Ranting away...

December 2004
“Thanks be to God.”
I murmur under my breath as the mass ends. People start filing out of the chapel, and soon I’m jostling along with them, heading for the exit.
I step out into the night and a light drizzle greets me… cold droplets pelting my face and arms. Then a cool breeze blows, sending cold shivers down my spine.
I look up to the sky and see a dim, starless night… the starlight smothered by dark, hazy clouds. The moon is the only source of illumination in the nighttime sky tonight… full and bright… a glowing yellow orb just starting to make its way up the distant horizon; its edges blurred and hazy.
I remember the Advent Wreath; its first purple candle lit just a while ago. Yes, the Christmas season is definitely here.
As I make my way home, I find more evidence of the advent of Christmas, aside from the cool weather and lighting of the Advent Wreath. Scattered here and there are houses all aglow, bathed in bright, multi-colored lights. Christmas lights or ‘series lights’ as some like to call them, adorn and sometimes completely cover these houses. Arranged in different shapes and patterns, some blink rhythmically to the tune of popular Christmas songs; others just glow continuously.
These bright and colorful scenes make me remember the town plaza and city hall at night, bathed and covered with thousands of sparkling Christmas lights… a real Christmas wonderland for kids of all ages. All over the city, buildings and establishments are also lighting up the night with their own lights and decorations. And yet… beside these houses and buildings of light are houses that are dark and bleak… gloomy even. Some are well-made, while some are simple and others are made of makeshift materials.
Inside these houses are people who are literally being ‘kept in the dark’ by poverty. Poverty keeps them from celebrating Christmas the traditional way. After all, why hope for food on the table on Christmas Eve when they can’t even get a decent meal three times a day? Why decorate houses with Christmas trees, wreaths, and lights when they don’t even have a decent home to begin with? Some don’t even have a home at all.
It is ironic to note that the monetary value of Christmas lights and decorations and all the electricity they consume could have fed, clothed and provided shelter for the needy, or at least some of them. Furthermore, as businesses anticipate the surge in consumer spending during the holidays, millions of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters won’t be able to go home this Christmas because they have to work abroad. The money they earn will be sent home for the family to spend for Christmas decorations, gifts, and the traditional Noche Buena feast.
This is our celebration of Christmas… materialistic… commercialized… superficial… shallow.
The true meaning – the essence – of Christmas has been lost. We fail to see and feel it because we are too concerned with enjoying ourselves with our family and friends. We lavish our loved ones with the best gifts money can buy while other people’s basic needs are barely met. We are dazzled by Christmas lights and towering Christmas trees, by the best-tasting keso de bolas, hams and cakes, by the fanciful clothes, gift items and parties… all those we see, hear and read being advertised on TV, radio and print media… all material and self-satisfying pursuits… all commercialized… superficial… shallow.
While the rich splurge on Christmas goodies and businesses make millions out of them, the poor don’t feel the Christmas season. They can’t celebrate Christmas the traditional way because they don’t have the money to buy gifts, decorations and to prepare food for the midnight feast. For them, it’s still the same… just an ordinary day.
These sad realities can’t help but make you wonder: where’s the CHRIST in CHRISTmas? A few weeks from now, millions of Christians all over the globe will be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ… feasting on the Noche Buena and giving gifts to family and friends… but does it all have to end there? If we really are Christians with Christ at the center of our lives, can’t we have it in our hearts to share our Noche Buena with those that go hungry on Christmas Eve? Can’t we give gifts to those who really need them?
I snap out of my reverie as I make out the familiar neighborhood and surroundings of our house. The house is devoid of any sort of Christmas decoration, at least for the moment. It is dark and bleak… gloomy even… just like the thoughts plaguing my head. I can’t help but mutter half-sarcastically to myself…
“Merry Christmas...”