Reflections for the Working Soul

Gospel: Matthew 1: 18-24

“…and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us”…

God with us

By Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas, SDB, DD

The prevailing thoughts and feelings during the Christmas season are happiness and cheers, joyful feelings of love and giving, and every emotions related to an external atmosphere of festivities and satisfactions of human desires and senses.

For many, this season is the time of the year, the moments in our life that we wish would stay with us all our life till we breathe our last. Unfortunately, we feel dried up and empty after the season is over; even, during the season itself, we get so busy and so tired celebrating, that we sometimes catch ourselves asking whether the satisfaction we get or give to others at Christmas time is genuine and fully human. What then is Christmas for you and me?

It is the season when you and I should know, feel and live the presence of God who came down on earth to live among us as a man. Our creator, who gave us life and made everything possible for us to be what you and I are today, comes to each one of us that He may show us the way of life which could make us truly happy in this world and in the world to come. He came to redeem us from sin by His becoming man, dying on the cross and rising from death to new life, and continuing to save us today and till the end of time, through His Church and the Sacraments the Church places at the disposal of those who believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus is God with us, in the first Christmas day two thousand years ago, today, and until the end of time, present in every moment and event and activity in our life. He is with us to make us truly happy till [email protected]

God is with us

By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS

If there’s one thing our annual celebration of the birth of Jesus should remind us of, it is that God is with us.  Emmanuel.  Not just in the bible, in the Christmas carols, in the parties and the gifts, but with us.  God came down to be with us, born as a human being 2,000 years ago, and assure us beyond doubt that even after He had left this world, He would still be with us.  Our God is not just “in heaven” or “in nature” or in the rituals done in His name, but-with us.  All the merriment, the excitement and the feasts reserved for the season, the joyful family reunions, the Simbang Gabi, all these would be empty, sheer vanities, if nowhere in our hearts could we find the truth that God is with us.

“God is with us”-if we knew this by heart, we would be transformed; we would be liberated from a shallow existence into a life that gives us a foretaste of heaven even as we are still waking on earth.  If this column can persuade you to ponder this truth every time you are in difficulty, or each time you hear, read, or watch news about wars abroad, or crimes and accidents in our midst, then you have not wasted your time reading it.  Next time you become aware and grateful that you are alive, take a deep breath and think: God is with us… God is with us… God is with [email protected]