Christmas and Families (Feast of the Holy Family)

You’ll agree with me when I say that the most ideal celebration of Christmas for Filipinos, and perhaps for other cultures too, is to be with our families on this great festivity. I bet many have shed tears on Christmas day because they are away from their beloved families. “Many” could mean millions of Filipinos… those working abroad, for instance.

A friend’s post on her facebook account made me realize this most remarkably. She said something like this: “This Christmas is gonna be all work for me here in this foreign land. I miss home. I miss watching everyone decorate the house… with Christmas tree… with lanterns… with mistletoes… I miss cooking for noche buena. I miss my palangga. I miss papa and mama. I miss friends dropping by and share the spirit of Christmas. I miss the carolers that come one after the other. I miss home. Terribly. But this Christmas is gonna be all work for me.”

There is indeed a profound link between Christmas and family. After all, the first Christmas is a family affair—the birth of God into a human family. The holy family has an indispensable role in the fulfillment of the prophetic promise that God is going to be among us, God-with-us, even if the world turns a cold shoulder to God’s initiative.

The “Panunuluyan” or “Posadas” reenacts the journey of Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem for the census decreed by the King. In this reenactment, one is easily led to see how the holy family ended up in a manger. The world has been too preoccupied with other concerns to have room for the child to be born. This prefigures the world’s rejection of Jesus and all that he stands for.

Here’s then the central role of the holy family: even if the world rejects God, the family of Joseph and Mary guarantees the provision of the warmth which the chilling baby Jesus needs to survive. The holy family is Jesus’ security. The Holy family ensures the fulfillment of God’s promise in Jesus. The Holy Family accepts, nurtures, and supports Jesus’ vocation and mission in contradistinction to the mockery and derision that Jesus receives from the faithless world.

Today’s gospel (Lk 2:41-52), which is the account of the losing and finding of Jesus in the temple, dramatizes the supporting role of the family of Jesus in relation to his calling. Jesus stayed in the temple listening and asking question, and maybe, even discussing among the teachers; while his parents were worried searching for him for three days! When finally his parents found him and slightly chided him, he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Do you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

Another translation puts it this way: “Do you not know that I must be in my Father’s business?” This means that Jesus was beginning to be aware of his identity and calling. He has to be about what the Father has sent him for. While Joseph and Mary did not understand Jesus’ remark, they nevertheless continued to support Jesus as he grew in wisdom and age.

The holy family is indispensable for the birth, the growth, and vocation and mission of Jesus who became one of us. This holds true then to the role of our families in our lives. We need our families in order to survive and to become persons with meaningful purpose in life. Without a sound family to support us, we can hardly realize our potentials and fulfill our calling.

On this Feast of the Holy Family then, it is fitting to assess our own families. How have our families measured up to their task of forming us into becoming responsible persons? Our families are surely imperfect. But what can still be done to make our families work as the “cradle of life and love” and as the community within which we grow in wisdom and understanding of who we are and what God wants us to do in life?

Our families today are undeniable facing crisis and innumerable threats: To name just a few: High rate of divorce in many nations, stronger assertion of independence of spouses, single-parenting, weakening of parents’ authority, step-parenting, non-marital unions, and particularly for us Filipinos, the breaking of our families because of financial necessity that forces parents to work abroad leaving their growing children to guardians.

There is no one answer to these problems and it is not my purpose to offer one. Maybe the gospel today is a wake up call. It raises the question. It reminds us of the irreplaceable role of our families and therefore challenges us, each of our families and our family ministry, to look seriously into these situations which undermine the health of our families.

When the world rejected Jesus, it is his human family who accepted him, nurtured him, and supported him in what he was called to do. The world continues to be cruel especially for us today and for our children. This is the question we have to face: Where should our children run to for shelter, for understanding, for strength, and for direction if we have allowed our families to disintegrate?

Getting Up Close and Personal (4th Sunday Advent C)

I’ve watched Bruce Willis’ film Surrogates. Since his Die Hard in 1988, I have been a fan. I’ve seen through the thinning and graying of his hair. So I was kind of shock to see a young and perfectly fit Bruce Willis as Agent Greer in the early scenes of Surrogates. But the movie unfolded and revealed that what I was seeing was Greer’s surrogate—a mechanical representative of the real person. The movie explores a future in which humans live in isolation while only communicating with their fellow man through robots that serve as social surrogates and are better-looking versions of their human counterparts. In other words, this is a future when mechanical interaction substitutes the excitement of getting up close and personal.

This seems farfetched at first glance. But a keen observation of how we interact today would reveal such substituting as already happening. Not with surrogates though.

In a restaurant, I’ve watched four fellows seated at one table. For the most part, they were silent because each was busy sending text messages. Isn’t it alarming that they have one another yet they prefer to ignore one another’s presence in favor of a mechanical interaction with somebody out there who, most probably, ignores the company of his own friends too?

Another phenomenon that reveals this is the ‘facebook addiction.’ It is not uncommon now to see people spending most of their time interacting through these internet social networks. A mother recounted to me her bewilderment at her observation that her children dislike playing with other kids. They hole up in their rooms and interact instead with cyber friends via the internet.

Once, a mixture of amusement and feeling of alarm overtook me when someone asked me if I would do counseling by texting! Imagine! I was even advised to enroll to ‘unli-texting.’

Today’s gospel recounts the Visitation—Mary visits Elizabeth (Lk 1:39-45). The event is charged with so much joy. Even the infant in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy at Mary’s greeting. It is in this event too that Mary herself utters her Magnificat, saying: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit exults in God my savior.” (This is read in the succeeding verses though).

I would like to submit that today’s gospel reading is a good reminder that while technology increases our efficiency in communications, among other things, it cannot substitute the joy brought by the old fashion personal presence and encounter with real people—as in the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth.


In the light of the visitation, the joy generated by such a personal encounter may be understood in two levels: as the joy of caring and as the joy of celebration.

The Joy of Caring. Mary travelled (for four days, according to scholars) in order to take care of her cousin Elizabeth who in her old age was about to give birth to John. Mary’s visit to Elizabeth displays the deep and loving concern that bonds those whom God calls. In demonstrating this loving concern, joy is a natural product. There is joy in serving and caring for one another even though and precisely because this requires personal self-sacrifice and self-giving. I think, this is what is threatened when people settle with the convenient mechanical interaction.

The Joy of Celebration. The people of Israel has been longing for the Messiah to liberate them. There is so much suffering and oppression. Their only hope is the coming of the Messiah. Mary and Elizabeth know what’s going on. They both carry in their womb the fulfillment of the hope of Israel. Their joy then is the joy of celebration. Mary’s visit is meant, more than just to serve her cousin, to celebrate with her the fulfillment of their hope and to share with each other their faith in God’s faithfulness.

The joy of caring and of celebration of hope and faith is at the heart of such a meaningful personal human encounter between Mary and Elizabeth. This is what is lacking in an easy, “safe,” and convenient mechanical interaction of today’s technological era.

I am realizing how little time I have spent visiting families. To care and to celebrate with them. I would have brought more joy to people’s lives and to my own, had I been more up close and personal with people.

How about you? Would you prefer the easy, convenient, mechanical interaction to a real and personal encounter with people and friends? Well, since we all desire true joy in life, it is good to listen to this advent message of joy: the joy of caring and the joy of celebration which can only be had by not being afraid of brushing elbows with real people and getting involve in and identifying with their hopes and prayers.

May our Christmas reunions, with family or with old and new friends, be our own way of doing the visitation. May it all generate much joy as we come together and care for one another and celebrate God’s faithfulness in our lives. Amen.

The Advent Secret (Gaudete Sunday C)

Do you want to know a secret? How can one truly attain joy? Check this out: JOY means J-esus first, O-thers next, Y-ourself last. Let this “advent secret” be our reflection today, the third Sunday of Advent known as Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete means rejoice. It is from the Latin word gaudium which means joy.

How can we truly rejoice? How can we sing with conviction the popular song that we fondly croon as Christmas arrives-- “Joy to the World”? Let’s try to unravel the secret.

Jesus First. Our hearts are always searching for that which gives joy. Often we look for it in the wrong places and in our passing fancies. We strive hard to gain almost everything the world has to offer: power, honor, riches, pleasure, and what not. Experience will tell that these cannot guarantee a joyful life. We may have gained the whole world but may still feel lost all the more, still wondering about this unexplainable restlessness inside. Great theologians have given an explanation to this: We are created with an inherent orientation towards God. Our hearts are deeply longing for God. Hence, unless Jesus is first in our prioritizing in life, we will never attain joy completely. There will always be a gaping hole in our hearts.

John the Baptist proclaimed the coming of Jesus and God’s Kingdom. In today’s gospel (Lk. 3:10-18), he points to Jesus as the Messiah. “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming…” (v. 16). For John, Jesus is first. John is only the precursor. He does not claim for himself the honor and reverence proper to the Messiah. “I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals” (v. 16). John’s life is at the service of Jesus. He humbly prepares for Jesus’ coming. His whole life points to Jesus. Jesus for John is first.

In this advent season, do we long for Jesus? Should we not re-examine our priorities in life? Do our lives point to Jesus as John’s life did? If our lives do not have joy despite our successes, great are the odds that it is because Jesus does not figure first in our priorities.

Others Next. The joy of having Jesus in our lives has practical implications. Such joy invites us to reach out to others. We are confronted with this question: “What ought we to do?” The crowds asked John the same question, “What then should we do?” (v.10). John’s reply indicates a moral obligation towards others. To the crowds, he gave the instruction to share their clothes and food to those who have none; to the tax collector, to refrain from collecting taxes more than what is prescribed; to the soldiers, to stop extorting and accusing others falsely (v. 11-14).

The world today is teeming with poor and hungry people. Yet the few filthy rich people are wallowing in luxury! Graft and corruption too has become a culture in almost all institutions and politico-economic systems. Abuse of power, be it by public officials or by military around the world, continue to wreak havoc on the life of peoples. John’s message has never been more relevant than today. For this world to find joy, it needs transformation. John’s call is for us to become agents of this change by taking seriously our moral obligation to take care of one another in solidarity and in the spirit of justice and love, respecting each other’s dignity with a special concern for the downtrodden.

Can we truly sing “Joy to the World”? Won’t it be just a wishful thinking? How have we been accomplice to the perpetuation of the suffering of many? Can we then make this season of advent a time to be truly concerned about the needs of others? After all, the joy of having Jesus compels us to share it with one another in solidarity.

Yourself Last. Another clear implication of having Jesus as the priority of our lives has to do with our very own selves. Another question confronts us. After asking “What should we do?” we need to ask, “What should we become?” Being last in the priority does not mean we stop caring about ourselves. No. It means we stop being self-centered which is the root of the world’s misery and, ironically, of our own desolation too. “What should we become?” is a question that compels us to discern God’s intention for our being. Instead of being self-centered, we need to find the center of our being. It is only when we are in touch with the core of ourselves that we know who we really are and hence capable of celebrating true joy—one that runs deep and not just the cheap thrill of our superficial ego trips.

John the Baptist knew who he was. Hence, he saved himself from the illusion of usurping for himself what belonged to the true messiah. With joy he served and died as the humble precursor for that was what God called him to become.

In this season of advent, let us unmask our self-centeredness and courageously embrace our real vocation.

Again to have joy, deep, deep down in our hearts, we have to work on this advent secret: Jesus first, Others next, and Yourself last.

Preparing for True Christmas (2nd Sunday Advent C)

We are yet into the second week of advent but already some signs of Christmas festivities are starting to be felt early on. Somehow I feel we are cutting short our preparations for the Christmas season. Or more alarmingly perhaps we are losing sight of the true meaning of Christmas. Let me expound this point in the light of the voice in the desert in today’s gospel boldly crying out: “Prepare the way of the Lord.”

I was in a mall for some things I needed. A very familiar song was wafting in the air and caught my attention: “People making list, buying special gifts, taking time to be kind to one and all…” I suddenly missed Michael Jackson. Also, something inside of me was awakened. I began worrying about goodies and stuff to buy as Christmas presents for my family and friends! Then all of a sudden I was made aware of the many attractive gift packages already displayed in every nook and cranny of the mall. I checked them out and they were beckoning me… enticing me… whispering to me… “Buy me.” When I mustered all the remaining courage to resist, a beautiful saleslady approached me. I was afraid she might whisper too. Luckily this time my remaining wits got me off the hook. I managed to quickly compliment her. “Miss, it’s a beautiful hat you’re wearing, huh.” It was Santa’s red hat.

I remember a missionary friend stationed in China. Once he told me how surprised he was to discover one store in the midst of a communist and Buddhist society selling Christmas decorations and stuff. He entered the store. Curiously he looked for a “Belen.” There was none. He approached the store owner and asked for it. “What’s a Belen?” the store owner asked (of course in mandarin). “It’s a manger where Jesus Christ is born.” “Sorry, we don’t have it. Why don’t you buy this stuff instead; I think this is the reason behind Christmas celebration, isn’t it?” The store owner was pointing at the image of Santa Claus and the cute reindeer pulling his sleigh.

This is the problem when we cut short the season of advent. We are bound to fail to heed the voice in the desert shouting: “Prepare the way of the Lord.” We lose sight of the Lord Jesus Christ and all he stands for. We unwittingly welcome Santa Claus and his reindeer instead.

Hence, preparations for Christmas become a matter of putting up external decorations, installing intricate series of lights that beguile us enough to forget the shooting up of our electric bills afterwards. Moreover, preparing for Christmas means shopping! So we demand bonuses as our right, only to spend those in buying things we falsely believe to bring home the spirit of Christmas.

If we don’t take Advent seriously, we uncritically fall into the trap set by the commercial traders who are all too happy to turn this great feast into a materialistic perversion.

I find resonance in the words of the Columban Missionary, Fr. Shay Cullen, in one of his articles: “Many people wrongly measure themselves by what they own, possess and control rather than measuring themselves by their commitment and action in doing good for others. Christmas has become the worship of prancing reindeer and an obese man with a beard rather than the heroic self-sacrificing Jesus of Nazareth and all he stands for.”

We need to recapture the true meaning of Christmas, lest we all condone its degeneration into another of those consumerist festivals. Would you be happy to revise Christmas and call it “consumeristmas” instead?

We see then the import of Advent. The season calls for authentic preparation: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Lk 3:4-6).

These are words of the prophet Isaiah which the gospel of today links with John the Baptist’s proclamation of a baptism of repentance. The prophets and John were incessant in their reminder of the need to prepare for the Lord’s coming. They called for repentance.

Hence, preparation during advent, for the people of this generation, is not so much about possession of new things or participation in the consumerist festival. Precisely, it is turning our back to this materialistic propensity. This is the meaning of repentance. It is turning towards Jesus and embracing his values. This is how we prepare the way of the Lord.

Again, in the words of Fr. Shay Cullen:

“Jesus brought into the world a whole new way of viewing the purpose and meaning of human life. It is a challenge for us to choose to serve others, to forget self and worldly ambition, throw aside the perverting desire for wealth, power, riches and to live with simplicity, compassion and care for those in dire need and not do it for a reward in this life or the next. Jesus called for the world to turn from oppressing and exploiting the poor and the weak and to do good, oppose evil ambitions, war, violence and the violation of people's rights.”

Such is what Christmas truly stands for.

So this second Sunday of Advent we may do well to prepare the way of the Lord by examining our uncritical attitude towards the consumerism that’s scandalously undermining the true meaning of Christmas. Well, in simple and direct terms, this means less shopping and buying unnecessary things; but more time for interior readiness to embrace the Lord and serve Him in one another especially in the poor of today.

How have you celebrated Christmas before? Was it Christ-centered or Santa Claus-inspired? Which festival would you want to participate in? Christmas? Or Consumeristmas?