Filipino Star - December 2010 Edition

December 2010 The North American Filipino Star
3
Editorial
Let’s reflect on the true
meaning of Christmas
Amidst the hustle and bustle of
the Holiday Season, people get
overwhelmed and feel lost about the
true meaning of Christmas. In this
highly advanced technological world
where gadgets of all kinds attract our
attention and where political
correctness seems to be more
important than the old fashion values of
religious freedom, most if not all of us
may feel confused about the choice of
words to say to each other: Should we
say Merry Christmas or Happy
Holidays? It seems sad to think that we
even have to worry about this when
there are more important things in life.
We are not denying the
existence of other faiths and different
points of view, however, it is certainly
important to clarify what the true
meaning of Christmas is according to
the Christian tradition. in order to keep
our faith intact and pass it on to our
future generations. The following
excerpt from Lee Strobel’s book entitled
“The Case for Christmas: A Journalist
Investigates the Identity of the Child in
the Manger” provides a comprehensive
view of what Christmas used to be and
should continue to be:
“The true meaning of Christmas
is love. John 3:16-17 says, "For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and
only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life. For
God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him." The true meaning of
Christmas is the celebration of this
incredible act of love.
The real Christmas story is the
story of God's becoming a human being
in the Person of Jesus Christ. Why did
God do such a thing? Because He loves
us! Why was Christmas necessary?
Because we needed a Savior! Why does
God love us so much? Because He is
love itself (1 John 4:8). Why do we
celebrate Christmas each year? Out of
gratitude for what God did for us, we
remember His birth by giving each other
gifts, worshipping Him, and being
especially conscious of the poor and
less fortunate.
The true meaning of Christmas
is love. God loved His own and provided
a way—the only Way—for us to spend
eternity with Him. He gave His only Son
to take our punishment for our sins. He
paid the price in full, and we are free
from condemnation when we accept
that free gift of love. "But God
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demonstrated His own love for us in
this: while we were still sinners, Christ
died for us" (Romans 5:8).”
As can be gleaned from the
above excerpt, the idea that God really
love us, and wants to save us to have
eternal life is a very powerful motivator
and an inspiring story to think about,
especially during this time of the year.
There are many things that have been
distracting our attention from the
spiritual aspects of our existence. For
most of us, we are preoccupied with the
materialistic world where we have to
strive hard in order to survive. To seek
a balance between the physical and
spiritual world is often times not an easy
task. Therefore, it helps to take time out
during this holiday season to think of
the true meaning of Christmas in order
to encourage us to seek the harmony
between our body and soul.
A deeper reflection on the
meaning of Christmas may also lead us
to be more forgiving. If we practice the
true precepts of our faith, and believe
that God loves us, and forgives us our
sins, why can we not do the same to our
fellow human beings? Admittedly, it is
often hard to forget what they may have
done to us, when they have hurt us not
only in words but also in deeds. It is not
easy to give the other cheek. Rather, it
is easier to hit back and make our
enemies feel the brunt of our anger. “An
eye for an eye” mentality seems to be a
common human reaction to justify
revenge. If we agree with this type of
behavior or even consider this
justifiable, how can we continue to
celebrate Christmas? If we find it easy
to find faults in others and never look at
our own first, can we call ourselves
Christians? How sincere are we in
proclaiming that we believe in God
when we really do not follow most of His
teachings?
On the other hand, if we could
become truer to our Christian faith, if we
could just realize that we are all created
equal but with different gifts or talents
that we should use to make this world a
better place, if we could focus on
finding the good rather than the bad
side of human nature, and if we could
accept that we all have both
weaknesses and strengths, we would
all become better human beings and
able to appreciate the true meaning of
Christmas everyday of our life.
Zenaida Ferry Kharroubi
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Philippine bishop
accuses Santa of
stealing Christmas
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 03:01:00 12/04/2010
MANILA, Philippines—A senior
statesman of the Philippines' dominant
Catholic church has accused Santa
Claus of stealing the true spirit of
Christmas, which he said is
deteriorating into a shopping frenzy.
In comments published by a
Roman Catholic website on Friday,
Teodoro Bacani, a newly retired Manila
bishop, said Santa Claus now had too
much appeal in the Philippines, where
eight in 10 people are baptised
Catholics.
"Santa Claus helps promote
consumerism because he is the
symbol of shopping and gift-giving.
Christ symbolises the sacrifice of life
for man. But Santa has more
commercial draw," Bacani said.
Bacani lamented that statues
and images of Santa Claus were now
displayed prominently across the
Philippines while the traditional
Christian symbol of the creche
denoting the birth of Jesus was
disappearing.
Filipinos should remember
that Christmas is meant to celebrate
the birth of Jesus, said Bacani, a
former close confidant of the late
Philippine leader and democracy icon
Corazon Aquino.
"Let us keep Christ at
Christmas. Let us project Christ at
Christmas," he said in comments
carried by the Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Philippines
website.
It said the comments were
originally made in an interview with the
Manila Catholic radio station, Veritas.
Philippines, communist
rebels agree to Christmas
ceasefire
The Associated Press
Updated: Fri. Dec. 3 2010 6:49 AM ET
MANILA, Philippines —The
Philippine government and communist
rebels announced Friday they will
resume peace negotiations to end the
41-year-old Maoist insurgency early
next year after the talks were
suspended more than six years ago.
The two sides also agreed
during two days of informal meetings
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Zenaida Ferry Kharroubi
Chief Editor & Publisher
in Hong Kong this week to observe a
cease-fire for the Christmas and New
Year's holidays from Dec. 16 to Jan. 3,
2011, chief government negotiator
Alexander Padilla and his rebel
counterpart Luis Jalandoni said in
separate statements.
The government and the
rebels will hold preliminary talks in
January to pave the way for the formal
resumption of peace negotiations
tentatively set for late February in Oslo,
Norway, they said.
The Norwegian government is
brokering the talks for a political
settlement of one of Asia's longestrunning
insurgencies.
The Dec. 1-2 talks in Hong
Kong "were open, friendly,
freewheeling and eventually
meaningful," Padilla said.
Padilla informed Jalandoni, a
former Roman Catholic priest living in
exile in The Netherlands, that an
agreement giving safe passage and
immunity to rebel negotiators and their
staff had been restored. An order that
could prevent Jalandoni from leaving
the Philippines was also lifted, he said.
Jalandoni urged the
government to release 43 health
workers arrested early this year on
suspicion they were part of the New
People's Army -- the armed wing of the
underground Communist Party of the
Philippines -- and to withdraw charges
against rebel negotiators and
consultants to show additional
goodwill and build confidence for the
resumption of talks.
The Marxist umbrella group
National Democratic Front, which
represents the rebels in the talks,
withdrew from the negotiating table in
2004 after accusing the government of
then-President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo of instigating the inclusion of
the Communist Party and its armed
wing on U.S. and European lists of
terrorists organizations.
Hopes were raised for the
resumption of talks with the communist
insurgents, as well as with Muslim
separatist rebels, after the country's
new and popular president, Benigno
Aquino III, took office June 30.
Aquino, son of Philippine
democracy icons Corazon Aquino and
Benigno Aquino Jr., reconstituted the
government peace panels in the talks
with rebel groups.
Sam Kevin
News & Layout Editor
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Opinion Editorial
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