We are now in the fourth and the last Sundays of the Advent season. This reminds all of us that Christmas is coming very soon and Advent is already ending.

I presume that if not all, the majority of us have made the preparations not only in celebrating Christmas but also the spiritual preparations that we need as we recall the first coming of Jesus on that eve of 25 December when Mary gave birth to a child, the Savior of the world.

A good question to ask ourselves now is, how was our Advent journey so far? Has it been meaningful and fruitful for us? Has it been good in preparing ourselves for the upcoming celebration of the Nativity or the birth of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Or have we instead been preparing ourselves for Christmas in the wrong way?

As I have written earlier, right after the commemoration of All Saints and All Souls days in November, people were already thinking and preparing for the festivities, celebrations and merrymaking for this month of December. Sad to say, something and someone is indeed inconspicuously missing from all the celebrations.

Ironically, this One who is missing is exactly the One for whom the celebrations we have at Christmas are intended for. Christmas is indeed about Christ first and foremost. It marks the moment when the Lord Jesus, Son of God, was born into this world, revealing God's perfect and enduring love, manifested and personified, becoming tangible and approachable to us.

And yes, that is exactly what we should be focusing on Christmas Day rather than the many distractions that the secular Christmas pageantries and festivities have presented to us.

First of all, as Christians let us be filled with God's love and show that same love in our lives and actions just as He has taught us to do.

The Law and Commandments are essentially about us loving God first and foremost before all else, and then loving one another. This time and season of Advent is a really good time to remind us to reconnect ourselves with God especially if we have allowed our busy schedules and life activities to distract and make us become more and more distant from God. Let us not allow ourselves to be swayed by so much festivities and merrymaking that we forget to remember that even in our midst, there are people who are still suffering, and unable to rejoice or celebrate due to various reasons.