Binhi sang Pagtuo
December 21, 2009
Dear Centralians and Friends,
Greetings from Roxas City, Capiz!*
In the Christmas presentation of the Kindergarten Department last week, my son – Kairos, was one of the angels. He had a speaking part as the Angel of Hope. He was saying something like, “There is hope because Jesus brings a new life, a life that is better than this world can offer. Jesus is the hope of the world. Keep your hope alive!”
The angels during the birth of Jesus brought a message of hope. They proclaimed to the shepherds, “Glory to God in the highest! Peace on Earth and goodwill among people.”
This is a message of hope because:
Firstly, the angels are reminding us that nobody should be above God. During those times, the emperor cult worship was practiced. King Herod felt that nobody should be above him. He killed four of his sons, one of his wives, and even his in-laws. Tradition also tells us that Herod massacred 14,000 innocent children from 2 years below when he heard from the wise men that a king was born. This is one of the worst political killings.
When the shepherds worshipped the new born Jesus, it was telling us a revolutionary message – they are turning away from the rule of Herod. In turn, the message for us is that we should not worship ourselves, the political leaders or any other so-called “powerful people.” God is the only one worthy of worship, and all glory must be given to God alone.
Secondly, the angels are reminding us that peace on earth can be achieved if there is goodwill among people. This was a message of hope for the shepherds because they know that Israel was beset by violence for a long time. When the shepherds decided to spread the good news, they were telling the people that peace can be achieved. But sad to say, the gospel according to John records that “he came into his own but his own received him not.”
Conflicts are still happening nowadays because we refused to believe in the way of life that Jesus taught us. We are still rejecting the message of Jesus.
May this Christmas week be a time to reflect on the message of the shepherds to us.
May God bless us all!
Sincerely,
Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on
Assistant Chaplain
*I am coaching the CPU Table Tennis Women’s Team representing the Province of Iloilo in the Western Visayas PRISAA Meet. We got the championship just this morning. National PRISAA games, here we come!
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