One with us!

The story is told about a man who was asked who it was he loved most in this life. His answer was: “I love my mother most.” When asked why, his response was: “Because my mother never stopped loving me from my infantry and all throughout my adultery.”

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It’s Christmas. In today’s Gospel (Jn. 1, 1-18), we hear about God who loved the world so much that He gave His only Son. He made His dwelling among us, He became one like us, to be truly one with us. Yes, this God so loved us that He got involved with us.

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It is easy to love innocent infants, but it is difficult to love troublesome adults. At Christmas, we remember that God sent His Son not only for the rich and the righteous, but also, and especially so, for the poor and the sinners. Hey, that’s you and me!

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How you feel on Christmas Day depends on how you prepared for it. If you focused more on things to be done rather than on being one, most likely, you are exhausted and “low bat” on Christmas Day because of all the shopping, partying and gift-giving. Remember, God became man to be one with us. Christmas in its essence is being one with Him, and being one with our brothers and sisters.

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Speaking of being one with our people, have you really tried to empathize, and have you concretely sympathized with the victims of “Sendong” in Mindanao? Words can never describe the whole situation, and the forthcoming solutions. But then, this is not the time for words. It’s the time for earnest prayers and concrete action.

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One of the most touching pictures from the Sendong tragedy is that of a little child covered with mud, wading through the debris and filth all around. Yet, there was a smile, a glimmer of hope in the child’s eyes. That picture captures what the incarnation was all about. God sent His only Son into our world filled with so much sin, poverty and hopelessness, to be one with us.

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I admire the patience and sacrifice of our people who, come hell or high water, will try to go home to be one with their families and loved ones during Christmas. Christmas is still about the heart, about family and home. But the reality is that at Christmas, there are people who have no family or home. Worse, there are people who no longer have a heart.

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Try stopping by a colony of homeless people sleeping on the sidewalks at night, or opening your car window to give some coins, and you will be literally swarmed by so many people wanting to receive some love. Yes, life is hard for countless people around us, and we have very limited resources in our hands. Oh well, we just keep on trying and loving anyway.

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What is Christmas all about? My acronym for Christmas:

Celebration, for in spite of many trials, we are still alive.

Hope, for unto us has been given meaning and greater possibilities.

Remembering God’s goodness and blessings.

Involvement in a world so filled with poverty and pain.

Solidarity with people around us especially the sick, the poor and the marginalized.

Thanksgiving to God, to people, to Mother Earth.

Mary, for it is she who truly knows and who teaches us what Christmas is all about.

Affirmations, for Christmas is about bonding, reconciliation and moving on.

Savior, for Christmas is all about welcoming personally Christ into our hearts, into our homes, into our country, into the world and Mother Earth which is in need of direction, healing and redemption.

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For those who have been given the opportunity and the means to be able to help, please consider it a privilege that you are in a position to share your blessings, that you are a conduit of God’s goodness, an instrument of His love! Don’t hoard God’s blessings. Share them. Otherwise, they become spoiled or stale. And please give not only generously, but also cheerfully and secretly.

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Did you notice how the world has slowly and deliberately removed “Christ” from Christmas with greetings like “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” or “Merry X’mas”? Let’s bring back Christ, the reason for the Christmas Season by greeting one another “Merry Christmas” or better still, “Mary Christmas,” to remind us that the first Christmas was filled with Mary’s simplicity, peace and hope.

Here’s wishing you all a Merry Mary Christmas!

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Think about this: “It’s not the things you do at Christmas, but the Christmas things you do the whole year through that make Christmas happen again and again.” Please remember, it is never too late, it is never enough when it comes to love!

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A moment with the Lord:

Lord, thank You for being one with us! Help us to be truly one with You and with our brothers and sisters, especially at Christmas. Amen.