Try to have a Merry Christmas
THIS is my homily for Christmas. It is mostly for myself and the ones in my orbit – family, friends, fellow citizens. It is not so much preaching but thinking aloud to keep to the straight and narrow. A reminder that the perils in our midst in terms of values and circumstances can lead anyone astray. One has to stay alert and ready for the end when the assessment is made.
First, let us try to keep the meaning of Christmas in our actions despite the physical constraints well as the overhang of commercialization and materialism that clouds the occasion. Understand the Christmas story of God and Man and in acceptance live life as you should according to its tenets.
Next, stay home and keep each other company enough to con- other. Keep children close and talk to them more. Emphasize the Christmas story and why we celebrate it for its display of love - ence to God’s Will in a universe of danger and hostility.
Visit the old and the sick, touch base with friends of today and yesterday. Keep in mind the poor and what you can do for them.
Read good books, rest up instead of going on wild goose chases for bargains or more possessions. Give of yourself, like your company, a dish you cook, a letter you write. Let it be an effort given without counting the cost.
Look for simple joys like a good movie, a walk in the park, a visit to someone you care. Play games with the younger generation, listen to what they have to say, guide them in their ambitions.
Good values must be passed on to the young ones. Exemplify them so you are listened to and followed. If you preach love, be loving. If you extol simplicity, be simple. Be charitable to be a model of sharing.
As the world is more complicated and in many ways anomalous, values are more important than ever as decisions have to be made in everyday aspects of living. What is good and what is not must be clear or decipherable for you and
If money or power is the ulti- mate goal of adults, if that is what they endeavor for, it will be a value that children that see it and discard. In order to uphold what is right and what is wrong, one must have the character to withstand the pressures that can lead astray.
More than anything, encompass the spirit of Christmas by the giving of self and what may be dear to you if others need it.
Yet in order to uphold what is right and what is wrong, one must have the character not to follow the path of least resistance.
Put yourself in the place of others and understand them more so you can do the right thing when it is needed.
The world is the world and Christmas is Christmas. Let us be aware and navigate them correctly.
Wishing all of us a Merry Christmas!