December has arrived and with it comes the much anticipated festive celebration of Christmas to celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ, uniquely jumbled up commercially with Jose Mari Chan’s descent on us Pinoys — only in the Philippines! But hold on for a second. Surely there must be something else to all this. About four weeks before Christmas on the Sunday closest to 30 November, the Advent Season begins.

And what is Advent all about? For those not too familiar, allow me to expound on the known origin of Advent, with the help of Mr. Google, flavored with a bit of colored personal introspection on my part. So my apologies in advance to those who may disagree or find this piece irreverent.

Christianity is the largest religion in the world with about 2.5-billion believers in Jesus Christ. His Incarnate Birth. His Miracles. His Teachings. And as He walked among us throughout His 33 years of life, like all mortals He suffered. But perhaps the most excruciating pain of all that He suffered was administered by the Romans on their worst enemies at the time — His Crucifixion and Death on the Cross.

This agony paved the way for His gift to us believers, His resurrection from the dead. That not all that we experience in this exciting, at times dreary but often difficult, world disappears into nothingness with the end of our lives. That there IS an ultimate destination to look forward to.

This Christian custom which started sometime during the 4th or 5th century, now referred to as Advent, a Latin word “adventus” meaning coming or arrival, begin the preparations for His Birth and to commemorate His Second Coming on Judgement Day that will finally enable souls to reach their final destination — a redemption that opens the gates to eternal bliss or damnation in the endless fires of Hades — depending on how one had lived in life.

How then does one “prepare” during this season? As originally intended by the Church leaders in the Councils of Saragossa in 380 AD, Tours in 563 AD, and Macon in 581 AD, the clerics and the laity are advised to observe fasting and abstinence three times a week as penance for the inevitable offenses committed by mankind.

Today, for atonement and reflection during the four weeks preceding Christmas, we contemplate on four themes, namely, for the first week, Hope — the prophecy of His Coming and the hope that He brings; the second week, Peace — to prepare the “way of the Lord” echoing the message of John the Baptist; the third, known as Gaudete Sunday, Joy — a reminder that His Birth is coming near; and finally the fourth, Love of God as manifested in the Incarnation.

Personally, I believe it would also be fruitful to seek Her intercession for favors. Particularly by recalling the sacred path of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Her way to becoming the Immaculate Mother of Jesus Christ. From the Archangel Gabriel’s announcement to Her of the venerable task that She would be the Mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; to the visit to Her cousin Elizabeth; until finally the arduous journey to Bethlehem culminating in the Birth of Jesus Christ in fulfillment of the prophecies.

It would also be quite opportune at this time to seek Her intercession, not just for our personal needs, but more so because of the tumultuous events that are endlessly engulfing the world and us. The dangerous and volatile geo-political events happening between Russia and Ukraine, in the Middle East in Israel, in Gaza, and now in Syria threaten the very existence of life should the tensions ever escalate into nuclear armageddon.

And of course, closer to home, the alarmingly increasing tensions in the West Philippine Sea between us and China; and the now you see it, now you don’t, undeclared war between North and South Korea.

It would also be quite opportune at this time to seek Her intercession, not just for our personal needs, but more so because of the tumultuous events that are endlessly engulfing the world and us.

The troublesome political events in our backyard which never seem to let up is a perennial curse that we tire of as a people. Every time we think we are finally over the hump, people with selfish personal interests always somehow manage to rock the boat. It seems that our only recourse is to ask for Her intercession to make this plague cease so we can get our country finally moving again blissfully without any drama.

Why do I say this? We need only to watch, read and listen to the persistently depressing news and opinionated commentaries being constantly aired and repeatedly flashed on print, the air waves, and the web. Worse, with the advent of modern communication technology and the double-edged sword of Artificial Intelligence, there is tons of misinformation and bots that are being continuously churned out to us, the hapless public. It is impossible, at least to me, to know what is fake and what is not.

Fortunately for the faithful, we have Advent, so we can pause, pray, and reflect on the forthcoming joyful season of Christmas.

Until next week… OBF!

For comments, email bing_matoto@yahoo.com.