Counting our Blessings

It was the day after Christmas when Maria Fe and her 8-year old daughter, Martina Dominique approached me after my 6 AM mass. She is the wife of Mario Reburiano, a former seminary aspirant and now the President of its Alumni Organization. She wanted me to bless her beautiful girl. I thought it was her birthday. “No, Father. Bless her for the gift of another life!”

On Christmas eve, Martina was in the kitchen to wipe her hands in preparation for Noche Buena few minutes before midnight. Suddenly a stray bullet pierced through their roof hitting the plastic crown she was wearing. The bullet was deflected by it and slightly grazed through her head leaving a small lump that caused her pain. The impact threw her backwards and she cried out “Mom I’m hit!” At first Maria Fe could not understand what happened to her as she clasped her head with both hands. When the Yaya saw the 9 millimeter slug lying on the floor, it was then that Maria Fe felt a deep angst rising within her. She felt a mixture of fear and anger which subsided when the incident was not really fatal. “It’s really a miracle, Father.” She attributes the miracle to Mama Mary and St. Dominic Savio, Martina’s patron saint.

Indeed, it was a blessing of a new life!

As the year 2009 ends, it’s a moment to be grateful. It’s a time to look back at the year that was and count our blessings. Whatever is our circumstance in life, we always have a choice. We can choose to see the good side or the bad side. We can choose to see the bright side or the dark side.

It is faith that allows us to see the good and the bright side of life. Only a person of faith can truly say: thank you Lord! The story of Job is a classic example. Though he was tried and tested in a most life-threatening way at the end of it all he could still exclaim: “The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away. Blest be the name of the Lord!”

Think about how rich we are, not just materially. Our riches does not consist only of tangible things. As the “Little Prince” in Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s book would say: “What is essential is invisible to the eye.” Our treasure also consists of a lot of intangible stuffs. Let us count our blessings as the year ends.

Life is a gift. This is the very first blessing of which all the others flow. Manny Pacquiao recently celebrated his birthday at General Santos City. He was thankful for his gift of life as he shared his blessings to 1,500 guests. During his speech, he revealed the secret of his success. According to him, when he was not yet a champion and he was starting his career he had a talk with God. And God promised him “strength and power.” True or not, these are the kinds of stuff legends are made of. The gift of life is the fount of all success.

Our family is priceless. Among our greatest treasure, our family should be the most brilliant diamond. Our family is like that goose that lays golden eggs. To keep it coming, we need to take care to the goose, nurture it and nourish it. Failing to do so will ultimately bring the goose to death. So too with our family. We need to build it, sustain it and form it. Despite its imperfections, we still love our family and are proud to belong to it.

Health is wealth. Some people actually lose their health to make money and when they have much money they lose it again to gain back their health. It’s crazy! All we need is to put balance in our life. Each in its proper importance whether its work, home, friends and leisure.

Faith gives life a better perspective. Life becomes absurd if seen only in its horizontal plane. Its daily grind and drudgery would be devoid of meaning unless seen from the vertical perspective. From the eyes of faith, our life becomes meaningful with its sense of mission and challenge. Keeping the faith brings in the daily energizer, enthusiasm and excitement. A new day is a new adventure to keep this world a better place than yesterday.

Christmas Story

Our college seminarians of Don Bosco Formation Center have gone caroling to their families, friends and benefactors. They sing and dance. They wear their biggest smiles and keep a 100% performance level when they go to these homes despite tiredness in doing routine choreographed-steps five or six times sometimes at late hours. But each performance is different. In every home they have a meaningful message to tell. They share the joy of the yuletide season. They re-tell the Christmas story to keep it alive today.

The attitude of faith and welcome is so heart-warming in each of the families in opening their doors to the carolers. Some offer something or none at all. Others provide dinner. One could simply sense the happiness the short visit has brought them. The welcome is spurred by the belief that God will shower more blessings on the more disposed recipients. The caroling ends with a blessing for the family.

Indeed, December is the merriest of months. And reason for all these is the story behind Christmas. We recall the birth of an extraordinary child. The focus of this celebration is the manger where God was born in time. We continue to tell and re-tell the story because until now this tale continues to amaze us. It is far different from a movie we watch like Spiderman, Harry Potter or Twilight where the characters are mere figment of the writers’ imagination. These personalities have only virtual existence. But the account of a God-made-man is for real. It is a tale of love which is larger than life.

I have spent four years in the land of Jesus. The Salesian Theological Institute where I studied was only about 6 kilometers away from Bethlehem which remains a picturesque and mountainous town. It is also about 9 kilometers from the historically important city of Jerusalem. The first time I visited the Church of the Nativity was unforgettable. From the so-called Manger Square, we passed by a large paved courtyard where we entered a small entrance. I was surprised that a big church could have such a small entrance where only one person at a time could pass. Not only that. The entrance is quite low that each person who passes needs to stoop or bow to enter it.

Later it was explained that the entrance was purposely constructed that way during troubles times in the fifteenth century to prevent horses from entering the church avoiding desecration. The entrance was never renovated since then to accommodate a more symbolic meaning: a pilgrim who enters the church of the nativity must learn to humble himself or herself like Christ.

The story of Christmas is a tale of God’s humility. St. Paul in writing to the Christians of Philippi encouraged them “Your attitude must be like that of Christ: Though He was in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance. He humbled himself becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:5-8). Christ’s self-emptying is referred to in Greek as “Kenosis.” It is this kenosis or utmost humility that Christmas challenges us to reflect as we pattern our lives to Christ.

My first Christmas Eve in the Holy Land of December 1993 was spent inside the Grotto of the Nativity. While in the Manger Square different choirs from all over the world were singing joyous Christmas carols, I found myself with hundreds of other pilgrims inside the cave where Jesus was born. The white marble floor on one side of the cave indicated it with a 14-pointed silver star bearing the words “Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary.” But the atmosphere inside was different. It was reflective meditative. There was silence and faith-filled contemplation of God’s tremendous and amazing love.

The Christmas story will be forever fresh and forceful every year because God’s love continues to be faithful and true. God’s love did not give up despite repeated sin. It does not give up now and it will always endure until that day when the sun will no longer shine. But God’s love will shine even brighter come what may.