Be the Present!
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
The
rush towards Christmas has begun. The streets have become crowded,
traffic is at a standstill, malls have extended their shopping hours and
everyone seems bitten by the Christmas commercial bug. People are
beginning to be anxious about what gifts to give to whom. Budgets are
stretched to the limit. It can be very stressful.
One
Facebook status caught my attention one lazy afternoon. It went: There
are 4 Stages of Life: 1) You believe in Santa Claus; 2) You don’t
believe in Santa Claus; 3) You are Santa Claus; and 4) You look like
Santa Claus.
I
don’t really promote Santa as an Advent personality but I would like to
use this as my starting point for reflection. You may be in number 1 or
number 2 but I believe all of us must be number 3. We are to be, in a
certain sense, Santa Clauses to one another. I don’t mean the Western
commercialized image of Santa. In our anxiety to find what presents to
give to whom, why not be the present yourself?
Look
at the antiphon of this day’s Responsorial Psalm: “Blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord.” A Christian comes in the name of the
Lord. Consciously or unconsciously, a Christian is to bring the Lord to
everyone he encounters.
The
psalmist is reminding us, “Don’t worry about having no budget to buy
gifts for the people. You are to be the gift. Give yourself.” That is
more than enough.
As
Christmas draws near, please do not get too stressed out about what
presents to buy and what wrappers to use. Come in the name of the Lord.
Just intensify your presence with your loved ones. Be the present
yourself! Fr. Joel Jason
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: How do you prepare yourself spiritually for the coming Messiah? Will the Messiah find a manger in your interiority?
Jesus, make me a vessel of Your love and peace. May I also be Emmanuel to persons I meet. Amen
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