Christmas this year

My Christmas this year is not under the christmas tree, not under the mistletoe, not in parties and not boxed and covered in shiny gift-wrappers.

I felt Christmas this year in 9 days of Misa de Galo, in front of the makeshift altar/stage (built for those who live far from the church). I felt it in the people warmly greeting each other, in teeners giving their seats to the elders, in fathers and mothers patiently carrying their babies not minding the weight, in kids guiding their younger siblings, in business people lending seats for the mass attendees and the  kids who help collect and return them without being asked, and eagerly. I felt Christmas in a family who live abroad but attended the mass via webcam, and the rest of her family here who made this happen. Christmas is in her family here who wake up at 3am everyday to prepare the altar/stage, complete with fresh flowers and clean sheets for the altar, and this same family who prepares food for the priest and lay ministers and choir and altar boys and lectors and basically everyone. Christmas is in our new priest who doesn't leave until he has given everyone his blessing, and doesn't mind stopping what he's doing to hear confessions.

I felt Christmas at work, where people went out of their way and cleared up the office desks for the makeshift altar, and for making sure that our celebration of Christmas is not the usual eat-drink-and-be-merry party, but a meaningful one, offering a mass in gratefulness to God for the projects that keep coming, and offering a prayer for the fast recovery of the husbands of two of our employers.

I felt Christmas this year with my friends who, despite that I moved farther away, still made way to see me, who are happy whenever I am there, and went out of their way to cheer me up when I've had a bad day, and whose belief in me never seem to waver, even at times that I'd almost given up.

I feel Christmas in our home, in my siblings and cousins who eagerly wait for the day, and everyone in my family who is happy that I'll be spending Christmas with them this year. And I'm sure it will be here tomorrow, with everyone who visits, with every kids' smile and adult's cheer.

But more importantly, Christmas is in my heart, in remembering what Christmas is really about; the child Jesus born in a manger, to Mary and Joseph, the holy son of our God sent to redeem us. May we all keep the real Christmas within us after the gifts have been opened and the food had been served and savings had been spent. May we keep Christmas long after the holiday break - everyday for the next years to come.