MALITA, Davao Occidental (MindaNews / 24 December) — A day before Christmas and a week before the year ends our neighbors are still at work here in the mountains of Malita, Davao Occidental. …
MALITA, Davao Occidental — A day before Christmas and a week before the year ends our neighbors are still at work here in the mountains of Malita, Davao Occidental. They are making charcoal from the coconuts that they had harvested and will later sell this to local merchants in order to earn some more cash before the year 2022 becomes a mere memory. While those who are better off are having their holiday and doing their last minute Christmas shopping, our neighbors continue to toil.
On that night, it was to these shepherds that the angel of the Lord had made known the birth of the Messiah . The king at the time had no inkling of the event and the Roman Empire was too preoccupied with itself to really care about anything at all. God decided to let outsiders, insignificant and poor people know of the birth of the person who was the fulfillment of His promise.
Before we mistake all our celebrations, be it gastronomical or liturgical, to be the true meaning of Christmas, let us not forget the first Christmas. On the night that God became one of us in Jesus, it was to outsiders, insignificant and poor people that he had made known of the fulfillment of the promise. This was a foretaste of Jesus’ ministry and the whole point of the reign of God.