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Father Moderator's Christmas Message 2021

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 2021

OUR SAVIOR IS BORN!

“Through the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace!” (Canticle of Zechariah)

These comforting words capture the message that we so much need as we celebrate Christmas this year 2021.  The world continues to reel from the threats of the present pandemic and we here in the Philippines, have just been ravaged by the strong typhoon Odette which left hundreds of thousands of our brothers and sisters without homes and basic needs. 

It is in this context of challenges, that we celebrate Christmas this year. Christmas is a celebration of God’s manifestation in this world of darkness, suffering, and death to bring light, healing, and life. Christmas reminds us that Christ came into this world not only to set us free from spiritual bondage but from every form of bondage.  Christmas reminds us that Christ came into this world to live among us, giving us the assurance of “God with Us”. 

In a world still beset by the present pandemic, where we are distanced from one another, living in isolation, separated from friends, families, relatives, and co-workers, and in the midst of the aftermath of the typhoon Odette, where many still languish and are helpless where to find even their basic needs, Christmas gives us assurance that the Emmanuel God came down to live with us, so that we are not alone, not isolated, not distanced, but in fellowship with God who is “with us” always and shares in our suffering and who Himself will bring us out of the present misery.

Christmas is and will only meaningfully be about Jesus.  The little child in the manger who brought salvation to the world.  Our joy this Christmas, our joy at the coming of the savior will be misplaced when there is no consciousness of the pervading darkness that needs enlightenment and direction; when there is no consciousness of the deep sadness and the overpowering loneliness which need the Emmanuel, the God who will be with us no matter what.  As missionaries, we bring in us Jesus, who is Emmanuel, God-with us, who on that first Christmas eve, allowed Himself to be a helpless little child.  Our challenge this Christmas is to remember and remind others that God revealed Himself in human form and came to us, to meet us at the point of our struggles and our search for meaning in life.  May we too become bearers of this little child. 

Our Savior is born!  Light begins to dawn…may it shine on us and guide us towards the path of mission we are called today.

MAY WE ALL HAVE A HOLY and BLESSED CHRISTMAS! 

Fr. Jonathan N. Germinanda, MSP

Father Moderator

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