Joy of Christmas

No one can deny that the greatest, most important and happiest event in our lives is Christmas or the birth of Jesus Christ our Savior. While the celebration has been commercialized and somewhat adulterated by many other practices, it is still most appropriate and necessary event for all of us to commemorate because it is the greatest manifestation of God’s immeasurable love for us by sending His only begotten Son in the form of human flesh and blood to suffer and die so that we may regain the life of eternal bliss.

Lately, questions and doubts have been raised regarding some details of the event particularly the exact date when Christ was born. Skeptics say that there is no Biblical basis for fixing December 25 as Christmas day and that this is just a pagan invention. This aspect is not so important however. Most important is the Biblical fact that Christ is born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem. We just have to focus on this infallible truth so that we can experience true Christmas joy.

Admittedly, the joy of the occasion has not yet sunk deep nor has it been truly felt by most of us because of the series of devastations in our country particular the recent landslide in Biliran Leyte that caused the loss of so many lives and enormous damage to property. It is really hard to have a “Merry Christmas” with the thought that most of our countrymen in that part of our land suffer not only the tragic loss of lives and property but also the harshness of living in poverty and want. At this time, what we can do is to pray that God help them and care for them in their hour of misery.

But real joy may also be still eluding us simply because we look at the occasion from its purely materialistic aspect brought about by too much commercialism which in turn has even caused heavier traffic. We are now more influenced 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 are more fascinated with the figure of a roly-poly man in red and white costume, than with the Baby Jesus in the Manger; where more stories are told about the magical voyages of jolly good old Santa Clause with bagful of toys than the arduous trek of Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem; where “Jingle Bells” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” have replaced “Adeste Fideles” and “Joy to the World”  as the favorite Christmas carols.

Of course, there are also some traditional practices that will enable us to realize and appreciate the deeper and real meaning of Christmas. One of them is the religious tradition of Simbang Gabi which is now widely and religiously observed all over the country. Actually this practice did not originate here. It originated and was developed from various feasts in Spain and Mexico in preparation for Christmas and apparently brought here by the Spaniards when they invaded and colonized our country. While it is called “Simbang Gabi” it is usually celebrated at dawn through nine days of novena masses which commemorate Mary’s waiting and preparation for the birth of Christ our Saviour.

So now that the real side of Christmas is dawning upon us, our focus should no longer be on those parties, gifts and shopping sprees but on Jesus, the birthday Celebrant Himself and His wish for all of us on His birthday. This time, we should celebrate Christmas with a motif or decor that always includes the birthday Celebrant Himself. Our view of the Babe in the manger wrapped in swaddling clothes should no longer be obstructed by our cares and concerns of this world and our urge for material sufficiency and our worldly desires. Now we should feel another kind of Joy – the Joy that does not depend on how much is our earthly possession but on how much space we have reserved in our hearts for the most important and only Honoree of the event, on Jesus Christ who can give us true joy.

Hopefully this is also the growing attitude among many others especially in our country. And one simple sign here is the Christmas Belen in our Christmas decors. The Belen is the reproduction of the stable where Mary gave birth to Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes as He lay in the manger because there was “no more room for them in the Inn.” The Inn and the Stable are the two places that prominently emerged in the birth of our Lord. According to Bishop Fulton Sheen, the “Inn is the rendezvous of the worldly, the rallying place of the popular and the successful” while the Stable is a “place of the outcasts, the ignored and the forgotten.” The fact that God chose to come down on earth in a “Stable,” proves and confirms that we can find the real joy of Christmas not in the “Inns” of this world but in the Stable established and found in every humble and caring heart.

SISONS’ GREETING TO ONE AND ALL MAY YOU HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

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