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It has been a very profitable time for merchants. The Christmas
season always is. We know that a very big percentage of their sales
comes at this time of the year because Christmas is about
gift-giving.
People everywhere are celebrating Christmas by
sharing. It is what the season is all about. There are those who are
rushing to the malls to buy last-minute gifts for someone they
forgot or for somebody who surprised them with a gift that needs to
be reciprocated.
It is difficult to find a religious feast day
where so much money is spent. The irony of it all is that though
Christmas is about Christ, the day is celebrated by countless people
who do not believe in Christ. Christmas, with all its materialism,
has become a secular holiday that has lost much of its religious
meaning. And for some, it isn’t at all about Christ.
It is becoming more and more difficult to keep
the focus of Christmas where it belongs: squarely on the Christ
Child.
Yes, we need to celebrate a birthday with
cheerfulness and merrymaking, but we who believe in Christ, must not
allow ourselves to be distracted by the thick newspapers crammed
with advertisements urging us to part with our money.
The merchants want us to spend. God wants us to
focus on His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is perhaps why the
Christ Child was born in a manger. There were no festivities, no
fanfare then. Mary and Joseph did not have much. They were poor and
their celebration of the birth of Jesus was full of meaning, but
little else.
Perhaps there is a lesson there for we who have
faith and who can see beyond all the glitter and glitz. We know that
Christmas is about God among us. About God who loves us beyond our
wildest imaginings and who came to us quietly as a child. He came
quietly so as to not startle us. He did not appear with power and
might and strike fear in our hearts. He came to show us His deep
love. The power of His love would be displayed, not the power of
materialism that we are so familiar with.
On this, the birthday of the Christ Child, let
us give love with a special intensity to honor the Lord of Love. Let
us remind our children and each other that Christmas is about the
Lord Jesus and loving each other. The rest doesn’t matter much.
If you have problems about drugs, alcohol and
behavior/attitude call my office at 8206107 or 8251771 or e-mail me
at gvcbuenca@vasia.com or write me at P.O. Box 2099 MCPO, Makati
City.
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