DESPITE THE struggles and dark times that test one’s faith, Christmas serves as a reminder that God’s design would unfold and that His mercy leads to freedom from sin and doubt, a priest said.
In his homily during the ninth day of the Simbang Gabi or dawn mass on Tuesday, Dec. 24, Fr. Lesly John Louvis, O.P. cited the experience of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist who became temporarily mute as a punishment for doubting God’s word.
Zechariah sang praises after realizing the plan of God, who gave him a son even if he and his wife Elizabeth are already old.
Louvis said Zachariah’s journey from doubt to praise shows that even when people struggle to believe, God’s plans for them will unfold.
“A voice is born to tell us that the Lord has come to set us free from our disbelief, sinfulness, darkness and silence, so that we may open our hearts with gratitude to sing praises of God who has come to visit his chosen people and set us free,” the priest said told mass attendees at the Plaza Mayor.
“So dear brothers and sisters, let us join with Zachariah this morning, break the silence and sing the praises of God in gratitude for the word has become flesh and has come to dwell among us,” he added.
According to Louvis, the true meaning of Christmas is the birth of Jesus, whose light offers hope and strength in times of trouble and darkness.
“In revealing God’s tender mercy, Jesus brings the light of God’s merciful love into the darkness of our lives and he also offers us a sharing in God’s own life, God’s own divine life, thereby shattering the shadow of darkness with his light, shattering the shadow of sinfulness with God’s mercy and shattering the shadow of death with his promise of new life and salvation,” Louvis said.
“This is the true meaning of Christmas—celebrating the birth of Jesus. We are celebrating the coming of God’s light and life, a light which no darkness can overcome and a life which is stronger than all forms of death,” he added.
Louvis said believers should carry forward a spirit of gratitude and hope as they celebrate the coming of Jesus, who will lead them to a brighter future.
“It is praises of gratitude coming from the lips of a repentant, cleansed and liberated Jewish high priest, glorifying God not just for visiting his people but also for liberating his people from their alienation from God and their alienation from themselves,” he said.
Simbang Gabi is a devotional nine-day series of masses attended by Catholics as a spiritual preparation for the birth of Jesus. The last day of the mass is held on Christmas Eve. F — Samantha Crisha Garcia
