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?

“The Lord is Among You” (Christmas Day)

Merry Christmas… God is with you! In this reflection on the mystery of Incarnation, we can safely say that when we greet our brother or sister in Christ a “Merry Christmas!” it can actually mean too that we recognize God's presence in him or her. It's saying, Merry Christmas… God is with you!

Emmanuel… God-with-us. This is at the heart of Christmas celebration. Christmas is not just a birthday celebration of our Lord, it is a fulfillment of God's promise of long ago that God will be with us. As today's gospel (Mt. 1: 18-25) reminds us: “All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he will be called Emmanuel which means: God-with-us. ” 

Let us dwell on this great “Emmanuel mystery” and ask two significant questions: What did it require to fulfill this great promise? And how does this fulfillment concretely influence our present Christian living? 

Divine-Human Cooperation. God-with-us obviously involves two parties: God, on the one hand, human, on the other. It's helpful to look back into the nine-day simbang-gabi experience. There, no one can miss the fact so clearly proclaimed by our liturgy from day-one to day-nine that God initiates the plan of salvation. The fulfillment of his plan however does not take place as quickly as a snap of God's fingers or perhaps as easily as aiming a magic wand. God works through human beings warts and all. We encountered different personalities through out the "Simbang Gabi:" Zechariah, Elizabeth, John, Joseph, Mary. All have been called by God to take part in the carrying out of his plan. All have some initial feeling of fear or doubt or lack of understanding. But with God's grace, often in terms of the angel's assurance, all have trusted in God and more significantly, have committed to God's will by their "yes." The God-with-us mystery then is made possible by the cooperation of God and human beings. 

This offers us some insight into how God works in fulfilling his promise in our own lives. God is always a faithful God, one who never fails to fulfill his promise. But we need to open our minds and hearts to be able to listen to him. We may not understand what's going on in our lives, but we are invited to trust in His fidelity. More importantly, we need to take a leap of faith and commit wholeheartedly to God by our daily “yes.” It's only then that we truly cooperate with God who wills nothing but our good and the fulfillment of that goodness in each of our own lives. 

Am I ready to listen to God's will, trust in his fidelity, and commit to the task He's entrusting me with? 

Transforming Power of Christmas: The real spirit of Christmas does not wholly rest on the festivities we prepare and the many creative activities we organize to celebrate merrily the season. The real spirit of Christmas rests profoundly on the recognition of God being with us. As such, the spirit of Christmas transforms. When God is with us, everything is seen differently… everything changes… everything gains a deeper meaning. 

A story to illustrate: There was a famous monastery which had fallen on very hard times. Formerly its many buildings had been filled with young monks and its big church had resounded with the singing of the chant, but now it was deserted. People no longer came there to be nourished by prayer. A handful of old monks shuffled through the cloisters and praised God with heavy hearts. One day the Abbot decided to visit the wise rabbi who lived in a little hut on the edge of the monastery woods. The abbot opened his heart to him and asked for his advice about how to revitalize the spirituality and life of the monastery. The rabbi, after listening intently, said, “You and your brothers are serving God with heavy hearts. You have come to ask my advice. I will tell you one thing. ” The rabbi whispered to the Abbot and instructed him to pass it on to his brothers. As the Abbot reached home, he whispered the teaching on a brother who in turn passed on the same teaching to another. And on and on… Because of the teaching, they began to treat one another with utmost reverence and love once again. They lived with one another as men who had finally found something. Visitors began to find themselves deeply moved by the life of these monks. Before long, people once again came from far and wide to be nourished by the prayer life of the monks and young men came to become part of the community. 

What was the teaching whispered by the wise rabbi? "The Lord is among you." 

My dear friends, if only we've truly recognized God among us, if only we've seen God in each of us, we would have treated one another with reverence and loving care. This is the challenge of the true spirit of Christmas beyond the external preparations and celebrations of the festivities. Christmas is an invitation to transform our families and communities from one that cannot care less to one that is sensitive to every need especially of the weaker members. To have the spirit of Christmas is to allow the Emmanuel mystery, the truth that God is with us, to open our eyes of faith to see the presence of God among us and let this vision spur us into respecting the dignity of each and everyone. 

Hence, more than just a season of merry-making, Christmas is a season of celebration of the fulfillment of God's promises in our lives and a challenge towards real transformation of our families and communities into one that is a witness to the presence of God who dwells among us!