merry christmas
Today is Christmas, Merry Christmas. I just want to emphasize this point because today is officially Christmas Day. I say officially because some of us have already started greeting each other Merry Christmas way back November and even as early as September when we begun putting up our Christmas Trees and lanterns. That was the unofficial Christmas, also known as the Filipino Christmas. Today it is officially Christmas and we are celebrating it after almost all our Christmas parties are over. We are after all a people known for postponing our grief and anticipating our joys.
Last night, we lighted up our Parish Christmas Tree. We sat in here and tried to understand the symbolism and the joy that this tree brings every year in our homes. The Christmas Tree had its origin in the Christmas plays so common during the Middle Ages. I hope those with beautiful Christmas trees eight to ten feet high and decorated with fabulous Christmas balls won’t get offended when I say that that tree represents the tree of the knowledge of good and bad in the garden of Eden, the same tree from whose fruit caused our expulsion from paradise, the tree that caused paradise to close, the tree from which sin entered the world. In Europe they used the fir tree which remained green even in winter and they used to hang apples on it, the most available fruit during winter, to symbolize the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. Point of fact is the Christmas tree symbolizes the tree of death.
But the story did not end there. Why, because there is still another tree. It is the tree of life. If the first man and woman were shut out of paradise because of a tree, the gates of paradise were opened once more through another tree, the tree from which grace was once more restored to our world. This is the tree from which our savior hang to die so that we may be saved from our sins. Thus if the Christmas tree represents the tree of death, the same Christmas tree represents the tree of life. In the middle ages before plastics came to be, people used to hung apples on their Christmas trees, to represent the forbidden fruit, and side by side they would hung little round wafers of bread which symbolized the Eucharist, the Eucharist which became the anti-dote for the apple which brought death.
Now I have just finished explaining a Christmas trivia. Now let us give ourselves some depth this Christmas.
When I was still a high school seminarian we used to make a grand Christmas tree in the courtyard of the seminary. We would look for the best tree branch we can find, tall enough to make it look grand and attach to its twigs and branches colored-water wrapped in ice candy plastic. At the start of Christmas break before we would dismantle the tree we would gather around it, making sure that we wore the best white t-shirt we can find. At a given signal kuhaon namon ang ice candy kag ihaboy sa kon sin-o man ang pinakamalapit sa amon. After the fight we would all end up soaked and our t-shirts splattered with different colors. We hang it to dry and it would serve as our remembrance for that year’s Christmas.
More than just the fun of putting it up and dismantling it afterward, the presence of a Christmas tree in the home evokes two extreme poles – death and life, sin and grace, darkness and light, sadness and joy, punishment and redemption. It may seem confusing to most of us, but come to think of it deeply we can only cling to life when we have experienced the tragedy and sadness of death; we can only appreciate the power of grace when we have found ourselves at one point or the other mired in sin and disgrace; we can only bask in the joy of light when we have wallowed in the dregs of darkness; we can only appreciate joy when we have experienced sadness; we can only rejoice in the birth of the savior when we have realized that there is something in us that is in need of being saved. The opposite poles of Christmas have to be experienced as one. He who is born is a savior, and he is born precisely because there is something in us and there is someone among us who needs to be saved. This for me is the message of the Christmas tree – the tree of death and the tree of life, the two extreme poles which completes the reason for Christmas .
Think about it for a moment. Our joy this Christmas, our joy at the coming of the savior will be misplaced when there is no consciousness in us of that which is the reason why he was born – when there is no consciousness of sin that needs to be forgiven; when there is no consciousness of the pervading darkness that needs enlightenment and direction; when there is no consciousness of the deep sadness and the overpowering loneliness which need the Immanuel, the God who will be with us no matter what.
Is this our Christmas? Can we go beyond bonuses, gifts, parties and Christmas wishes, and go back to its original intention and therefore to its original excitement and joy? Are you in need of a savior? Do you need to be forgiven of some sin that won’t simply go away? Are you in need of somebody who can liberate you from your addictions? Are you unhappy with your life, with what is? Are you lonely, do you feel left out and abandoned?
If so, this day is a joyful day for you. Your Savior is born. Your Savior is born.
Last night, we lighted up our Parish Christmas Tree. We sat in here and tried to understand the symbolism and the joy that this tree brings every year in our homes. The Christmas Tree had its origin in the Christmas plays so common during the Middle Ages. I hope those with beautiful Christmas trees eight to ten feet high and decorated with fabulous Christmas balls won’t get offended when I say that that tree represents the tree of the knowledge of good and bad in the garden of Eden, the same tree from whose fruit caused our expulsion from paradise, the tree that caused paradise to close, the tree from which sin entered the world. In Europe they used the fir tree which remained green even in winter and they used to hang apples on it, the most available fruit during winter, to symbolize the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. Point of fact is the Christmas tree symbolizes the tree of death.
But the story did not end there. Why, because there is still another tree. It is the tree of life. If the first man and woman were shut out of paradise because of a tree, the gates of paradise were opened once more through another tree, the tree from which grace was once more restored to our world. This is the tree from which our savior hang to die so that we may be saved from our sins. Thus if the Christmas tree represents the tree of death, the same Christmas tree represents the tree of life. In the middle ages before plastics came to be, people used to hung apples on their Christmas trees, to represent the forbidden fruit, and side by side they would hung little round wafers of bread which symbolized the Eucharist, the Eucharist which became the anti-dote for the apple which brought death.
Now I have just finished explaining a Christmas trivia. Now let us give ourselves some depth this Christmas.
When I was still a high school seminarian we used to make a grand Christmas tree in the courtyard of the seminary. We would look for the best tree branch we can find, tall enough to make it look grand and attach to its twigs and branches colored-water wrapped in ice candy plastic. At the start of Christmas break before we would dismantle the tree we would gather around it, making sure that we wore the best white t-shirt we can find. At a given signal kuhaon namon ang ice candy kag ihaboy sa kon sin-o man ang pinakamalapit sa amon. After the fight we would all end up soaked and our t-shirts splattered with different colors. We hang it to dry and it would serve as our remembrance for that year’s Christmas.
More than just the fun of putting it up and dismantling it afterward, the presence of a Christmas tree in the home evokes two extreme poles – death and life, sin and grace, darkness and light, sadness and joy, punishment and redemption. It may seem confusing to most of us, but come to think of it deeply we can only cling to life when we have experienced the tragedy and sadness of death; we can only appreciate the power of grace when we have found ourselves at one point or the other mired in sin and disgrace; we can only bask in the joy of light when we have wallowed in the dregs of darkness; we can only appreciate joy when we have experienced sadness; we can only rejoice in the birth of the savior when we have realized that there is something in us that is in need of being saved. The opposite poles of Christmas have to be experienced as one. He who is born is a savior, and he is born precisely because there is something in us and there is someone among us who needs to be saved. This for me is the message of the Christmas tree – the tree of death and the tree of life, the two extreme poles which completes the reason for Christmas .
Think about it for a moment. Our joy this Christmas, our joy at the coming of the savior will be misplaced when there is no consciousness in us of that which is the reason why he was born – when there is no consciousness of sin that needs to be forgiven; when there is no consciousness of the pervading darkness that needs enlightenment and direction; when there is no consciousness of the deep sadness and the overpowering loneliness which need the Immanuel, the God who will be with us no matter what.
Is this our Christmas? Can we go beyond bonuses, gifts, parties and Christmas wishes, and go back to its original intention and therefore to its original excitement and joy? Are you in need of a savior? Do you need to be forgiven of some sin that won’t simply go away? Are you in need of somebody who can liberate you from your addictions? Are you unhappy with your life, with what is? Are you lonely, do you feel left out and abandoned?
If so, this day is a joyful day for you. Your Savior is born. Your Savior is born.
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