Moving around cities and also small towns, we observe that there are now lights along the roads and especially in malls and business areas.
Why? The usual answer can be because we are close to Christmas time and there is a tradition to remember this time with a lot of light and decorations. But Why?
In this message we wish to invite the Christians and people of other faiths to understand more the real message of these lights in the time of Christmas. This brings us to remind all the real meaning of the celebration of Advent and Christmas .
But what kind of message are we giving now in this modern society when a lot of values behind the celebration are removed from the tradition and faith of our people?
Thus, our reflection this year is how to go beyond the decorations and lights of the Christmas celebration. By coincidence this time coincides with the end of the year of the calendar.
The first reflection can be that the calendar today reminds us that around 2020 years ago Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. The Advent, in preparation of this event, must be a spiritual journey for the Christians to remember the preparation of humanity for the coming of the EMMANUEL (God among us) presented in the History of Salvation in the Old Testament and was visible in the New Testament.
We know that the Muslims do not have the same understanding of the faith of the Christians about jesus, although they respect Jesus as a prophet. Christians have to understand that Islam is another religion: Christians have to respect the Muslim faith, as the Christians wish that their faith will be respected. On the base of respect and friendship dialogue can start.
This year Christians have an additional challenge to live deeper the spirit of Christmas and prepare properly this event because starting from the first week of Advent , Dec 1, 2019, we are entering the year of Interreligious Dialogue and also Ecumenism and Indigenous Peoples.
In the context of the Philippines the biggest challenge, especially in Mindanao, is how can we promote interreligious dialogue with the Muslims when we still experience a lot of tensions and fear ?
We cannot deny that in the past, and also in the present situation, we experience tensions, especially, among Muslims and Christians. Dialogue is not only an external attitude, but comes from the heart. But how to develop this dialogue if we do not overcome prejudices and divisions? Maybe we can say, how, in spite of this reality of prejudices of divisions, can we see in others the face of brothers or sisters created by the same God?
For this reason, in the recent document of Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of the Al- azhar University, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb on “Human Fraternity,” signed in Abu Dhabi last February 4, 2019, the document emphasizes the importance of dialogue based on the fact that we belong to the same human family. Together we form the “human fraternity.”
With sadness we observe that some groups do not share the same spirit of dialogue and are spreading division, to the point of discouraging Muslims to share the joy of Christmas with the Christians. Maybe there are also those who do not encourage to celebrate the feasts of the Muslims among Christians.
It is urgent for us to promote dialogue and remain faithful to our faith and at the same time to be open to people of other faiths and build friendship and solidarity with them.
This is the spirit of the special year of Interreligious Dialogue together with the year of Ecumenism and Indigenous Peoples.
The theme of this special year promoted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is “DIALOGUE TOWARDS HARMONY”. This theme gives a clear orientation that we have to internalize this theme and promote dialogue.
May the Christians share their faith beyond the lights and decorations of this special time and may this time be an occasion of better dialogue between people of different Cultures and Religions, especially Muslims and Christians in the Philippines.