Christmas Star

Binhi sang Pagtuo

December 13, 2010

Dear Friends,

Greetings!

Nowadays we can see a lot of stars. We can see it atop the Christmas trees, star-shaped Christmas lights, and of course the traditional parol in the form of a star. We use the symbol of star to remember what happened in the first Christmas story.

What lessons can we learn from the Christmas star?

We must become a guide to people who are searching for Jesus; and we must continue to be seekers of Jesus. The star was the guide of the wise men who traveled from a far away place to visit Jesus.

The wise men had detractors along the way, notably King Herod, but they were persistent because the star guided them.

According to scientists, there are about 5,000 stars that can be seen by the naked eye although not all are visible at any given time or place. Modern astronomers believe that there are more than 1 x 10 to the 22 number of stars. The number is 1 followed by 22 zeros.

Among these millions of star, one star became visible to the wise men and became their guide. The account in Matthew 2:9 is that “the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.”

There are two challenges here:

Firstly, to those who have found Jesus, we must become the guide of those who continue to seek Jesus. We must be their “star” that continues to point the direction where Jesus is. Among the many “stars” let us be visible and guide those who need our help. The wise men a long time ago where filled with joy when they saw the star. We hope that a lot of people will be overjoyed because we acted as their “stars.”

Secondly, to those who are seeking Jesus, do not be in despair in your search. There will always be detractors along the way, but continue on searching because there are guides who are there for you. These guides will be your “stars” who will point you to the right direction.

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

How to Live Christmas

Binhi sang Pagtuo

December 6, 2010

Dear Friends,

Greetings!

Earlier this night more than 5,000 people were inside the campus of
Central Philippine University to witness the switching-on of the
Christmas lights as part of the awaited annual celebration dubbed as
the Festival of Lights and Music.

Our reflection is on the theme of this event: “Ikabuhi ang Paskua.”

How should we live out Christmas in our daily lives?

In order to live the meaning of Christmas, Jesus must be born in our
lives. John 1:14 tells us that “the Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us…” Jesus is not a metaphysical being but as the early
creeds of Christianity state, “born of the virgin Mary, suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose
again from the dead…”

Although the early creeds left out the portion that “Jesus lived,
preached and taught about the Kingdom of God, healed the sick,
organized disciples” the objective to defeat the teaching of the
heretics in the early church was achieved. The heretics argued that
matter is evil and spirit is good, thus, in order for Jesus to be
good, he has no flesh, and he was like a phantom. They denied the
humanity of Jesus. The early Christians defended the humanity and
divinity of Jesus.

What can these musings on creeds and church history teach us? It
reminds us that Jesus is not just interested in our spiritual lives
but equally, Jesus is interested also on how we live our physical
lives. There should be no dichotomy between what is spiritual and what
is secular. Christianity is not only on Sundays but the whole week
24/7. To be a Christian is not only to be practiced inside the church
but also in our workplace, home and anywhere.

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on