There is Christmas hope even in this time of great distress, two Negros bishops assured the faithful today, December 23.
Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon and San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza in their Christmas messages rallied the people to turn to Christ as the world celebrates His birth amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and numerous killings.
“Jesus is the reason for the Holy-days’ celebration. Let us recover the ‘Holy’, that is Christ in our holidays,” Buzon said.
During Christmas we recognize God’s gift of life and salvation, Buzon reminded the faithful.
In this time of great distress brought about by COVID-19 and by the disasters that struck our people, we continue to hope and face all these, he said.
“We believe in Christ, who is our sure hope and light amidst the darkness,” Buzon said.
Alminaza also stressed that Christmas is not cancelled despite the pandemic, killings, the worsening effects of climate change and political scandals.
It seems that given the weight of our situation, it would take so much faith and resilience to welcome Christmas with joy and celebration, he said.
“Yet it is not impossible. In fact, it is in the darkest of times that the meaning of Christmas becomes even more pronounced,” he said.
“It is not just possible to celebrate Christmas during these dark and troubled times, it is necessary. In doing so, we affirm that our joy and happiness is not dependent on things going our way, or on material things abounding, but on our Lord Jesus Christ,“ he said.
Alminaza reiterated his call for the faithful to attend mass on Christmas eve (December 24) and Christmas day (December 25) as well as on New Year’s eve (December 31) and New Year’s day (January 1) in white as “our collective call to end the killings, COVID pandemic and abuse of our common home.”
“We shall continue ringing our church bells everyday at 8 p.m. this Christmas and beyond until the killings stop,” he also said.*