modern practices which serve as symbols of the deeper and real meaning of Christmas if properly appreciated. The putting up of Christmas lights symbolizes Christ’s presence in this world since 2012 years ago when the “people who live in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:1). Christmas gift giving is also a meaningful sign of love shown to us by God on Christmas day where we share our blessings not only with the people close to us but more especially with the least of our brethren and the victims of the recent calamities. Feasting and partying at Christmas time especially the “Noche Buena” is also a beautiful custom keeping the family together and strengthening family and community solidarity.

But of course the most important gift on this occasion is our birthday gift to Jesus, the birthday celebrant. They may not come in beautifully wrapped packages but Jesus will surely appreciate them if they represent something that reciprocate His love for us when He came down into this world to lead us the way to life everlasting.

These gifts call for transformation in our life as Filipinos like getting rid of our crab mentality, our lack of discipline and our “kanya-kanya” attitude. We should try to suppress the urge to satisfy our insatiable wants so that there will be a more equitable distribution of the country’s wealth and resources. Then we could also revive the precious heritage left by our ancestors that will make us spiritually strong and morally upright, like love of God and country, respect and obedience to our elders and to those in authority, the sense of delicadeza, humility, simplicity, integrity, industry, frugality and the courage to stand up for truth and justice.

Most important Christmas gift perhaps is the reformation of our politics by getting rid of politicians who promote their own interest and engage in unprincipled politics through patronage, money, machinery, popularity and name recall so they can hold on to power and deny qualified people access to opportunity for public service that has become an expensive commodity worth investing on because the earnings from the filthy lucre acquired through graft and corruption are much bigger.

Another Christmas gift is on the part of media which should refrain from “envelopmental journalism” favoring foreign interests and giving undue publicity to negative events, scandalous happenings, immoral acts, unverified, ugly rumors and celluloid exploits which glamorize ignoble and trivial matters and make celebrities out of scoundrels. Our businessmen can also give a nice gift to Jesus by developing a social conscience aside from their profit motive so that their employees and workers will no longer be treated as mere objects in the production of their goods and services, but as human beings entitled to share in their surplus earnings.

Admittedly, these are ideal gifts that could not readily be given and would need the helping hand of Jesus Himself. But with lots of prayers and efforts on our part, they could eventually be presented to Him all wrapped in beautiful packages.

WISHING EVERYBODY ALL THE BEST THIS CHRISTMAS AND COMING NEW YEAR!

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