A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE
(Homily delivered at the Metropolitan Filipino Ministry, New York City on Dec. 18, 2004 by The Rev. Dr. Winfred Vergara, Missioner for Asian American Ministries, 815 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10017)

Introduction

It�s only four days before Christmas and most of us know this is the busiest season of the year. For us working in frenetic Manhattan, we have to juggle our time with completing our final report for the year, projecting our budgets for next year, sending our Christmas cards and making last minute shopping. Somebody once defined shopping to be this way: �buying the things you do not need, with the money you do not have to impress the people you do not like.� With all the hustle and bustle, the razzle and dazzle of Christmas, what do we need to see? Behind all the decorations and the trimmings, what is the message and significance of Christmas celebration?

1. A Celebration of Hope
First, of all we need to understand that Christmas is mainly a celebration of hope. The Bible says, �the people who walk in darkness have seen a great light.� Christmas time is a time to re-kindle our hope in the coming of the Messiah, this time not as a Baby but as resurrected Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

In the Philippines, we saw news of deaths---first the deaths of so many victims of floods and calamities, then the celebrity death of Fernando Poe, Jr. the king of Philippine movies and the sudden death of the daughter of House Speaker Joe De Venecia. In our own Episcopal Asian community, we suffer the loss of Hatsune Sekimura and Rex Botengan leaders of  the EAM in the Japanese and the Filipino ministries, respectively.

We see the intolerable sufferings of humankind in wars, famine, pestilence and death. We shudder at the insoluble problems of the world and the ephemeral nature of human life. And so we place our hope in the coming Messiah who alone can answer our deepest needs, who alone can mend our broken hearts and who alone can wipe the tears from our eyes.

In my new church in Woodside (Queens, New York), we have mantra where I would say �God is good� and the people will respond �all the time.� And when I say �all the time� people will respond, �God is good.� Are you OK? No, I�m not OK but�but God is good---all the time--and all the time? God is good!

2. Celebration of Love
The second virtue we celebrate is love. If there is a serious deficit in the world today, it is not so much on the gross national products or in the world economy but in love. We have a serious �love deficit� in the world. And so I agree with the song that says: �what the world needs now, is love, sweet love� for it is love that makes the world go round.

Wars and rumors of war are works of the hate, prejudice, misunderstanding and fear. The antidote for these poisons is love. You are I are here tonight because of God�s love and our love for one another. �Faith, hope and love remain,� as St. Paul said in 1 Corinthians13, �but the greatest of these is love. Love is patient and kind, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things.�

Jesus is Love personified. John 3:16 reminds us once again, �for God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son that whosoever lives and believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.�

3. Celebration of Joy
Finally, Christmas is a celebration of Christian joy. Someone defined JOY as �Jesus first, Others next, and You last.� How do you give joy to others? I remember a song from Debbie Boone which says, �You light up my life, you gave me hope to carry on.� Joy is lighting up the life and giving hope to others so that they will carry on---despite all their heartaches and pains, frustrations and failures, troubles and sorrows in life.

Many years ago as a missionary priest in Singapore, some members of our Church saved a woman who was about to commit suicide. They caught her just before she jumped on the ledge of a bridge. Then they brought her to me for pastoral counseling. She was deeply distressed: her husband squandered the money she inherited from her father�s business and finally left her for another woman. She had no money, no husband and no job. The problem was too hard to bear and the easy way out was to end her life. After listening to her, I said �can you think of anyone or anything that you may to live for?� Only then that she remembered she has a son. And I said, �if you can live for your son, then Jesus can help restore your fortune which was lost.� She got back to her feet, got a new job and later succeeded in having her own business and restoring her self-worth.

Indeed, God is good! All the time! �Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.� Merry Christmas and may God�s hope, love and joy and peace be with you. Amen.