Gospel: Matthew
11:16-19
Jesus
said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like
children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute
for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ For
John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a
demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a
glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is
vindicated by her works.”
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Reflection:
Back when
I was a child I was always excited whenever it’s Christmas season. Not because of the forthcoming birth of Jesus
but because of Santa Clause and the gifts. This is what I always looked forward
to whenever its Christmas time back then. As I matured my mind was enlightened
by the real meaning of Christmas it's none other than the birth of our savior
Jesus.
Here in
our gospel we have two important personalities that points us the true essence
of Christ birth. Personality number one is John the Baptist, what does he teaches
us about Christmas? For John Christmas is about preparing ourselves to the
forthcoming birth of our savior Jesus Christ.
John also
tells us that it’s not enough that we properly prepare ourselves. It’s also a
must that we properly prepare others about the real essence of Jesus’ birth
into this world. And how should we prepare? It’s to prepare with simplicity and
humility because John is the epitome of simplicity and humility.
Personality
number two is Jesus himself, what does Jesus tells us about Christmas? It’s OK
for Jesus to celebrate Christmas with merry making for so long as we do it
properly. For example, it’s Ok to have celebration during this Christmas but we
must do it to honor Jesus. Not to satisfy our own egos and selves we can best
do this by helping the poor because Jesus is always with them. By doing this we
emphasize that Christmas is about Jesus and certainly not about you and me.
For
Jesus, His forthcoming birth is also about sharing and mingling. We share
whatever we could share not for our fellowmen to know that we are good
Samaritans. But for them to know that along with what we share comes the
message of the birth of Jesus. We also mingle with our friends and relatives
during this season not solely to acquaint ourselves with what’s going on with
our lives. We mingle or we come together
for the reason that we want to bring to them Jesus.
The same
Jesus who is always in our hearts yesterday, today and forever. Amen. – Marino
J. Dasmarinas
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