Bona fide Text
Celebrating Christmas with family
Material things won't make you happy.
I don't care if you have received a brand a new cellphone, or a 24-K jewelry or an "ampao" that can buy things you'd like to purchase this Christmas.
These things won't make you happy.
Try to imagine that on this Christmas day, the Almighty appeared before you in all His splendor and showed you two gifts. And then He says, "You can choose only one gift. In my right hand, I hold a box that contains 1 million pesos."
You begin to salivate and choke some of it, and in a split of seconds, you picture yourself shopping to the max, right-to-left shopping as if no more tomorrow.
"In my left hand..." God's booming voice interrupts your daydreaming, "I hold another box which contains something whose value cannot be measured." You're really excited to know what's inside of it. And then God opened the box and says, "This box contains time, great time with your family."
Your jaw drops and you scratch your head upon hearing the value of the left-hand gift.
"Time? Do I need great time with my family?" this questions puzzled your mind.
On the contrary, God reads your way of thinking and explains, "You've been working away from your family for a year. You've been working to earn for a living and to buy things that can give pleasure to you. This season of Christmas, you have that doubts whether you'll spend Christmas with your family. (And not to mention the calculation of expenses you will incur plus the efforts you will have if you'll travel for a couple of hours just to go home) or spend it alone in other country satisfying yourself with a lot of things you've been craving for since then.
God asks, "which would you choose?"
God explains further, "Having a lot of money and acquiring expensive things cannot suffice to the satisfaction you will have if you're with your family. The time that you are with them has no corresponding value in terms of money. It is a priceless gift. That simple time in celebrating Christmas with them shows how you value your family with love and care."
If you choose the 1 million pesos, let me tell you, you'll be making a foolish decision in your life. For to be satisfy your own self with material things is a selfish act, you may be satisfied temporarily but worst, it is just like abandoning your family. To be with your family and celebrating Christmas with simplicity even without quezo de bola or hamon is far more valuable than all the wealth in the world.
I remember Father Joel Eslabra's lines, "Christmas is a celebration of Christ becoming a man. He entered time and history and journeyed with us. Making this season, a season of love.
Christmas comes once a year. No matter how busy we are for the rest of the days in a year, we should allot this season to be with our family. This is the right time to be with them. No buts, no ifs. No matter how are we going to celebrate Christmas this year, as long as we have that one big happy family celebrating with it, it is worth to remember. Our presence is worth more than a million pesos if we are celebrating this season with our family.
Celebrate Christmas with your family just like Christ did.
Dear readers, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and to your family