Back when I was a child, I can remember that Christmas was all about Santa Claus. The anticipation from an adult to give me a present or money has been the practice that I got used to. When I grew up, I learned that Christmas was the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ for most of my Christian brethren, yet this would not come to my attention without the effort of the church or my catechist to teach this knowledge to me. This idea ruined my childhood as I thought I had to participate in this ‘season of giving’ mandatorily, taking out the real essence of Christmas—to celebrate and empathize with the birth of Jesus. He was rejected and deprived by many so much that Mother Mary would not have a decent place where she delivered or gave birth to Him.
When we were children, most of us were conditioned to perceive the faux essence of Christmas—hanging several socks, visiting our godparents, going house-hopping, and doing caroling, all to be done for a child to accumulate money and gifts. This notion has been the annual cycle. On the contrary, only a few were taught of celebrating Christmas by knowing the story of Jesus, how He and His parents were neglected when he was about to be born and how He empathized with the marginalized sector of our society throughout His life.
It is undeniable that the bastardized culture of Christmas has been constantly perpetuated. Thus, those children who were conditioned by society to tether the essence of Christmas to material gifts have now turned into anxious late adolescents or adults skeptic with how the world turns the genuine celebration of Christmas into an expensive tradition.
Hence, if one were to ask kids if they still feel the presence of Christmas or if they are excited to celebrate Christmas, they would answer yes. But when you address this question to late adolescents and adults, you would probably get a shrug or sigh.
This is probably because the former were able to celebrate it genuinely and enjoy the reward of it without further realizing yet what Christmas is really for, while the latter was being honed unto responsibility of being a giver shortly, and discovering how Christmas often celebrated in the mainstream as a mere extravagance–but what is indeed more horrifying is the fact that significance of Christmas seemingly varies in accordance to someone’s age in order for them to genuinely enjoy and feel it.
Conversely, you will see how far our society has developed and gradually leave the essence of celebrating Christmas—the absence of understanding why Christ-like people occur—the dilemma of the existence of the poor and oppressed people are long-standing and still being unrecognized as an alarming dilemma by our society which has been consistently intensifying.
It puzzles me how the system conditioned ordinary citizens to practice generosity during Christmas, but never demands the wealthy to slice a million or billion pesos of their excess money or assets to help the living Christ in our society.
As Christmas fast approaches, beautiful lanterns, enormous Christmas trees, and shadows created by flickering Christmas lights scatter around the country. Beyond this beautiful facade of celebrating Christmas, may the ‘Christmas is truly in our hearts’ transcend into constant assertion for the right of every Filipino family to have decent food to eat, and shelter to accommodate their family—not just during Christmas but in their everyday lives.
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Written by: Jennifer Balgos
Layout and Design by: Mitzi Dupree Muros
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