Santa Claus, Manny Pacquiao, and Jesus

3rd Sunday of Advent
John 1: 6-8, 19-28 “He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might
believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to
testify to the light.”



I cannot help but smile when the picture of laughing Old Santa Claus welcomes me at the door of the sacristy in Ateneo de Zamboanga chapel. I know that Christmas is just around the bend! Santa Claus is a very prominent character in our Christmas tradition. I have nothing against Santa, for when I was child, Santa brought thrills and joy when Christmas day comes as I eagerly look forward for his gift under the Christmas tree. Now I know Santa is not real, but he symbolizes joy to me. “He was not the light, but he testified to the light.”

I cannot help but smile again when I recall the last victory of the underdog Manny Pacquiao against the heavily favoured Oscar De la Hoya. The whole nation stopped to watch the Pacquiao and cheered for his victory. At that moment, we are proud to be a Filipino. His victory gave joy to the Filipino people. But we know that Manny is not the saviour of our country, but his victory inspires many to persevere and not to lose hope. “He was not the light, but he testified to the light.”

As we move closer to Christmas season, we ask ourselves, where can get that real JOY. Santa Claus and Manny Paquiao can make us happy but not to last for a lifetime. We need more than that. We need real happiness that comes from within us, a joy that comes not from “having things or winning.” We need JOY that will never fade away and will always remain with us.

Rejoice! It’s Gaudete Sunday, a Sunday that exhorts us to rejoice. The lighting of the rose candle reminds us that this is the time of great expectation for we have found the real source of fade-proof JOY – that is JESUS.

In our gospel for today, the priests and the Levites came to John to ask him if he is the Christ, or Elijah, or the Prophet who is to come. John responded that he was none of these. He was the one who is preparing the way for the Lord. They were not sincerely seeking the Messiah – the source of real JOY.

But we are. We are looking for His presence in our lives. We are looking for that JOY that will last for a lifetime. We are looking for his presence in our midst and within us right now. We are looking for Him to heal us, our families and our country. We are grateful to Pacquiao for giving us a little smile in our seemingly hopeless nation. Our “Santa Clauses” may make us jump for the giving us top of the line laptop and other expensive gifts. But the happiness will eventually fade away. What we need is a Joy that will never last. And Jesus is the only one who can give such Joy.

Unfortunately, in our gospel today, John disappointingly said, “There is one among you whom you do not recognize…” We failed to recognize that Jesus is always with us. We are distracted with so many things of lesser value. The lights, smell, taste, and sounds of secular and materialistic Christmas celebration may distract us from seeing the Savior who is always with us. Thus, we lost the JOY!

Our beautiful Filipino Christmas tradition should inspire us to go the Manger Scene. They should lead us to the newly born baby Jesus – our Saviour. Let us not be tempted and be blinded by the beauty of the gift wrappings that we never dare to look what’s inside the box. “There is one among you whom you do not recognize.”

This Christmas Season, let’s remind one another of the Incarnate God who are in our midst – the source of real JOY. We are Christians. Be proud and say, “Merry Christmas”. Don’t just say, “Season’s greetings,” or even “Happy Holidays.” Say “Merry Christmas.” Our greetings should be a statement of our faith – a reminder of the forgotten God. Christmas is the celebration of the greatest birth to ever take place, God becoming man in Jesus Christ. We have a good reason to celebrate and rejoice!

Many of us have already received their Christmas bonuses. Many of us are trooping now to the malls, seeking for something to fill their needs this Christmas. Children are looking for toys; young adults are looking for gifts that express love; my Nanay is thinking of food to fill our table for Noche Buena ; I do need to find a gift for my monita for our Christmas party; the Jesuits are asked to bring five gallons of ice cream for the clergy and religious Christmas party. These are all good. This is how we celebrate Christmas and we love them.

But what is it that we really need? What is it that we are really seeking? Something that will last and stay when Christmas is over.

The late Pope John Paul II said, “It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness. He is waiting for you when nothing else ever satisfies you. He is the beauty to which you are so attracted. It is He who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise. It is He that urges you to shed the masks of a false life. It is He who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs up in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”

Our world will be different when we allow Jesus to control our lives. Our whole values and priorities changes because we found the Messiah – the real treasure and the source of real JOY. Finding Jesus is finding our everything… and finding Him is finding ourselves. And that’s worth REJOICING!


Santa comes but once a year. Jesus is an ever present help.
Santa fills your stockings with goodies ...Jesus supplies all your needs.
Santa lets you sit on his lap ...Jesus lets you rest in His Arms.
Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly ...JESUS has a heart full of love.
While Santa puts gifts under your tree ...JESUS became our gift and died on the tree, for you and me.

Pacquiao, in the midst of his victory as the new “pound for pound king” humbly bowed to the real KING when he said in one interview, “When you pray, do not just tell God your problem. Tell your problem, you have a great God.”

We need to remember, WHO the real KING is.
JESUS is still the reason for the season.



- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ
Zamboanga Catedral
December 14, 2008

Joystick

2nd Sunday of Advent
Mark 1: 1-8 “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”



A basketball in my hands is worth about 100 pesos
A basketball in Michael Jordan's hands is worth about $33 million.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A tennis racket is useless in my hands.
A tennis racket in Andre Agassi's hands is worth millions.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A rod in my hands will keep away an angry dog.
A rod in Moses' hands will part the mighty sea.
It depends whose hands it's in.

The lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb and many other sick people
In my hands might find comfort.
But the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb and other sick people
In Jesus’ hand will find total healing and consolation.
It depends whose hand they are in.

Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse.
Nails in Jesus Christ's hands will produce salvation for the entire world.
It depends whose hands it's in.

Most of our sins come from our desire to control everything around us - people, environment, events, and most of all the will of God. In our desire to control everything, we put everything in our hands. Pain and frustration come when we failed to control people, events, and fate. God wants us to let go of our compulsion to control, leave the joystick in God’s hand and He will take care of us.

Our advent readings for today remind us to prepare the way for the coming of our Savior Jesus - the Son of God who put his whole life in his Father’s hands and found fulfillment in following the will of God. Jesus knows that life’s fulfillment and meaning depends on whose hand it’s in. He knows it is good to leave everything into the hands of somebody who holds the future.

Unfortunately, we don’t want to put our total trust in God’s hands. We find God slow in answering our prayers. Sometimes we don’t want his way of handling things. We don’t want to wait. Waiting for us may mean delays, uncertainties and labor in different queue of life for a long time. Waiting gives us pain and makes us impatience. We want an instant solution, instant answer, and instant success. Thus, to put our life in God’s hand and allow him to take control of our life’s joystick becomes difficult for us. Trusting God becomes our lifelong struggle and I realize that most of my sins come from my desire to control everything including God.

Advent is a time to STOP and joyfully surrender to God our life’s joystick. Allow God’s hands to show us the way, the truth and the life. When we allow the Lord to run our lives, our waiting becomes a joyful anticipation that something wonderful is about to unfold in our lives. A certain excitement builds up within us and we find ourselves looking forward to something new and life-giving. We need to have an open mind for this kind of waiting - a willingness to accept whatever happens or whoever enters our world. We need a big bag of patience and faith here. Although sometimes, when it seems that God’s answer seems nowhere in sight, we complain that God seems oblivious to our needs. But in our Second Reading, Peter gave us an assurance to let go and let God, “the Lord is not being slow to carry out his promises”. On the contrary, “He is being patient with you all, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to change his ways.” ( 2 Peter 3:9).

We may end up of frustrated, sad and hopeless when we place everything in our hands. Fear not. Look at Jesus, Mary, and Joseph who placed their trust in God’s hands - that full trust they rendered to God allowed Him to fully use them. They became His channels of grace and turned their lives into a miracle.

Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God's hands will feed thousands.
It depends whose hands it's in.

Our happiness and fulfillment depend on whose hands we place our trust.
In this advent season, why not totally trust God and see the difference? Remember, when you jump in faith, God will do two possible things … He will either catch you or give you wings to fly.




-Fr. Willy M. Samson, SJ
Western Mindanao Medical Center
December 7, 2008