the joy of christmas

on my first official day of Christmas vacation i notice that my Christmas countdown has now dwindled down into a single digit number less than five. yes, four more days till Christmas.

i remember when i was a kid, the tree would literally be bursting with presents and i'd secretly peek through the wrapping to know what material goodies I'd have this year. in an attempt to curb my need for temptation, my mom would allow me to only "open" ONE gift per day starting on the night of simbang gabi. of course i wouldn't open the gifts entirely, only enough to know if the contents would be a toy, a dress, a bag, etc. that was how excited i was about Christmas! everything would be different, even the weather cooperated by blowing cool gusts of wind and making the stars twinkle brighter. this particular holiday is my favorite one.

fast forwarding to ten years later, i find myself once more being that starstruck and fascinated child. although there are exponentially less gifts to secretly open this year, the abundance of friends and memories make up for the lack. examining how my year has been, i am happy to report that although it has been rough and very challenging, i find myself to be stronger albeit lazier.

yesterday during philosophy class, my very hard to please teacher afforded me a compliment that perhaps other people would find weird. our topic of discussion was levinas and evil & christmas and evil. at the end of a lengthy monologue he asked the class in passing what season of the liturgical calendar are we celebrating right now. and without thinking i answered "advent". and he looked at me and continued asking "which we celebrate for how long?" in reply i said "four weeks", and he returned " and on the third sunday we celebrate..." and i answered "gaudete Sunday". (and here the compliment enters) he ends our verbal sparring by saying "yes as Isabel from ACMG said we celebrate on the third Sunday of advent gaudete....". the words "as isabel from acmg said.." rang in my head as a form of praise. here was a teacher that seemed so untouchable, because of reputation, noticed my vocation in life: to lead a life that is God centered and God filled. to equate my name to that of an organization that shares this vocation was high praise indeed.

those few words brightened up my day. because even if i had a finance test to worry about three hours later, or a blister on my foot that hurt like hell, here was someone who saw, in a way, that i was making something of my life: something that is productive and not wasteful. actually the point of this whole rant is to share to all those who might glance upon this, the realization sir jc uy imparted to us with the violent use of BABEL. that despite all the pain and hate and discomfort we feel in life, love is always there to be found. love may never be on time when we need it but it is there fleetingly to caress aches and pains of our human souls. (okay those aren't his words per se im sharing them to you in how i understood them)

and that is my Christmas gift to all of you: in the joy of Christmas and in a time of happiness let us not forget those who are less fortunate and less graced. let us be the quicksilver love that they will experience during our gaudete as Christians. merry Christmas to all! :)