Christmas in our hearts

Christmas is in the air.
But we must make sure Christmas is in our hearts too.
The true spirit of Christmas is giving.
But this time, giving should not be in the nature of exchange gifts.
So many have been distressed because of the devastation brought by typhoon Sendong.
Just yesterday, we received stories that the affected hinterland areas of Valencia, particularly Palimpinon, Puhagan, Mala-unay, Pulang-bato have been isolated from ordinary transport that is why relief has come a little slow.
This Christmas, the Lord is giving us a golden opportunity to celebrate the season the way it should be celebrated.
We are witnessing so many brothers and sisters suffering because of the typhoon.
We visited barangay Batinguel and Candau-ay and around 250 families there will be spending Christmas in the classrooms and sleeping atop desks.
We went to the wake of a family, the Balbon-Calijan family of Tubtubon Sibulan, six members of whom perished because of the typhoon’s merciless wrath.
It is a heart-wrenching, chest-crumpling story.
It is a difficult struggle already to loose a loved one.
How much more six family members at the same time, and worse, at Christmas?
The survivor-husband Nimuel Calijan, weeping in front of an array of coffins, summed it all: “This is like a terrible dream.”
This week, we saw the face of tragedy.
On the happy side, our eyes saw the generosity of many willing to help.
We also witnessed the eager response of kind hearted- individuals who just gave what they could to ease the pain of those who suffer.
“There was a call, so we came to help,” said one doctor bringing a box of relief items.
God does not physically come down from Heaven to give aid to the distressed.
He uses those fortunate to be spared as instruments to implement His works of mercy.
But the destruction is so overwhelming, that we need more help.
We suggest that you organize your group, your peers, your classmates, officemates, and team up to give.
There are still many others whose shoulders just need to be gently tapped, so they can extend help.
Sometimes, they are just waiting for someone to initiate.
Believe it or not, you and your friends can create your own little miracle, and see the spectacle of God’s amazing grace.
Let’s continue to give this Christmas.
Give without ceasing.
With that, we can truly say Christmas is in our hearts.
From my family to yours, Merry Christmas.

Christmas is for children

At Christmas, the whole Christian world celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christmas therefore, is for children, both the young and the old.
But for the large part, for the young.
That is why Christmas too, is commemorated by gift giving.
It is the children that appreciate more, the gift giving and receiving.
It is an exciting tradition.
It is one that brings smiles to the children.
We, too, experienced this excitement during our younger days.
The sense of excitement is passed on to the following generation.

Believing in Santa Claus

There was a time when I thought Santa Claus was real.
When I was around five years old, my father and mother took off at around seven p.m. from the house.
I asked them where they were headed, and they sad they were fetching Santa Claus at the airport.
I sincerely believed them.
I was not able to analyze that there were no flights at seven in the evening.
Nor did i think that Santa Claus did not have to land in teh airport to deliver his gifts to us, children.
But when we were kids, we wanted to belive in Santa Claus.
He represented a big part of the mystery and excitement of Christmas.
This tradition has continued to excite the next generation.
Now, my son and cousins MJ, Pia and Nat Nat look forward to the gifts and goodies brought by Santa Claus.
Today, Christmas day, they woke up with their red stockings filled with different kinds of goodies from Santa Claus.
It was a nice thing to see the mystery and excitement continued like an unending Christmas tradition.
I thought it wasn't that long ago where I, too, looked forward to inspecting the candies and chocolates that stuffed the red stockings hanged the night before.
I hope the story of Santa Claus will continue for generations to come.
He brings smiles to kids on Chirstmas day.

Christmas reflections

Christmas, for me has always been a time for reflection.
Christmas is special because I truly believe in salvation through Jesus Christ.
I also believe in my heart that we are saved by God’s grace, not by our deeds. That is how good the Lord is to us, His children.
All the Lord wants from us is to obey His commandment, that is to love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our strength.
So since Christmas is at the end of the year, I usually spend time to reflect whether or not I have fulfilled His commandment.
For me, the genuine measure of success in life is to determine how we have fared in obeying God’s simple commandment.
I try looking back at the significant things that I have done this past year.
Then I find out whether or not these things were in obedience to Gods commandment.
Many times, I must admit, in my reflections, I have failed Him.
I look back what happened this year and I think many times, rather than loving God, I have loved myself with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my strength.
I think that is called selfishness.
Many times, I have taken the easy road, rather than that bumpy road less traveled.
Many times, I have not been honest.
What a tragedy, I must say.
What a failure, I must add.
I recall attending a lecture in Legal Ethics, recently.
The speaker began the lecture by asking how many of the lawyers in attendance have asked for a postponement of a court hearing.
Everyone raised their hands.
The speaker asked, were you honest in your reasons for asking for postponement?
No one answered.
The truth is, there is a host of colorful reasons for skipping court hearings: having diarrhea, the witness has high blood pressure, stomach ache, conflict of schedule, etc.
Lawyers have a reputation of being liars because even in the simplest of things (asking for postponements), they cannot be honest.
Not surprisingly, they become the butt of jokes.
Bato bato sa langit, ang taman huwag magalit.
I have to be “lawyer enough” to admit this.
Guilty.
What is relieving and consoling, is God’s faithful assurance that despite my failures, God will save me out of His grace.
After reflecting, I try to look forward and do better next year.
I hope that we will have time to reflect about our sins this past year, and avoid them next year.
If everyone does this, I think the world will become a better place to live.
Merry Christmas!

Spending Christmas

Christmas is the time of giving sharing one's blessings to others, sharing time with God's children who may need our companionship the most, specially at this time.
It has been our habit to be with God's special children during Christmas time, the orphaned and abandoned tots who do not have parents with whom they can spend Christmas.
Since we spent Christmas in Bohol with our grandmother and uncles, aunts and cousins, we visited our little friends at the Sunshine Home, the home of abandoned children and orphans.
Children at the Sunshine Home is a project of the Bohol Catholic Women's League of which my grandmother, Mommy Charing, remains an active member
The Sunshine Home is the project closest to her heart.
She relayed to us her children and grandchildren that they (CWL) have helped take care of abandoned children, specially children of prostitutes who just leave their children with relatives, who also could not properly take care of these children.
The Sunshine Home provides shelter and opportunities for growth for these children.
When we visited Sunshine Home today December 25, there were some training equipment for the children like computers, sewing machines which could help train them and provide skills as they grow.
Many of the children are still young and are in dire need of parental love and care.
So on this rainy Christmas afternoon, Mommy Charing, our aunts, Malou (who is based in New Jersey), Milet and Mamel and my wife Ruby and son Josh, cousins Daniel and Nikka shared our time with God's little children who could not spend Christmas the way many others spend theirs.
We brought them ice cream and cakes, while they performed songs for the visitors.
One child, Reynan, who is among the youngest at three could not escape our attention as he was very very entertaining.
There are twenty five boys and girls at Sunshine Home. They are taken care of until they graduate from high school.
Therafter they leave and look for homes where they can work and study for college as working students.
It is with these special children that I am really able to deeply appreciate the real meaning of Christmas.
The children I met today, Reynan, Peter, and the others, have no parents to spend Christmas with.
Yet, I saw in them incredible joy, all of them smiling, and very eager to perform for us, their visitors on Christmas.
This is in contrast with others who spend their lives complaining almost about everything that come to them.
The children probably receive no gifts on Christmas eve. Yet they were very willing and eager to give us gifts through songs and dances.
Want to know the real meaning of Christamas?
Spend December 25 with God's special children.

Christmas eve

It's Christmas eve. I am spending Christmas in Bohol with relatives.
It was a hectic 24th day of December.
We went to Pamilacan island off Bohol island. We had such a nice time in such a nice island.
The island is a virgin, with everything unadulterated.
Then in the evening we had catered dinner with the relatives who came from all over.
Some just arrived today.
Then we had a Christmas program, and the traditional gift-giving.
My grandmother Mommy Charing distributed cash to her nine children and even to granchildren, and even great granchildren.
I have learned this lesson in life that one of life's greatest blessing is to have generous parents.
Somehow in the event, there is some emptiness still inside me.
I realized I need to focus on the true meaning of Christmas.
It is to remember and commemorate the birth of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
He has been my life's ally.
I shall continue to rely on his guiding light in the next year and the years to come.
With this thought, my Christmas is complete.
Merry Christmas.....

19th century Christmas Belen

Part of the Filipino Christmas tradition is the setting up of Christmas Belens. This goes together witht he setting up of Christmas trees to spruce up homes with the scent and feeling of the yuletide season.
We are spending Christmas in Bohol, hometown of my father, and incidentally, the place of my birth.
This will be the first time in decades that we will spend Christmas in Bohol, although each year, we come to Bohol to spend the New Year.
We went to the town of Loay today for a dinner invitation.
In the refurbished ancetral house of our uncle, we saw perhaps one of the oldest Christmas Belens in the province, if not in the country.
A Christmas Belen, by the way, is a depiction of the nativity, where little figures or miniature statues of the main players of the nativity, like Joseph and Mary, the infant Jesus, the shepherds, the three kings, the angels, among others.
In our grandparents' home, we depict the scene of the nativity with a lot of motorized figures just to make the Belen interesting to watch.
It was very innovative that for years, it was an attraction to many people who dropped by our grandparents home.
Anyway, in Loay home where we were invited for dinner, we saw a Christmas Belen which according to our hosts Grace, was a 19th century Belen, as it was the Belen of their great grandparests yet in 1895.
We marveled at this sight, as it graciously portrayed the scene of Jesus birth, with all the angels above.