Family is what really matters most in Christmas
Next to God, the family is the most important. The birth of our Lord to a small family of an old carpenter and a young virgin maiden, Mary, formed the Holy Family. And this Christmas, we need to contemplate on the importance of family. Christmas becomes very meaningful only because of the family. Before one becomes successful as a member of a community, or a company, or an association, he or she must first be a good husband or wife, a successful dad or mom, and a loving son or daughter. Every Christmas, the topmost priority is the family.
Christmas is the time to forgive our parents for their deficiencies or excesses, a time to forgive our children for their occasional thoughtlessness and neglect, a time to forgive our spouses for not living up to our expectations, and a time to forgive our brothers and sisters for their trespasses and mindlessness at times. Christmas teaches us that we can never have genuine peace if we harbor ill-feeling, anger, or spite. To forgive others is really to do something beneficial to ourselves. Christmas is a gift of an opportunity for us do the forgiving and to accept the forgiveness from others.
Christmas is also a time to visit old and sick relatives and distant family members. It is time to hold reunions among clans and big families. I remember that I visited my uncles in Mindanao and bonded with my cousins. My wife and I used to go the US every December and visited our close relatives in New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Florida, Texas, Las Vegas, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, and Hawaii. Each time was a very exciting and happy reunion of close relatives. We have pictures together, have picnics together, and take long drives together across the US from California all the way to Connecticut in week-long caravans with a lot of shopping and eating along the way. My favorite is South Lake Tahoe where hundreds of my relatives are working in the casinos.
Christmas is also a time to do outreach missions to poorer cousins, to those who are in their sickbeds and those who are suffering from serious financial difficulties. Christmas is a time for more fortunate cousins to offer scholarships to the children of the less fortunate ones. It is a time to mend broken relationships, a time for reconciliation and to share mementos of our departed ancestors, grandparents, and great grandparents. Again, I truly believe that Christmas is really 90 percent family. The rest is all for the rest of our friends, associates, and colleagues. A blessed Christmas to one and all.