The holiday clock is ticking. We have less than two weeks before celebrating the Birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day. And like every year except perhaps for the universal doomsday gloom of the Covid years, the Christian world is all agog with the joyful expectations of the usual hubbub that happens every Christmas.

Don’t you feel that Christmas is in the air?

In the Philippines, traditional Christmas songs fill the airwaves as soon as we tune in to our favorite radio stations. For this aging baby boomer, DZRJ-FM 100.3 is always my go-to for a bit of Yuletide nostalgia and pleasant memories that make me smile but, at times, can also make me shed a tear. I can’t get enough of the songs of my favorite Atenean warbler, Jose Mari Chan, whose smooth, melodious voice singing heart-tugging Christmas favorites always marks for me the start of the season of joy.

Then there are the lanterns and colored lights that twinkle, sparkle ever so brightly, and dot the major thoroughfares, village streets, malls, buildings, houses, and trees, which never fail to catch the beaming, longing gazes of passersby. In a few days, church bells will peal at dawn to remind and exhort the faithful to attend Simbang Gabi, a revered Filipino Christmas tradition that serves as an offering to celebrate the coming of the Baby Jesus.

Sadly, the challenging effects of climate change and the world’s continuing struggle to control rising global temperatures might dampen the mood of dawn Mass-goers this year who use the occasion to put on their sweaters to enjoy the usual crisp cool air of December as the temperature still has yet to drop.

It has been unusually hot and humid for us so far. Inflation has also taken the wind out of the Christmas air and has taken a big chunk of the consumer wallet as prices have significantly risen from a low of 119 to today’s high of 124, no thanks to cracks in our supply chain, particularly for basic food commodities and everyday needs. 

But never mind. Indeed, the festivities of Christmas parties happening almost daily can certainly lift one’s spirits, particularly for the triumphant DLSU Archers and, I might add, even for disappointed Ateneans and the heartbroken UP Maroons, who surely will be on the receiving end of friendly banter and teasing from family and friends who don the color of green during these get-togethers.

And, of course, bonuses by now have probably been given, fueling the usual frenzy of last-minute shopping for Christmas gifts for friends and family, particularly loved ones like visiting sons, daughters, parents coming home for a respite from their studies and toils abroad. The traffic of armageddon proportions has already begun as cars crawl, particularly during the morning and evening rush hours, turning thoroughfares like EDSA, C-5, and even the Skyway into a slow-motion mobile car park.

Amid the hustle and bustle of the season, let us not forget why we are celebrating. The cliché answer, of course, is, that Christmas is Jesus Christ’s Birthday! But is it just His Birthday that we are celebrating? We should further ask ourselves, why did He, our All-powerful, Almighty, Omnipotent Creator, choose to come down in our midst to live in poverty, perhaps at best, very simple circumstances like an ordinary human being, experiencing all of life’s pains?

The traffic of armageddon proportions has already begun as cars crawl, particularly during the morning and evening rush hours.

Worse, after healing the sick, feeding the poor, and raising people from death, Jesus allowed Himself to suffer an ignominious Death after first being humiliated, then excruciatingly tortured, and finally crucified on the Cross amid the jeers and taunts of the very people He came to save.

Save from what? Our Christian faith tells us that because of Man’s fall from grace, mankind was doomed to suffering, pain, and the nothingness of dust after our death. But Jesus living among us as both Man and God disproved this when He resurrected from the dead after three days to ascend to Heaven and to sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty from where He will come to judge the living and the dead at the end of time. And because of His love and supreme sacrifice, He has given us hope that there is, after all, life after death. With God’s grace, I look forward to someday finally being reunited with the love of my life.

So, let us all rejoice and celebrate because Christmas is in the air!

Until next week… OBF!

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