Binhi sang Pagtuo
December 28, 2009
Dear Centralians and Friends,
Greetings from Iloilo!
Traditionally, December 28 is celebrated in the Philippines as Innocents’ Day – a memorial day in honor of the massacred children during the week when Jesus was born. The slaughter was ordered by King Herod – a power-hungry leader who will do anything to maintain his position.
Oftentimes Niños Inocentes is celebrated as a day to make pranks and jokes, and when the hapless victim fell for it, the prankster will proclaim “Happy Innocents Day.” This memorial day has sometimes become like an April Fools Day. It is good to laugh but not on the expense of others. We dishonor the memory of the innocent children if we will not celebrate their martyrdom.
In retrospect the first Christmas weeks were probably not as joyous like our celebration today. Hundreds, if not thousands, of families were mourning the death of their innocent children, and Joseph, Mary and Jesus were forced to escape the wrath of Herod to Egypt.
At the end of this year, let us ask ourselves some questions – “Am I trying to kill Jesus because I don’t want him to be the king of my life?” “Am I forcing Jesus to flee from my life because I don’t want him to change my way of life?” Let us hope that we can answer it honestly, and let us ask God’s forgiveness on our murderous intent on Jesus and in our refusal to accept his message.
May God bless us all! Let us have a happy new year as we celebrated God’s faithfulness, mercy and goodness in our lives!
Sincerely,
Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on
Assistant Chaplain
p.s.
Thank you very much for reading our weekly reflection. I appreciate your comments through email and facebook. To those who emailed and bounced, I’m very sorry. I’m going to check my googlegroups account. Kindly email me directly at cpuchaplain@gmail.com
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