It’s the most wonderful time of the year when we are constantly reminded and encouraged to get into the Spirit of the Season — to be joyful, charitable, generous, kind, and forgiving–characteristics and behaviors that run counter to our inclined responses to our ordinary stresses caused by activities of daily living.
Where does the idea of Christmas spirit come from, and why does it hinge so much on behavior?
Much comes from the fact that the Philippines, as one of two predominantly-Catholic countries in Asia (the other one being East Timor), celebrates the world’s longest Christmas season, with Christmas carols heard as early as September, and lasting variously until either Epiphany, the Feast of the Black Nazarene on Jan.9, or the Feast of the Santo Niño on the third Sunday of January.
The official observance by the Catholic Church in the Philippines is from the beginning of the Simbang Gabi on Dec. 16 until the Feast of the Epiphany on the first Sunday of the new year.
It is traditional to attend Simbang Gabi (Night Mass) or Misa de Gallo (Rooster’s Mass) or Misa de Aguinaldo (Gift Mass), a novena of nine dawn masses from Dec. 16 until the 24th, Christmas eve.
The Simbang Gabi is practiced mainly by Catholic and Aglipayans, with some Evangelical Christian and independent Protestant churches having adopted the practice of having pre-Christmas dawn services.
Christmas eve (visperas ng pasko) on Dec. 24 is celebrated with the midnight mass, and the traditional Noche Buena feast. Family members dine together at around midnight on traditional yuletide fare, which includes queso de bola (ball of cheese which is made of edam sealed in red paraffin wax); tsokoláte, noodles or pasta, fruit salad, pandesal, relleno, and hamón (Christmas ham).
For Pinoys, Christmas is a religious holiday that has grown to become a cultural day. It brings people together in happiness and joy, and closes the year on a very high note.
The relevance of Christmas to the life of a Christian is immeasurable, and this is why it has been conserved all these years.
It is important to continue recognizing and appreciating this day not only because of its relevance to the spiritual life of a Christian but mainly because it brings families, distant and close, together in this festive season, as they wish each other the best in life.
Taken together, the lessons from these activities provide strong guidelines on how to behave in a specific context which, in this case, is the Christmas holiday season.
We have been taught through these traditions what we can expect, and how we should behave during this time of year in particular.
The code of generosity, kindness, and charity toward others is enforced by no one other than ourselves. After all, we are the sum of the individuals around us who generate the collective force that governs and organizes our social structure.
There are minimums that we need to acknowledge, that when we “act out” Christmas spirit, making visible this collective force, giving it power.
With the growing secularization of the holiday season, the Christmas spirit is something we should all be able to relate to because it speaks to the social-rights and social obligations that we have to each other to maintain a civil society.
This is the message of the birth of Jesus: Love God above all, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Happy holidays, everyone! Wishing you the best all year through !
__________________________________
Author’s email: [email protected]
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});