Christendom is agog. They are preparing to celebrate the birth of the Redeemer, which is just around the corner. Although some Christians, who are negligible in number, do not believe in this tale, the rest of Christianity observes the tradition with prayer and festivity.

You can feel the festive air not only in your community, where the streets are adorned with Christmas lanterns, buntings, and other eye-catching bright decorations, but You go to the malls, switch on your radio and television, and you hear the blaring rendition of noels. The malls compete with the attractions they display with intense illumination like klieg lights. The big turn-off is the scroungers, allegedly from the Badjao tribe, knocking on one’s car window begging even if they look hale and healthy enough for employment as laborers or laundrywomen (they claim there are no jobs available, which speaks volumes of the state of the economy).

This is the typical scenario in the Philippines where we overdo the celebration.

Readers, indulge me as I reminisce about yesteryears when I was our country’s envoy to Egypt, geographically a neighbor of Israel.

In the Christmas of 1999, I brought my family on a religious pilgrimage to Al-Aqsa, Islam’s third holiest mosque (the other two mosques are Al-Haram at Mecca and Al-Nabawe at Madinnah, both in Saudi Arabia). This mosque is in the heart of Jerusalem. Keep in mind that the 7 October attack on Israel was called “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” by Hamas.

It was the scene of a desecration of the holy ground some months back when Israeli forces violating the sanctity of the shrine with guns, canes, and rubber bullets drove away devotees performing prayers, injuring scores.  A few meters from the mosque is a sign pointing to a house where the Virgin Mary was born (intentionally marked to emphasize the kinship of Christians and Muslims).

It was Christmas Day, but we did not see any celebration or decorations that could approximate how we Filipinos do it. In fact, we went to Bethlehem, and at the Church of the Nativity, the only decoration we saw was a lone Christmas tree fronting the church with a few lighted-colored bulbs.

The only significant scenario that really touched us was a convoy of SUVs carrying then-President Yasser Arafat, who was escorting his Christian wife to the church, a tradition the great Palestinian leader observed devotedly on Christmas Day. The point I am trying to drive home is that Filipinos are so devoted to the Christian faith and tradition that they tend to overdo the celebration of Christmas. This speaks volumes of the religiosity of Christian Filipinos, which is laudable.

How about war-torn Bethlehem, where Jesus Christ was supposedly born? How can they celebrate amid the death, devastation, and suffering, with some victims still buried under the rubble of bombed-out structures? The picture of the iconic manger — which is a standard display during the Christmas season — quickly brings to mind the images of suffering children crying for their mothers in hospitals that were not spared from the bombing. These heart-rending tales could dampen the celebratory mode of the season.

I came across a video post on social media entitled “Bethlehem Church Alters Nativity Scene In Solidarity with Gaza.” According to the church spokesperson, the celebration of Christmas in Bethlehem has been canceled in solidarity with the Palestinians. “It is impossible to celebrate while our people in Gaza are going through a genocide (and) when our children are being massacred in such a brutal manner.”

They came up with the idea of a “manger amid rubble resembling a destroyed house in Gaza and the child Jesus under the rubble… while the world is celebrating our children are under the rubble (and) our families are displaced and their homes destroyed.”

Is this true? How can you cancel the celebration? One can honor Christmas Day more with prayers in church, at home, or in solitude.

Hearken to John Lennon’s song, “Happy Christmas (War is Over),” with its poignant refrain: “The world is so wrong… Let’s stop all the fight!”

To my readers, Happy Holidays!

amb_mac_lanto@yahoo.com