AS we approach that most wonderful event of the birth of Christ on Christmas Day, we are reminded of how his mother, Our Lady, believed the message of the Archangel Gabriel that she was going to be the mother of the Son of God. (cfr. Lk 1,26-38).

She tried to clarify how it was going to happen since, according to her, she had no relation with any man. That was when the archangel explained to her how it was going to be. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God,” the angel said.

To be sure, Our Lady must have not understood how it was going to be since what was told her was beyond the ways of nature. But because of her deep faith, she just said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

We should try to echo the same response of Mary, since we cannot doubt, if we have a working faith, that the Son of the Most High would also like to be born in us, since we are actually patterned after him.

Remember what Christ once said: “Whoever is not with me is against me. Whoever does not gather with me scatters.” (Lk 11,23) It’s very clear that we are supposed to be so united with Christ, so identified with him, that he and us can be considered simply as one. We are meant to assume the very identity of Christ.

We need to process this truth of our faith about ourselves very slowly, because it will obviously astound us to think that we are supposed to be one with Christ. Who, me, one with Christ? We most likely would be tempted to say, tell it to the Marines!

But that’s just the naked truth about us, whether we like or not. We cannot be any other if we just bother also to know why it is so. An expression that is relevant to this matter is ‘alter Christus,’ another Christ. And it’s worthwhile to know what it is all about.

We are supposed to be ‘alter Christus,’ the goal and ideal that is meant for us, though we need also to do our part, free beings as are, to achieve that status. God, our Creator and Father, wants us to be that way, though he does not impose it on us without our consent that should also be shown with deeds and not just with intentions or words.

We are supposed to be ‘alter Christus’ simply because, if we have been created in the image and likeness of God, and Christ is the Son of God who is the perfect image and likeness that God has of himself, then we can only conclude that we have to be like Christ.
We need to do everything to pursue that goal of assuming the very identity of Christ. For this, a strong faith is needed. And it should give rise to the appropriate action on our part, so that little by little we think, speak and do as Christ would think, speak and do. We should react to the different situations of our life the way Christ would.

So, at Christ’s birth on Christmas, let’s see if we can allow Christ to be born in us too! He wants it. We should also want it!

We all knew it too well. For a child and the little ones , Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. For the big commercial establishments and other businesses, its a good time for ROI profit. For the transport carriers in busses, planes or even boats this era usher in the peak season of fully – booked flights and trips.

For the government workers these days are party days. From every segment and subdivisions of groups where the civil servants are affiliated, the party is actually multiple. its like existing in a unique universe every time parties are held.

For the religious, these days are heavy loaded days of the traditions, masses, morning and afternoons.

For the public safety officers, these are times of hightened alert, where every one must keep watch as the insurgents commemorating its anniversary and mourning its founder who passed on.

For the Medical Personnel its a lost time of being with the gang ,and the family as well, sadly Christmas is not an excuse for them to be absent, they need to report to their posts in the hospitals.

For the normal Filipino the stretched Christmas celebration is both a bane and a boon, a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because its a time of celebration, a curse because it would entail extra cost.

Extra expenses and mandatory gifts to a whole bunch of folks connected to you.
But if we really look back to the simple, uneventful day of days, where the Saviour was born to a manger 8n a barn, it would have been a simple sight, bereft and robbed of the trimmings of the light emitting diodes that nauseates us nor the lofty triangular trees we see.

It was dark, cold and people are shooing away the Family of Jesus.
It was a rejection and non acceptance time that would create resentment to ordinary mortals.

It was an rigorous trip of a walk house to every house and rejection at every turn.
It was without the fervor of parties and glitters of sparkling lights.

It was a sad day that was capped with the triumph of the eventual birth.

Knowingly or unknowingly, we are celebrating it from a purview and vantage of pleasure. We are commemorating Christmas from the view of sales and commercialism.

When we should have shared the pain and the hardship of attaining triumph, when we should be sympathetic of the plight that the Holy Family had endured.

Something must be wrong, something felt bland. It is as if we are not searching for Christ in Christmas, it is as if we are seeking joy and pleasure on a supposed solemn and sacrificial trek.

We must put Christ back to Christmas, we must introspect and remember.
It was not a glittery nor colorful time, it was cold, dark and simple.

While we recognize the triumph of the Saviours birth, we must never forget that it w as not meant to be a thing for parties, nor for lights not even a time for splurge of tasty feast, it was beyond the pleasure seeking selves we have, its about love, sacrifice and simplicity that the Saviour had shown. Its about time we put Christ back to Christmas.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has strategized to meet the supply of sardines during closed fishing months by partnering with the Canned Sardines Association of the Philippines (CSAP).

The looming of sardines shortage has found a solution with BFAR and CSAP entering into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) recently. The MOA aims to sustain and ultimately increase the supply of sardines for the canneries sector by capacitating municipal fisherfolk by taking into account the proper fish handling, observing food safety standards, adopting appropriate processing technologies. The Memo mandates BFAR to provide post-harvest support and necessary equipment, subsidize the transport costs and facilitate the transaction between CSAP and the municipal fisherfolks. BFAR will also identify the municipal fisherfolks associations that will supply the sardines for canning. While CSAP would ensure that its members shall observe fair trade in directly negotiating which selected association listed by BAR as well as ensure that its members comply with the terms and conditions in the purchase order.

It is hoped that with the implementation of the landmark MOA, will help in meeting the 72 million kilogram sardine needed by the canneries during the closed fishing season.
The MOA takes effect upon launching of the project in Sorsogon to serve the canneries in Metro Manila and in Zamboanga for the canneries in the area.

MY COMMENT:
There is a big hole in the MOA between BFAR and CSAP! It does not mention where the canneries in the Visayas will get their sardines for canning.
ooo000ooo
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I was just recently invited to speak at an alumni homecoming, which I consider to be a great honor and privilege. I got the chance, then, to express my views regarding this event. And the privilege to encourage the association officers and members to contribute to and cooperate with their activities. Funny but while I highly regard the wisdom of alumni homecoming, I have not attended any of it.

Why have I opted to not join homecomings through the years? Simple. I could not establish connections with my batchmates, and bonding with them seemed meaningless to me. Sorry to say but that’s the truth. After finishing Grade 5 in Camarubo-an Bo. Elem. School, Jiabong, Samar, I transferred to Matalud Elem. School to finish my Grade 6. Just one year of residence, and was not enough for me to get to know my classmates well.

After my second year of high school in the old SNAS campus, I again transferred to Samar National School, Catbalogan, where I finished my secondary school. But we, the students in the 4th-year class, section 1, were not getting along well—we were not on good terms. Our competition was so stiff, as though we were in a race in all subjects. We were not therefore friendly and considerate of others since we considered one another as rivals and competitors. Tell me, how could bonding be joyful and exciting in a group like that?

Then came college life. Ow, my classmates were different in almost every subject, every semester, every year. We graduated with just casual friends, with no friends that would stick closer than a brother. Our relationships were too shallow; they were merely acquaintances. So how would I enjoy alumni homecoming with them? These are the reasons why I declined to join such events through the years.

But when an officer informed me to speak before that audience, in that grand alumni homecoming, I readily agreed, even imagining that I am very much part of that alumni organization though, in reality, I am not.

As their theme conveyed, that was to be “Taragpo Ngan Pagrayhak ha Lugar Nga Nag-edukar”. They have gone too far, searched for their fortunes, followed their dreams and convictions, and looked for greener pastures. They have worked their way through hardships and trials till they reaped the fruits of their labors and got the present figures and faces that they deserve. But once in a while, supposedly every year had not the pandemic gotten in the way, they converge for fellowship, for bonding, for reminiscence of the years gone by lest they forget that, once upon a time, they were together in their collective quest for education.

What then constitutes the spirit of alumni homecoming? What are the requirements for a grand reunion? First, it’s the shared beginning. We all began in the same place, sharing the same dream, and having the same quest. We started studying in the same school and began to feel the same way regarding our new classmates, new teachers, new subjects, new classrooms, new lessons, new books, new uniforms, and new school materials. In this shared beginning, we had the same impressions, the same expectations, and perhaps the same degree of joy.
(To be continued)