Going home for Christmas

YES, there’s such a beautiful song entitled, “I’ll be home
for Christmas!” But I’m not going to sing that with the sentimentality
it evokes so vividly. I’d like to render it in a different way,
bringing it to another level. This time, I would like that we realize
that Christmas, properly understood and celebrated, is where our true
home is.

            Thanks be to God, it’s unmistakable that the Christmas
magic is already in the air. We may continue to have our usual
concerns, but the place in general is now so spruced up with all kinds
of Christmas signs and symbols that we cannot help but feel
Christmassy inside, a mysterious phenomenon that always escapes
precise and rigid description.

            We are now seeing a lot of Advent wreaths in churches,
offices, schools, and in many homes. Then we have Christmas lanterns
and Christmas trees almost everywhere. Of course, the crèches become
the centerpiece of all these signs and symbols, a product of the best
imagination and creativity of their makers.

            Together with these are the custom of gift-giving and the
surge of festivities and celebratory events. It seems that people like
to feel different in Christmas. They just like to be happy, and it’s
understandable that they show this emotionally and externally.

            We just have to make sure that all these activities are
founded and oriented properly. They should not just be an orgy of
self-indulgence, but rather a true encounter with the living Christ, a
genuine expression of joy both human and divine, emotional and
spiritual, natural and supernatural.

            Since there is always the danger of missing the true
spirit of Christmas, everyone should be reminded of what Christmas is
really all about, what practical consequences and implications it has
in our life.

            And in whatever way we can, let us remind the others,
especially those on whom we have some direct responsibility, about the
true spirit of Christmas and about how to live it. Let’s hope that we
all can be up to this challenge.

            For priests, for example, these days are a golden
opportunity to bring out the religious and spiritual foundation of
this season. With gift of the gab, appropriate words and arguments,
proper timing and tone, we should clearly point out why Christmas is
truly joyful.

            We priests can take advantage of the season of Advent, the
proximate preparation for Christmas, to highlight, for example, the
need for another conversion, especially through the sacrament of
confession.

            That’s because, as Christ himself said, there can be no
greater joy in heaven than when a sinner repents. Everyone is happy
when repentance is done. God is happy, the person himself is happy,
and everyone else will also be happy. It’s actually a joy that no
worldly allurement can rival, and it’s the joy proper of Christmas.

            Let’s also take advantage of the many traditional
practices of popular piety to infuse the proper spirit into them
before they get emptied of it through routine and the usual dangers of
indifference, blind conformism to social norms, commercialism and the
like.

            The lighting of the candles of the Advent wreath can be a
good occasion to explain about the need to develop a true longing for
our Savior. Perhaps we can make a review, in the first place, of why
we need to be redeemed. I’m afraid many people, especially the young,
do not know anymore why we have to be saved.

            We can explain the significance of the Christmas lanterns,
relating them to the stars that brightened the skies during the first
Christmas, with the angels singing, attracting the attention of the
shepherds, as well as the star that guided the magi to the infant
Jesus.

            The Christmas trees which we like to decorate lavishly
should be related to the tree of death in Eden, and the tree of life,
the cross, that served as the very instrument of our salvation.

            The crèches should be made to evoke the organic link
between love, truth and joy, on the one hand, and simplicity and the
spirit of worldly detachment, on the other. They should be a strong
reminder of where our true joy can be found.

            Since we need little convincing for people to go to
“simbang gabi” or “Aguinaldo Masses” and to have “noche buenas,” etc.,
let’s see to it that homilies are well prepared, the different church
activities well planned, confessions and other spiritual attention
facilitated.

            Let’s make sure that everyone feels at home, being a
member of the family of God during Christmas, with Jesus, Mary and
Joseph at the center!