Beautiful dawns are back again as the Catholic Church goes into one revered tradition that is the Misa de Gallo. The practice is a challenge to every faithful as every pious soul responds to the wakeup call for nine cold morns. To many, it is a simple sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Holy Child that is to come on Christmas Eve. Waking up early for nine dawns to join in the offering of the Eucharistic Celebration is one good way of preparing the way as enjoined by that voice in the wilderness, the one from the precursor of the Messiah. It was John who led the coming of the Savior, calling upon all those who believe, to repent and cleanup the way for the Great One who is to come.
But joining the celebrations of the dawn masses is not enough welcome act of the Savior. It bears remembering that the call to all faithful is to clean the Lord’s way into every person’s heart. One must fulfill the condition of repenting in order to be worthy of the celebration. Without renewal for good, the celebration will all be empty and meaningless. Amid the preparations of decors, lights, food and wine, people must take a pause and reflect for a moment about the true meaning of the celebration. The risk of missing the real point and essence of Christmas is just tremendous as people are caught in many falsehoods and deceptions.
It is providential that the start of the Misa de Gallo falls coincidentally with the third Sunday of Advent. This will give people the rare opportunity to be reminded of the call for repentance as we commence the tradition towards the birth of Jesus. The cleansing process being asked may quite be far from being done. It is here that every faithful is invited to take confession and be reconciled with the Lord as one makes that one bold step to a new life. Being prepared in spirit through the act of repentance is the best way to complete our celebration.
What begun as a simple birth in a manger with Joseph, Mary and the shepherds who were awake to witness the birth of our Savior on that silent night, has now been radically transformed over the years. Our generation had adopted the strong social changes that are influenced by businessmen. The use of glittering Christmas decorations and colorful lights had year after year been the norm. It seems that Christmas is dull without such decorations. People would set aside part of their income to prepare for such decorations and special food that families would partake during Christmas eve in what Filipinos call Noche Buena.
But more importantly, it is being reconciled with the Lord by asking pardon and mercy for all our sins and shortcomings will give meaning to the significant event called Christmas. It bears making some changes that will make a difference in our lives so that our sacrifices in waking up early morn will make our Christmas meaningful. It is not much the food and the glittering decors that will make our Christmas bright but the peace of mind that we have cleaned our life in preparation for the coming of the Holy Infant who will be born this Christmas after the nine dawns of the Filipino tradition Simbang Gabi, a cool celebration.
comments to alellema@yahoo.com
