There was nothing extraordinary on the first Christmas Eve. God, though, did not make it so ordinary.
A distinct star shone brightly to guide three wise men from Iran and Iraq who defied tedious and dangerous routes to look for the King of Kings, and adored Him when they found Him.
Prophets spoke of this holy night—God’s coming hundreds of years ago. And, when the time has come, God sent his son, born of a woman. And an unending fellowship with the Almighty was offered men.
The Lord, despite his generosity offered, not imposed, salvation to man, for the perfect gentleman that He respects the freedom He gifted us with.
God the Savior was born. Lo and behold, take a look and with a holy hush. He looks like us! Exactly like us. He is the same God who first manifested Himself to Abraham. “I am who I am,” said He when asked about His identity (Exodus 3:14).
This is the enigma of Christmas: the all-knowing, all-powerful God, who was, who is and will be was born—helpless as a babe to a world He made.
A world who in Him “we live, and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). So emphatic is Saint Augustine of Hippo when he said, “Yes, Jesus came to save us, but He cannot save us without us.”
God is with us
Emmanuel means “God is with us.” The Blessed Mother, the new Eve with her Fiat (Thy will be done), has opened the gates of paradise which Eve has shut in the Garden of Eden. Truly, a cause for rejoicing. And so the angels declared: “Glory to God in the highest and peace, to men of goodwill.”
The message is a prelude to God’s Decalogue, the 10 commandments deduced to two propositions that ought to be enshrined in the hearts and minds of all men for all times and all places.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37-38). The second most important commandment is like it. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Matthew 22:39).
While these are the only two rules to wrestle with to deserve heaven, they are the most difficult to follow since man always has to reckon with his fallen nature, and love is a self-emptying directive.
Love is the only norm for it is the synthesis of all virtues according to theologians. An inward-looking attentiveness, one has to consider God’s commandments in all actions.
The greatest and most often quoted verse in the Bible is about God’s love: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Remembering the great love of God for everyone and responding to God’s love is the true reason for the season.
Self-gifting or self-giving
Christmas through the ages has become a universal season of festivities. And through the years, more products were creatively convoked by artists to whet man’s desire for wordly things. The genius in man will never reach its finale.
Collage of handiworks, clothes fitted by clean-limbed mannequins posted in social media or advertised in billboards, framed by LED lights and high-definition colors, surely whetted the appetites of spectators who looked and were convinced they were necessities in life.
Marketing techniques heightened awareness, and fuelled vanities for worldly things. Is it a wonder why man every Christmas season is awash with wordly wants?
Lucy, the friend of Charlie in Charlie Brown, complained: “Christmas is a big commercial racket.” Linus, their dog, quipped, “Christmas is not only getting too commercial, it is getting dangerous.”
Yes, dangerous. For man could no longer differentiate or refuse to acknowledge the difference between a need and a want. The rat-race for must-have to update the art of living could not be abated.
And yet, Christmas is a season of gift-giving, as exemplified by the Holy Baby Boy who gave all of us a gift—Himself.
To share one’s blessing is a divine imperative. In the beginning, it was decreed that God owned the land. Man was the caretaker, the steward, and the produce was for the benefit of all. Even after the concept of private ownership was practiced by the Israelites, owners were obligated to leave some produce behind for the poor even if they planted not, cared for the growing plants and did not help gather them. The Hebrew law ordered a third of earnings every year for the poor.
As of October 2017, the world population is 7.6 billion, 15 percent of which live on $2 or less daily and 56 percent survive on $2.01 to $10 a day, according to the World Population Pew Research Center. Thus, definitely within one’s own community poor neighbors live.
The second law of love is to love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Matthew 22-39). The law commands that we love others. Every day of life is an opportunity to be holy, to make a difference in the life of others, moreso those in need.
Christmas this year is the season to make a difference. It is the season to say yes to the invitation to restore or enhance love for others by sharing one’s blessings. It is opening wide the minds, hearts and eyes of mercy to the need for a more humane and blessed celebration.
Not only man, but the season also wears a mask. And when the disguise falls off, our hearts will be bare for Christ to see. Is it a blessed Christmas or happy holidays?
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Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and of Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons