Hello December

Perhaps you’ve probably heard and read  several times that the Philippines celebrate the longest Christmas season. As soon as the BER months set in, be sure that you’ll hear Christmas carols played on the radio and not long after that, you’ll see Christmas decorations not only in each home but in department stores as well. And the celebration sometimes even extend to February the following year.

December comes with so much anticipation. It’s the happiest month of the year so far. We are finally done with putting up Christmas decor although it’s not as detailed as the one we had a year ago. For the first time, we haven’t put  up our seven-foot Christmas tree. I am looking for our smaller tree, about two feet long which I used to put atop the console table in our bedroom. I think it would look lovely in one corner of our side tables in the sala.

There is much more to Christmas than just the decor, the food we plan to prepare,  the parties we want to attend, new and old friends we want to meet. There is more than just the twinkling of Christmas lights at your neighbor’s house or the lovely Christmas lantern which you bought in Pampanga. Christmas is a season of hope reborn again, a season of peace and goodwill. The miracle of Christmas time brings us closer as a family and makes us even more aware that it is a very special season for the simple reason that Christ Child is born. Don’t you wish sometime that the season of cheer and joy would be yours throughout the year? Don’t you wish sometime that you would experience that lightness of heart in sharing what you have all year through?

I remember our conversation yesterday with my daughter, Nissa and her friend Marisse while we were watching and listening to the lovely and touching rites of Diaconate Ordination of our close friend. I told them that it’s like getting married too, with all the “I  Do’s” , only this time you’re not saying I do to promise to love and to serve your wife and husband but you are committing yourself to God. You say I do to remain celibate for the sake of the kingdom and in lifelong service to God and mankind. I love the part when the candidates prostrates themselves while the Litany of the Saints was being said.  And the Investiture with  Dalmatic, the presentation of the Book of the Gospels, the Kiss of Peace – the solemn and inspiring celebration itself, it was all so surreal.

Hello December!

 

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It Was Another Day Worth Remembering

“Heavenly Father, since the time of the Apostles, you have inspired the Church to commission certain members to assist in a special way in the pastoral mission of Christ.

Bless the deacons that they may be humble and faith-inspired in their service. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.”

Today is the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle  but it was even more special because it is also the Diaconate Ordination of a close friend whom I also consider an older son. And before I forget, I would like to congratulate the newly ordained Deacons of the Order of Preachers:

1. Rev. Bejay P. Namuag, OP
2. Rev. Paul Lovell G. Javier, OP
3. Rev. Jeremy E. Realubit, OP
4. Rev. Rudolf  Steven N. Seno, OP
5. Rev. Manoj Rasanjana, OP

We were at Sto. Domingo Church earlier than the appointed time. There was really no traffic because it’s a holiday today.  Today also marks the 4th Sacerdotal Ordination Anniversary of my good friend, Fr. Louie Coronel, OP who is also my co-admin  at Apostles Filipino Catholic Community. It was  definitely another day worth remembering – seeing old friends and meeting the Dominican  community in one of their most important gatherings. It was also my first time to meet the Ordaining Prelate , His Eminence Jose Cardinal Sanchez, DD.  The occasion was a solemn one, replete with meaningful moments.  I’ve quite forgotten how lovely an ordination can be since the last time I attended one was so long ago. What I do remember are the solemn profession of  vows made by some FMM (Franciscan Missionaries of Mary) friends two or three years ago.

I am looking forward to the event when all these five Deacons will finally be ordained as priests a few months from now. Fr. Louie told me to attend Lovell’s first mass. I am keeping my fingers crossed. We need to pray for them too, more so, we need to pray for our priests.

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Congratulations Lovell!

We’ve all been waiting for this, Lovell’s Diaconate Ordination which is the next step to priesthood.  I really admire his tenacity, perseverance and love of what he does.  Teaching and preaching – two things that he does best. I won’t be surprised if in the near future, he’d become one of the revered figures of the UST academe.

Congratulations Lovell, I am so proud of you.  Happy Diaconate Ordination!

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What Can I Give You This Christmas?

I can’t believe it, it’s a little more than a month to go before the much awaited Christmas Day. Advent begins this coming Sunday. I always look forward to the season, my favorite celebration of the year.  It seems as if November is barreling towards us like the “hanging amihan” which started yesterday, so we expect cold mornings from now on.  But this month is so far a blessed month for me. Aside from Nissa’s wedding last week, we are all looking forward to the Diaconate Ordination of our good friend and an adopted son at the end of the month. Lovell is a dear older brother to my two kids. It’s another event that brings November to a  close.

Sometimes, I ask myself what gifts I could give to my family that they will really appreciate. Gift-giving during the Christmas season is as old as time itself , it symbolizes our show of love for our family and close friends. And it makes us remember that the season of love is the perfect time to show that  it is not just the ritual of  gift-giving itself that is important, we should bear in mind that we celebrate Christmas because we are happy that the Christ-child has come. Some of us sometimes forget that it is His most important day because at times like this, we are also busy with other concerns, parties here and there, going out with friends, shopping, planning on Christmas menus and everything that to us, symbolize Christmas.  Christmas is a family celebration. Christmas is a time for reconciliation with people who have in one way hurt us in the past or who we have hurt.

We haven’t put up the Christmas tree yet, another family ritual that we do every year. And for the first time in so many years, I haven’t bought any gift yet for family and friends.  Around this time every year, most of the gifts which I buy early are already wrapped. I got caught in the frenzy of wedding preparations for my daughter, and it’s only now that I feel the fatigue and stress, there are still lots of things to do.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that by first week of December, I am done with Christmas shopping and grocery shopping for our traditional noche buena.

Just don’t forget the love, because that is what Christmas is all about.

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