Is it a mere coincidence to find Christmas towards the end of the year?
Keeping in mind what transpired this year, we cannot help but brace ourselves for an unknown year to come. Would it be a year of more blessings or more chaos? Will we have better leaders or the same old ones? Will there be more stronger typhoons or some few ones next year?
Combined with the unnecessary rush and hustle bustle which the season demands, we are overcome with the desire to fly away from all these. We could opt for a silent solitude away from this yearly grind. But the real spirit of Christmas prevents us from doing so.
God could have invented a back door for us to escape from our worries. But God chose to be one with us. He became like us. Jesus is constantly assuring us: "I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you." (Jn 13: 18) He wants us to know that our task is not to run away from this world but to transform it. This is the message of the Incarnation. With the help of God's grace we have the power to transform evil into good. Only through a change of our hearts, from selfishness to love, can we truly find hope alive within us.
May our Ina¸ Our Lady of Peñafrancia, be our Stella Maris, our guide towards Jesus in this sea of uncertainty as we enter an entirely new year.
May you all be filled with this hope. May you have a blessed Christmas this year!
+Leonardo Z. Legaspi, O.P., D.D.
Archbishop of Caceres