Too much materialism in the world has diminished the real essence of Christmas that of the coming of God our Father's son,Jesus Christ,into our world to save it from sinfulness and shame .Christmas have been trivialized into Santa Claus,his reindeer's,Christmas light's and trees and lots of toys and goodies to bring cheer to humankind on this festive holiday season.Fortunately this materialism that shrouds most parts of the globe has not entirely infected the spirits and traditions of the Filipinos who still look at Christmas as a period of preparing for the coming of God into the Earth by transforming himself into a human being like us with complete with flesh,blood,sufferings and poverty.As we approach the actual coming of our savior.So let us reflect how we have,individually and collectively,been preparing ourselves in mind,body and spirit,for this joyful and spiritually reinvigorating moment in our predominantly Catholic nation.Or do we still treasure in our psyche the humility and servility of our Lord God when he opted to subdue his interest over the will of his Father by becoming down on Earth to live and suffer with us and later die on the cross for our sins?
The nine days of simbang gabi or the dawn masses that perceeded Christmas Day is actually the best preparation we could give for ourselves to welcome the coming of our savior.The sacrifice of walking up to hear the dawn masses everyday or for that matter staying up late for the anticipated dawn masses in our parishes for nine straight nights in a way makes us feel closer to the lord.
Let us all humble ourselves in the eyes of God just as his son Jesus came into our midst in the humility of manger where animals were kept with no comfortable mattress on his back.
