Christmas

About two weeks ago, Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar, outgoing president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, urged the faithful to once again make Jesus Christ the center of the celebration of Christmas. In a statement at the beginning of Advent, Odchimar said, “During the Christmas season, we are celebrating the coming of Christ, not Santa Claus.”

The bishop said that with the “secularization” and “commercialization” of Christmas, there is need to put Christ back in the hearts and consciousness of the people. Because of the influence of the United States and other Western countries, the celebration of Christmas in the Philippines has become commercialized.

People are now busy shopping for gifts for relatives and friends. Preparations are made for sumptuous dinners. Christmas trees sparkling with decorations have been set up in homes and meters and meters of festive lights are strung up in front of houses and buildings.

A few remember to make the belen (the Nativity scene) and to hang the traditional parol (star lantern) which reminds people of the dazzling star which shone in the sky on the night Christ was born. “We have deviated from the central point which is Jesus Christ; [the observance] has become more external than internal,” Odchimar said.

Yes, let us bring back Jesus Christ to the center of the Christmas celebration. We have become so focused on the secular and commercial aspect of Christmas that we have forgotten that the feast is being observed primarily to celebrate the birthday of Christ, God’s only Begotten Son whom He gave to the world because He so loved it.

Gifts

Days after Christ was born in a lowly manger in Bethlehem, the Three Wise Men from the East came to pay him homage and brought him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Since then no celebration of Christmas is complete without the giving of gifts.

With Christmas less than two weeks away, the shopping for Christmas gifts has gone into high gear, and this is the principal factor that has worsened the traffic situation in the streets of Metro Manila. The rich go to expensive malls and department stores with their long lists while the poor flock to Divisoria, Baclaran and tiangges to try to pick up bargains for their loved ones and friends.

What to give as Christmas gifts? That is a big problem for some rich people who don’t know what their similarly rich relatives and friends desire and need. But of course, some things would certainly please these privileged few, like million-peso jewelry or bags or other thousand-peso accessories.

Some gift givers choose to be practical and give gifts of food like bread or ingredients for a dish of spaghetti or a bowl of fruit salad that their relatives or friends can add to the menu of their Christmas dinner. Children will be very happy with toys, cakes and candies. The teenagers and yuppies would be overjoyed to have the latest IT gadgets such as iPads and iPhones.

A Christmas gift does not have to be a material thing. It can be a literal labor of love. A son or a daughter can do the household chores so that mom or dad or both can enjoy at least a day off from the drudgery of everyday work. It can be a painting or a drawing that will bring a smile to the lips of their parents. Or it can be a blanket, a shawl or a muffler that one has made himself or herself for a relative or a friend.

A Christmas gift can be a hug, a kiss, a short letter written in traditional cursive handwriting rather than in formal Times Roman on a cold, impersonal computer. It can be a whispered, “I love you” together with a hug and a kiss for one’s mother, father, siblings, children or friends. How long has it been since we said “I love you” to our loved ones?

At Christmas time, let us be reminded of O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi.”  Della and Jim gave up the physical things that they valued most because they valued and loved each other more. Love is the most precious gift we can give to our parents, relatives and friends on Christmas.

Give a lot of love this Christmas and this world will be, even if only for a day, a better, more peaceful, happier place to live in.