0 Yule Expectations

MANY things that did happen at the beginning of the month may influence the rest of our celebration of Christmas. Foremost of these events are the coming of a storm, the picking a former Cebuana councilor as president of the Southeast Asian Nation psychiatrists and the adoration for San Pedro Calungsod.

These celebrations may not have importance in our individual lives, in the same manner that we enjoy the significance even of the baptism we once had. But this makes me recall my favorite Santa Claus story when I was five-years old.

It was the tradition in my family to hang socks inside which Santa Claus was supposed to put gifts. We were made to understand that the gifts would be for good behavior during the year. My two-year-old younger brother, Nerius, was also made to hang his own sock. But this particular Christmas day, I found my sock empty while that of my brother was full. I cried.

My mother explained to me that probably Santa Claus must have realized that I was not behaving well during the year. When I looked back the past months, I realized that Santa Claus was probably right. There were many times that I disobeyed my mother and made my younger brother cry. Mother suggested to my brother that he give me some of the gifts he got.

It was an incident of my Christmas life that I could not forget. I realized then that everything that you do for yourself or for others will always have implications touching on other people’s lives.

President Aquino during his thanksgiving talk last Friday, said of San Pedro Calungsod: “Calungsod proved how a single individual can bring about widespread change.” (And also there was) “San Pedro’s holiness and ideals (that) he has etched into our national consciousness, the sense of self-sacrifice for faith and for principle and outward offering of one’s self for the greater good."

Ricardo Cardinal Vidal said on the same occasion (that) “Christians cannot lead double lives.” The cardinal said that “if we have to be Christians let us be good citizens as well as observing every just law, practicing justice in all our affairs, being honest in word and deed.” He pointed to the necessity of showing to our young the kind of love we must teach them.

He said that “it should not be the love that is self-seeking, not the love that sets no limits to the self, not the love that robs lovers of the soul, but the love that San Pedro has shown, the love that gives dignity, the love that edifies, the love that ennobles.”

In sum, the yule season is full of reminders to us regarding what Christmas should all mean to all of us. It is the time of changing the directions in our life and adapting new ones.

By Godofredo M. Roperos
Sun.Star Cebu

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