class archangels - dec. 26

Today December 26, just after experiencing an overload of joy, love, fun and laughter and togetherness on Christmas day, this day the second day of Christmas, we are already reminded of death, dying, persecution, being hailed to court and the hatred that would be aroused because of our love and faith on this child who was born for us.  Today this hatred claims its first victim by the name of St. Stephen. 

If you look more closely at calendar of the church from today until December 31 we should be supposedly celebrating martyrs – Stephen who was the first martyr, John the Apostle who can be considered a martyr though he did not die a Martyr’s death, the Holy Innocents, Thomas a Becket, and Pope Sylvester.  It is only in the 30^th that no feast is celebrated but then it is a holiday in our country as it commemorates the martyrdom of Jose Rizal.  So this is after all "a bloody Christmas" as the English would say, and it is not just an expression but literally bloody until the new year.

What do these days after Christmas remind us of?

First, we remind ourselves that the good times and care-free days cannot be forever.  We have the serious business of life to face, decisions that have far reaching effects have to be made, we can be overwhelmed from time to time by work, concerns, and responsibilities; we can be burdened once in a while by break-ups, sadness, depressions, and loneliness; and in between it would be a lot routine, boredom, monotony and the dullness of the usual.  The good times cannot be forever.  High school life cannot be forever and so are the vivacity and the joviality of youth.  We grow older too – our face changes, our physique changes, we grow wrinkles, we store fat, we grow bellies, we can no longer run or move the way we did 10 years ago.  Our attitudes change, our outlook too, our priorities especially.  Things and ways cannot be forever.  But it is good to bring back the old times once in a while, to go to reunions, to laugh, to be with good company, to recall memories, to be young again mindful of course that we are older and some have medications to take.

Second, memories are important because we learn more from hindsight.  Many times we get a better perspective of things when we look at them from different vantage points, and the vantage point of a hindsight can be very helpful.  When I was a high school seminarian I never understood why we have to form lines and the college did not; why the higher years have greater freedom than the lowers years; why the younger ones have to ask permission every time and why the older one’s were made to decide on their own; why when I was younger, people have to shut me up and say no to my wants most of the times and why the older ones were always asked what they thought about things. 

The difficulties, the hardships  the inconveniences, the major disappointments we went through were important experiences.  Probably you were right and they were wrong, or in actuality they were right and you were wrong.  Nevertheless, whatever the reasons, whatever the cause, these things made us grow, and regardless whether these are negative or positive experiences these are still things that we can always learn from.

It was only two days ago that I learned what a swaddling cloth was after years of reading the gospel on the birth of Jesus.  The gospel of Luke says that Jesus was not in diapers but was wrapped in swaddling clothes – ginputos all over except the head.  A swaddling cloth restricts the movement of the child to allow him to sleep longer, and to prevent the modern phenomena of sudden infant death syndrome brought about by the wrong sleeping position of the infant which a swaddling cloth supposedly corrects.  Hindsight is a better teacher – and so you are not yet through with your seminary formation – you are still learning from it through hindsight. 

Third, life can be a lonely road and it is important to have friends.  I am not referring to our thousands of friends on facebook but real friends, especially our seminary friends – people we grew-up with, people who know us through and through, people who understand us.  Yes family is good, but from time to time there are things not even the most understanding of family members can understand in us – only friends.

Christians are always initiated into a community of believers, into a brotherhood.  It comes from the belief that alone in this world we can never survive, and that is true.  Even the brave martyrs must rely not just on their strength but in the help that comes from above and from each other.

Today we gather as brothers to first and foremost pray together in this mass.  Let us be aware and come to terms once more with our past, the stuff of which we are made, with the brotherhood and friendship which we have forged and the legacy we have left in each others heart and each others memory.  May our coming together on the second day of Christmas help us to see clearly the meaning of our life and call, because of the experiences of our past.