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Category: Christmas Season

  • When the Word Walks with Us

    When the Word Walks with Us

    December 25, 2025 – The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Mass during the Day

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122525-Day.cfm)

    One Christmas morning, years ago, after a long Misa de Aguinaldo, a parishioner shared a simple story with me. After the Noche Buena, their family was already tired and sleepy. Food was still on the table, children were dozing off, and the elders were quietly chatting. Suddenly, there was a knock on their door. It was a neighbor who lived alone and whose house had burned down a few days earlier. He did not ask for food or money. He only said, “Pwede makilingkod? Aron duna koy maka-istorya karong Pasko.” And so, they made space, reheated food, and listened. Later, the mother of the family said, “Now I understand that in Christmas, it is not only about preparing food, but preparing for someone.”

    That simple moment captures the heart of Christmas Day. After all the lights, songs, and celebrations, Christmas asks us one quiet but deep question. What happens when God truly comes close to us?

    The first reading from Isaiah speaks of beautiful feet, feet that bring good news, peace, and salvation. This image is very concrete. God does not shout His message from the sky. He sends messengers who walk, who travel dusty roads, who enter villages, and who speak hope where it is most needed. For a people who had known suffering, defeat, and exile, this message was life-giving: “Your God reigns. You are not forgotten. Salvation is near.”

    This resonates deeply with us as Filipinos. We are a people who value presence. We walk long distances just to visit loved ones. Our students here at MSU-Marawi have to travel for many hours to get home. Thus, we show up even when it is inconvenient. And in moments of crisis like typhoons, earthquakes, and sickness, we know how powerful it is when someone simply arrives and says, “I am here.” Isaiah reminds us that this is how God comes to us, close, personal, and real.

    Moreover, the second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews takes this even further. It tells us that in the past, God spoke through prophets in many ways. But now, God speaks to us through His Son. This means that God no longer sends only messages. God sends Himself. Jesus is not just a teacher of God’s word. He is God’s Word made visible. He is the image of the invisible God.

    Then we hear the Gospel according to John, perhaps the most profound Christmas Gospel of all. There is no manger, no shepherds, no angels singing. Instead, John proclaimed, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.… and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

    This is a bold declaration. God chose to enter human life fully. God accepted our limits, our struggles, our wounds, and even our rejection.

    And here is the painful truth that the Gospel does not hide, John continued to proclaim, “He came to his own, but his own did not accept him.” Christmas is not always welcomed. Sometimes, God comes knocking, and we are too busy, too distracted, or too comfortable to notice.

    Yet the Gospel does not end there. It says, “To those who did accept him, he gave power to become children of God.” This is the gift of Christmas Day. Not just forgiveness. Not just our comfort and good tiding. But a new identity. We are no longer strangers. We are family, sisters and brothers!

    This leads us to this reality that Christmas is God choosing to walk with us so that we may learn how to walk with one another.

    Remember, the Word became flesh not to remain distant, but to be encountered in our everyday life, there in our conversations, relationships, and in our choices. Jesus is present when we speak truth with kindness, when we choose honesty over convenience, and when we open space for those who feel unseen.

    Today, as families and friends gather again, Christmas invites us to reflect. Why? Because it is possible to have a full Noche Buena but an empty heart. It is possible to celebrate loudly and lavishly but love indifferently. The Word became flesh so that our faith would not remain an idea, but will become our way of life.

    In our country today, many people long for good news. Not slogans. Not promises. But real good news. Indeed, as Filipinos, we long for news that restores dignity, that defends truth, that protects the poor, the conversion of the corrupt leaders and that builds peace. Isaiah speaks of messengers with beautiful feet. However, this Christmas Day asks us, “Can our lives become that message?”

    The Word walks with us so that we may walk with integrity. The light shines so that we may reflect it. And so, grace is given to us, so that it may be shared.

    As the celebration continues beyond this Mass, let us remember that Christmas does not end today. It begins today, in how we live, speak, choose and relate with one another. Hinaut pa.

  • When A Child, A Love becomes more present

    When A Child, A Love becomes more present

    December 24, 2025 – The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Mass during the Night

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122525-Night.cfm)

    Several years ago, after a strong typhoon hit a coastal town in Samar, a reporter interviewed a family whose house had been completely destroyed by Yolanda. The roof was gone, the walls had collapsed, and almost everything they owned was washed away. When asked where they would celebrate Christmas, the father smiled gently and said, “Dito pa rin. Magkakasama naman kami.” That night, with only a small candle, a few cups of rice, and neighbors gathered around, they shared a simple meal and prayed. There were no Christmas lights, no gifts, and no loud music but certainly, there was warmth, laughter, and gratitude. In that very fragile home, Christmas still happened, because love was present.

    That story captures something deeply close to us Filipinos and deeply Christian. Christmas, for us, is not about having everything complete or perfect. It is about being together. Meaning, it is about presence. And tonight, as we celebrate the Nativity of the Lord, the Church proclaims a truth that speaks directly to our hearts that God chose to be present with us, especially in our darkness. And so, let us explore our readings how love becomes more present into our realities.

    The first reading from Isaiah, it speaks to a people who knew what darkness felt like. They were burdened by fear, oppression, and uncertainty about the future. Life was heavy, and hope seemed far away. Yet, God speaks words of promise to them. God tells them that a great light will shine upon those who walk in darkness, and that this light will come not as an idea or a feeling, but as a child. A son will be born, and through him peace, justice, and hope will take root again. This makes love ever more present.

    This promise is not only for the people of long ago. Many us, Filipinos, today also walk in darkness of different kinds. Darkness comes in the form of rising prices of commodities, unstable work, broken relationships, systemic corruption that wounds our nation, and personal struggles we quietly carry. Some families celebrate Christmas tonight with heavy hearts, worried about tomorrow or missing loved ones who are far away, sick, or gone. And into this reality, the Word of God speaks clearly to us by not waiting for darkness to disappear before He comes. Rather, the Lord enters the darkness and brings light from within. This makes love ever more present.

    In fact, the Gospel of Luke shows us how this light arrived. God did not choose Rome or a palace, but Bethlehem. He did not announce the birth to kings or the powerful, but to shepherds. They were ordinary people who worked at night and lived on the margins. The angel’s words to them are tender and direct, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy for all the people.” This joy is not selective. It is offered to everyone, especially to those who feel small, tired, and forgotten. And this makes love ever more present.

    Indeed, the child is born in simplicity, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. This tells us something important about God’s heart. God does not come to overpower us. He comes close enough to be welcomed, trusted, and loved. In the vulnerability of the child Jesus, we see a God who chooses closeness over control, compassion over display, and gentleness over power. This makes love ever more present.

    Saint Paul, in his letter to Titus, helps us understand what this means for our daily life. He tells us that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, and that this grace teaches us how to live. Christmas grace is not passive. It invites us to turn away from what destroys life and to choose what builds and nourishes life. The birth of Christ is not only something we remember now. Christmas should rather shape how we live and decide as Christians.

    This leads us to the heart of tonight’s message that Christmas is the moment when God’s light enters our ordinary lives so that we may live differently and fully. God’s light enters homes where patience is tested, relationships are strained, and forgiveness feels difficult. God’s light enters communities where honesty and integrity are challenged and where doing what is right often costs something. God’s light enters a nation longing for healing, justice, and peace. And when that light enters this makes love ever more present.

    Moreover, the shepherds showed us how to respond to this light. They did not delay or made excuses. They went, they saw, and they believed. After encountering the child, they returned to their work, but they returned being changed by that encounter. They carried joy, wonder, and praise back into their ordinary lives. Christmas did not remove them from reality, it rather, transformed how they lived within it. This makes love ever more present in them.

    This is also our challenge tonight. After this Mass, we will return to our homes, into our routines, and our responsibilities. The question is not whether Christmas will end, but whether its light will continue in us. And so, Will the child born in the manger be seen in our words, our choices, our priorities, and our relationships?

    In a society where anger spreads quickly and truth is often compromised, Christmas calls us to be a people of light. In families where silence and resentment have grown, Christmas calls us to be bridges of reconciliation. In a country where many feel powerless, Christmas reminds us that God often begins renewal through small but faithful acts done with love so that it becomes more present in us.

    Remember what the angels proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace.” That peace grows when hearts choose humility, compassion, and courage. Tonight, God has come home to us not to demand perfection, but to walk with us and transform us from within.

    And so, let us welcome Jesus not only with songs and decorations, or with our Noche Buena and parties, but with lives willing to carry His light beyond this night so that love becomes ever more present and concrete in our lives.

    And so, I invite you to pray with me this prayer as I end this reflection. Together…

    Lord Jesus, Light of the world, come into our homes this Christmas. Stay with us in our joys and in our struggles. Heal what is broken among us, soften our hearts, and teach us to love as You love. May our family become a place where Your light is seen, Your peace is felt, and Your presence is shared with others. Amen.

    Merry Christmas everyone!

  • God is Home with Us 

    God is Home with Us 

    December 24, 2025 – Vigil Mass of the Nativity of the Lord

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122525-Vigil.cfm)

    Every Filipino knows that Christmas is not complete without family. Even those who live far away will try their best to come home. Some travel for hours, others for days. We brave traffic, long lines, delayed trips, and empty wallets, just to sit again at the same table. And when we finally arrive, there is always that familiar scene: food that overflows but for some it may seem never enough but somehow feeds everyone, relatives teasing each other, stories repeated every year, and laughter that makes the house feel alive again. Sometimes it is chaotic, sometimes noisy, sometimes even tiring but we still say, “Lahi ra gyud ang Pasko kung kumpleto atong pamilya.”

    Tonight, as we celebrate the Vigil Mass of the Nativity of the Lord, the Church tells us something very simple and very deep that Christmas is God coming home to us. Not as a guest who stays for a while, but as family who chooses to stay, who chooses to be with us.

    The first reading from Isaiah speaks of joy and restoration. The people had suffered exile, loss, and shame. They felt abandoned. But God speaks to them with tenderness. He tells them that they will no longer be called forsaken, no longer desolate. God delights in them. God rejoices over them like a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. This is not the language of a distant God. This is the language of love. God does not just fix things from afar. He commits Himself. He binds His joy to the joy of His people.

    The Psalm continues this promise. God speaks of a covenant that will last forever. His kindness will not be taken back. His faithfulness will remain. For a people who experienced broken promises from leaders, from systems, even from family, this assurance mattered deeply. God is saying, “I am not leaving. I am staying with you. I am here for you.”

    Moreover, in the second reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Paul retells the long story of God’s faithfulness. As God chose the people, God also raised leaders. God guided them patiently, even when they failed. And from this long history, God brings forth a Savior, Jesus. This reminds us that Christmas did not happen suddenly. It was prepared through generations of ordinary people. Some of those were faithful, some weak, some confused but all held by God’s mercy.

    This brings us to the Gospel of Matthew. Instead of beginning with angels and shepherds, Matthew starts with a long list of names which we have already heard on the Second Day of Misa de Aguinaldo. At first glance, it may sound boring. But if we listen carefully, this genealogy tells us something powerful. God chose to enter a family line that is imperfect. There are saints and sinners, kings and outsiders, faithful men and broken ones. This is not a clean story but a very human story.

    In this lineage we have Joseph, a man of silence and gentleness. He does not speak a single word in the Gospel. But his actions speak loudly. When he learns that Mary is pregnant, his world collapses. He is hurt, confused, and afraid. He plans to walk away quietly. But God meets him in a dream and asks him to do something difficult. He was called to trust, to stay, to take Mary into his home, and to name the child, Jesus.

    And Joseph obeys. He chooses love over pride. He chooses responsibility over comfort. He chooses faith over fear. And because of that choice, God enters the world not in a palace, but in a home with him and in with Mary.

    Here is the heart of Christmas: God does not save us from a distance. God enters our story and becomes part of our family. Thus, Emmanuel, the God-with-us, is not an idea. It is a reality lived in the middle of human weakness, confusion, and our ordinary life.

    This is why Christmas speaks so deeply to us Filipinos. We know what it means to hold families together despite poverty, distance, and wounds. We know what it means to forgive, to adjust, to endure, just so the family remains whole. And tonight, through the birth of Jesus our Lord, God tells us, “That is exactly how I love you.”

    But Christmas is not only meant to touch our hearts. It is meant to change how we live. It is meant to transform us.

    In our country today, many families are struggling. In fact, in the recent SWS Survey as of September 2025, the study found 50% of Filipino Families considered themselves poor.[1] In addition to that, there are also some tables are missing loved ones because of migration, sickness, conflict, or recent deaths. Many homes carry unspoken wounds like misunderstandings, resentment, and long silence. There are families divided by politics, money, and pride. There are also homes where joy has been replaced by survival.

    Into all of this, God still comes. Not to judge, but to heal us. Not to condemn, but to stay with us. But God also invites us to respond. We are not meant to stay passive.

    And Joseph teaches us that welcoming Jesus means making space, even when it is inconvenient. Isaiah reminds us that God delights in restoring what is broken. The genealogy reminds us that God works through imperfect families. And Jesus’ birth tells us that love becomes real when it chooses to commit and stay.

    So tonight, Christmas asks us one honest question, Is there room for God to be born in our family, not just in our decorations, but in our relationships?

    God comes home to us so that our homes may become places of mercy, patience, and hope. When we forgive, God is born. When we choose to stay instead of walk away, God is born. When we protect life, dignity, and truth, God is born. When we choose honesty and uphold what is just, God is born.

    Indeed, Christmas is God choosing to stay with us, so that we may learn to stay with one another.

    As we celebrate tonight , exchange our joyful Christmas greetings and gifts, and gather around our tables, may we remember that the greatest gift is already here. God is home with us.

    And so, I leave you one invitation. This Christmas, choose one relationship in your family where you will take the first step toward healing through forgiveness, listening, or simply by being present. Let that be your way of welcoming Christ into your home. Hinaut pa.

    [1] https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2132072/half-of-filipinos-consider-themselves-poor-sws-survey-shows

  • In HUMILITY

    In HUMILITY

    January 5, 2025 – Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010525.cfm)

    A man once asked a wise priest: “Father, how come unlike before God seems to be not talking or speaking to us anymore?” The priest replied: “It is not that God is not anymore talking or speaking to us. But rather it is that nowadays nobody are humble enough to stoop down to listen to Him. Nowadays…nobody… are humble enough… to stoop down … to listen to Him. Bihira nalang ngayong panahon ang mga tao na lumalapit sa Kanya na may pagpakumbaba upang marinig Siya at makinig sa Kanya. Niining panahon pipila nalang ang mapaubsanon nga nangaliyupo sa pagpaminaw Kaniya

    True enough that there are times in our lives that God seems to be silent and absent to us. But during those moments of our frustrations and hopelessness with God, perhaps it is better to consider not His seeming absence or silence, but rather perhaps that we have reach already too far and high in life that we don’t anymore get near and low enough to listen to Him. Siguro napakataas at napalayo na ng ating narating na hindi na tayo lumalapit at may pakumbabang makinig sa Kanya at marinig Siya.

    For the past Sundays, during Advent and these Christmas Seasons, we come to know a number of people who became involved in the birth story of Jesus and happened to encounter God and begun to know God’s will for them in life. Mary met God through angel Gabriel and became the mother of Jesus. Through a dream, Joseph became responsible foster-father of Jesus. Zecharias became the father of John, after meeting an angel in his old age. Elizabeth became pregnant with John also in her old age after his husband encounter with the angel. Shepherds saw and learned from an angel that God’s gift to all has been borne in Bethlehem and they became witnesses (godfathers’ or ninong) of baby Jesus. And now in our gospel, the three kings come to know where baby Jesus, God-promised they have been searching, through an omen of  bright-guiding star. All these people and their experiences are telling us that God had made Himself and His will know to them, and God will always continue to make manifest Himself and His will to us until now.

    Same way as before, we might experience once again God and His will for us now, if and when we honor our dreams, listen to God’s word and witness His works actions in us shown to us by his angels or messengers. God still continues to manifest or reveal to us in many ways through the faith and actions of our community and church as we share each other God’s word, good advice, kind and loving service with others, and responsible guidance and parenthood of our elders and leaders. Even in a special way for us Filipino Catholic, we sense God through our kalooban and pangdama. Kilala ko siya dahil dama ko Siya. Malapit ang loob ko sa kanyang salita at gawa.

    Today, in the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, marks the end of Christmas Season. Today is to remind us that more than about the three Kings, God is still making Himself and His will know to us. He is still reaching out and communicating to us in many many ways. He is still talking and speaking to us, like before. All we need to do is to be humble enough to stoop down to listen and be sensitive to Him and His ways of revealing Himself to us.

    Moreover, Epiphany also reminds us that once we become humble enough to sense, hear, and honor God and His will to us now, we must change our ways. After meeting the baby Jesus, the magi went back in their journey following different path. This would mean that once we listen and honor God’s will for us, life will never be the same again, for it has to change for the better. Simply, God’s revelations requires our humility to follow & obey His better plans for us.

    As we say goodbye to Christmas season, may we be more sensitive to God’s continuing revelations to us (His ways of making Himself and His will know to us) and be more humble & open enough to be changed and be responsible for the gift of life God is offering us now and always.

    So be it. Amen.

  • PARENTING 101

    PARENTING 101

    December 29, 2024 – Feast of the Holy Family

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122924.cfm)

    In every Wednesday novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help, one intention we pray is that we may learn to adapt to our growing children. Parenthood, as we all know, is not only about raising children but also adjusting to our growing children. Thus to parent a child is more than just caring for the growth of the children; it is also adjusting and learning in the process, as children grow in maturity and age.

    As Redemptorist missionary involved in parish, retreat, mission and migrant ministry. For many years, though not a parent myself, I came to be aware of the difficulties of parenthood. In as much as adapting to life-changes is difficult, how much more adapting to growing children. In confessions and counseling sessions with faithful people, I become conscious of the hurts & pains suffered by both parents and children alike in their difficulties with parenthood.

    Parents hurt by their children’s disobedience, i.e. going against their will; children blaming their parents for their misfortunes in life. All because of our limitations in parenthood. Parenthood indeed is not an easy task rightly so that we pray to OMPH that we may learn from our experiences of adapting to the growth of our growing children.

    Today, we honor the Holy Family, the family who parented the child Jesus. Our gospel tells us that like any other family, the Holy Family also experienced the difficulties of parenthood. Joseph and Mary followed the proper traditions of raising the child Jesus. They did their best. But as we all know, they also experience how Jesus became disobedient to them, going against their will.

    Surely parents here could relate with Joseph & Mary, and know the hurts, pains and anxieties they experience when children start to grow up and be on their own. Like my mother would say, when we, her children became independent from her, “Kung puede palang ibalik sa tiyan.” (If I could only bring you back in my womb…) It is the same way with the experience of a chicken hen that raises ducks as her chicks. When the duck-chicks, which by nature a swimmer, start to swim and float on a pond, the mother hen would be extremely worried because she cannot swim and she gets anxious that her chicks will get drowned.

    This is also what and how Joseph and Mary experienced parenting Jesus. When the child Jesus began to grow up in age & maturity, his parents also experienced the difficulties of parenthood. However, the Holy Family’s experience could teach us more about parenting, in view of adapting to our growing children.

    First, parenthood is a family matter, not only of parents. To parent a family is not only about the husband and wife tandem in raising their children but it is more on the dynamic teamwork between parents and children. If it was difficult for Mary and Joseph to raise and adjust with Jesus, it was also difficult for Jesus to grow up in his own family. In as much as being parent is difficult, we also know that growing up maturely (to be on our own) is difficult. If Jesus only obey his parents’ will,  we wonder: would we be able to benefit from and share with the salvation God has given us through Jesus, who did not remain a child of Mary and Joseph but become our Christ, our Savior? Surely Jesus had been an obedient Child to His parent, but above all, Jesus became an obedient adult Christ to our God, the Father.

    Second, parenthood is also about trusting in God’s way of raising and forming all of us His children. Inasmuch as we are tasked to parent to our little ones, raising and adapting to their growth, we must never forget that ultimately God is our Father – our ultimate Parent, and we are all His children. If we want the best for our children, God also knows, wants and does what is best for each one of us. God knows what was best for us when we were children, surely, he knows what is best for us when we become mature adult parent to His little ones. So trust and have faith in God’s will, in God’s way of parenting us.

    Photo from YoungCatholic.com

    To parent a child is to work together then with one another as family of parents and children as well as to work with and in deep faith and trust of God’s way of parenting us. Perhaps these days we consider:  “What kind of parent we have been? What is your parenting styles? Have you been a CARPENTER parent who designs, measures, builds up & wills what is best for your children? Or are you a GARDENER parent who prepares, tends, & cares for God’s child in you growing to be a blooming, budding & fruitful blessing for all, God intended our children to be? What need to be improved then, as we learn to adapt to our growing God’s children with us?

    Christmas challenges us Christian to be responsible parents of Jesus in our lives today. Parenting our growing children is also our way of being responsible to Jesus, God’s Word made flesh in us. As we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family, we pray that the Holy Family will continue to inspire all Christian families and communities in parenting our growing children. Amen.