SIMBANG GABI (9th Day)

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We gather together to remember that Jesus was born into our world—a God becoming a human being like us. He came to show us God’s enormous love. He came to be with us, to experience our joys and pains, to be a part of our lives, to bring us joy and peace in a world full of hatred and pain. But His coming is also a call. The call is to conversion, to changing the selfish ways we act toward one another, the choices we make that harm others. He has shown the way. In the midst of hatred and rejection that He experienced from the moment of his birth and until death, He showed love and forgiveness to all. He showed them to each one of us. He is the gift, this Jesus, who loves us so much. Our response is to love as He loves, to be a gift to one another, to be a light to our world that sits in darkness.

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Mahirap mabuhay sa dilim. Pag nag brown-out, sigawan tayo AY! Ayaw natin sa dilim. Ang bulag ay kawawa. Mas mabuti pa daw ang bingi, pilay, ngongo, kaysa maging bulag. Anong ang sinasabi nila? Ang bulag ang pinakamahirap na tao sa mundo. Bakit? Wala kita. Ang pinakamayaman daw ay ang duling. Bakit? Doble kita. Ang katamtaman ang yaman? Ang singkit, maliit kita.

Dumating si Jesus upang tayong nasa dilim ay mapuno ng liwanag. Ito ang kabuluhan ng Pasko sa bawat isa!

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It’s very important that we realize that God works even in darkness and that his divine plans will never be totally or permanently ruined by the evil-doings in the world. This is good to remember when we get frustrated with the troublesome members of our society and churches. Even if they’ve blocked or side-tracked plans that the Lord has made, God’s plans will eventually be fulfilled, one way or another.

It’s true, too, that when we suffer from the sinful choices of people who stray from us, friends who betray us, and anyone else who darkens our world, the light of Christ will always ultimately be victorious.

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Receive the gift of Christmas: the Light of Christ. We must never allow the darkness of the world to discourage us. Whenever we fear that evil is going to win, it’s because we’re listening to the father of lies—the devil. He wishes that he were more powerful than the Messiah, but he never can be. No matter how terrible evil might seem, its darkness has no substance. It’s merely an absence of the light of Christ. And in the perfect timing of God, Christ’s light will shine into this darkness.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Frei Bo

Frei Bo

Priest-Religious of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Province of St. Ezekiel Moreno. Webmaster.