So, this is Christmas and what have you done?

The Lord Is My Chef Christmas Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, 25 December 2023

Of course, that is the opening line of John Lennon’s 1971 song Happy Xmas (War Is Over) he wrote and recorded with his second wife Yoko Ono. It is actually a protest song against the Vietnam War.

It was not an LSS for me because I have not heard it played anywhere except inside my mind ever since the start of the Simbang Gabi when I was visiting our patients at the Fatima University Medical Center in Valenzuela City where I serve as a chaplain. Soon, even during my prayer periods, I would hear and later hum those lines even in my office, in my room, and in the elevator. That is why I thought of making it my homily this Christmas.

Most likely, aside from being a fan of John Lennon (and Paul McArtney and the Beatles), one reason I felt Happy Xmas (War Is Over) so strongly during Simbang Gabi was due to the war in Gaza which is a Palestinian territory like the West Bank where Bethlehem is located, the birthplace of Jesus Christ.  

“So this is Christmas 
and what have you done? 
Another year over, 
a new one just begun… 
A very merry Christmas 
and a Happy New Year, 
let’s hope it’s a good one 
without any fear.”

I find those opening lines so powerful, searing one’s heart amid this cold season, probing deeply our very person, examining our sense of personal responsibility and accountability in the light of all the troubles going on in the world and in our selves. 

Lennon reminds me of God’s question to Cain after he had killed his brother Abel, “What have you done! Listen: Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil!” (Gen. 4:10).

It is the same question God is asking us on this birthday of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: ”So, this is Christmas, what have you done?“

1. Have you been like Joseph thinking more of the welfare of Mary when he found her pregnant, choosing to “quietly divorce” her before being told of the whole story by an angel in a dream or, have you jumped into conclusions and spread lies especially in social media of certain stories of people you have not verified?
2. Have you been like Mary lovingly saying yes to God’s plans, trusting God through your parents and those above you or, have you been stubborn and rash in your decisions that have hurt so many other people in the process, only to find out you have been misled by your friends, and now abandoned by everybody else except by those closest to you like your family and friends who dared to speak the truth to you?
3. Have you been like Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, who chose to go into seclusion to be silent to pray more on the wondrous things done to her by God or one who refuses to be separated from all gadgets, living practically in media, without any concern for persons and nature?
4. Have you been like any of those innkeepers who refused to provide room for Mary and Joseph for the birth of Jesus Christ, becoming deaf and blind to the plight of the poor and marginalized around, thinking only of one’s self and welfare that despite your wealth and fame and everything, you still feel empty and unfulfilled inside?
5. Have you been like a Caesar Augustus or a Quirinus, acting like an emperor or governor today lording it over everybody else especially on the road madly raging against other motorists or, insisting on using the EDSA bus lane to get ahead of others or, simply having a power trip anywhere to impose your authority and superiority over others especially the weak, manipulating them for your selfish motives?
6. Have you been like those pretending to be the light of the world, influencing others with your false beliefs in the name of equality and freedom of expression you espouse on glossy pictures and illustrations, lively music and empty words and promises being liked and followed in social media?
7. Have you been like the shepherds living in the margins of the society, in the darkness of sins and evil who led others into the light of Bethlehem, listened to the calls of the angels from above to give peace a chance to look for the Mother and Child in a manger or, have you been a shepherd without any regard for your flock except your comfort and well-being?
8. Have you been like John the Baptist who made a stand for the weak and disadvantaged, who spoke the truth, tried to be simple and humble, most of all just and fair with everyone because with us always is the Christ whom we do not know?

I leave up to you, my dear friends, to continue the list of what have you done this Christmas.

And so this is Christmas (War is over)
For weak and for strong (If you want it)
The rich and the poor ones (War is over)
The road is so long (Now)
And so happy Christmas (War is over)
For black and for white (If you want it)
For yellow and red ones (War is over)
Let's stop all the fight (Now)

Notice in this last stanza how Lennon – like Luke in his Christmas account – sounded in the present moment, in every here and now, challenging us to make Christmas happen even if it is not December 25. 

Most of all, the will – if you want it – to keep Christmas and its message vibrantly alive amid the great darkness enveloping us. 

It has been reported that Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, the Lord’s birthplace, have been cancelled due to the war in Gaza. Though the news is very sad, there still some sparks of light bursting from the darkness there because only the festivities are cancelled but not Christmas.

Christmas is never cancelled and can never be cancelled no matter how miserable our lives would be because that is also when it truly happens: Jesus came to bring us light and life, comfort and res, peace and mercy the world badly needs, then and now. Whether we do something or nothing, Christmas happens because Jesus will never leave us. That is has always been the truth as the fourth gospel tells us this Christmas: 

All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:3-4

But, why not do our part like Joseph and Mary, the shepherds, including Zechariah and Elizabeth and their son John the Baptist – the ones who have done so much – to make Christmas truly a happy and merry one as God willed it so. Come and do something to share Jesus our light, especially where there is darkness and death, where there is war and rubble. Amen. Have a blessed Merry Christmas!

Here is John Lennon. Happy listening too!