2014/12/25

What Makes Our Christmas Get-Together Special?

Is it in knowing that your parents are both healthy if you discard their hi-blood, diabetes, athritis and a slew of other OA symptoms?




Is it in sharing a low-fat, low-cholesterol meal with everybody from the moment the Noche Buena dishes are cooked until the wee hours in the morning?




Is it the exchange gifts that we have thought over and over a few weeks before hoping to make sure our monito-monita will like it?



Is it the growing-up and soon-to-be increasing count of the fun and hyper-energetic nephews and nieces?


Truth be told, we are a quite diverse family with all the occasional ups-and-downs, little misunderstandings here and then resulting to some tampuhan like any typical (imperfect) family. But deep in our hearts, we will surely choose our "crazy" family over other "ideal" family because these beautiful, wonderful persons are God's gifts to each one of us. We are God's family to each other.



So what makes our Christmas get-together special?

First and foremost - God.
A close second - Family.

Merry Christmas to All.

2014/12/18

Christ is Christmas

Our family loves our gold fish.

We bought them last January for Zek’s 10th birthday. Well, actually, both he and Aim really wanted a puppy, a cat and a pair of birds….and a horse..and a pig…and lots of chickens. In short, they dreamt of putting up a petting farm inside our 40 square meter flat. Heaven forbid that their dream come to fulfilment for I dread competing with a pig in my snoring-sleep and walking over those nose-wrenching organic wastes on our floor. Not to mention the angry petitioners from our neighbors who’d swear this weren’t their idea of city-living when they bought their flat-units.

Anyway, for almost a year now, we have the serene, quiet and well-behaved companionship of our fish in the safe confines of a fish-bowl. We clean it regularly. We placed white sand and a few rocks. We are adding some water plants now and then. Zek intently observes the fish behaviour and throws out random questions like – “Why do they keep opening their mouth as if they are talking me?” or “Don’t they get tired of swimming?” Aim, on the other hand, often fights his great urge to dip his small hand into the bowl and scare the wits out of them by creating a mini whirpool.

And as for me, I do marvel at how they waited like clockwork for their feeding time. They would make a surface-up group-swim everytime they see the green round container that holds their fish food. They would squish and squash around and get really excited.

Aren’t we also excited this time?
Well, we should be.
It’s barely a week to Christmas day.

The tell-tale signs have been showing the past weeks. Promo sales here and there. Heavy-traffic doubling in size and duration. Malls and houses decorated. Streetlights adorned with colourful flashing lights. People buying gifts. Parties and dinners being held left and right and “diet” is declared a fallacy. Airports at full-capacity due to arriving holiday-makers. Santa is a common sight around. People put up a better effort to be nice.

But here is a last-few-day reminder for us to be really excited for the right reason.
More than two-thousand years ago, our God of love has fulfilled His promise.
In a few days we will celebrate the incarnation of our only salvation.

So how should we show our genuine excitement?
On these days, we must share our joy and our blessings to our less-fortunate neighbors.
On these days, we must sing songs of joy to Him, receive Him through the sacraments and celebrate His Holy Eucharist.
On these days, we must find the elusive time to be quiet alone with Him and in the silence of our heart - talk to Him, thank Him, praise Him.

Jesus Christ, our God and Redeemer.
We love you.

Merry Christmas to all of us.