Advent officially starts the Christmas season

Except in the Holy Mass, the advent season is not popularly commemorated in the Philippines. The word advent is from the Latin word adventus, which means a coming. It is the season that is supposed to remind the faithful of the two advents of Christ: the first was His birth in Bethlehem, the second will be his His return to glory on the Day of Judgment. In other Catholic countries, it is observed like Lent, meaning it is commemorated with feasting, prayers and meditation. Originally its celebration began on St. Andrews Day (November 30), exactly four weeks before Christmas. Now, it starts on the first Sunday closest to St. Andrew’s Day, which means the first Sunday of December.

One reason why Advent is not popularly commemorated in the Philippines is because we have our very own special Christmas-coming commemoration in our simbang gabi, or dawn-Mass novena celebrated from December 16 to the 25th. That custom is a two-in-one commemoration. It is a novena in honor of the Nativity and a harvest festival. Rice is harvested in December and that is the reason why the Masses are celebrated before dawn – to allow the farmers to hear Mass before they go to the fields to work. The harvest explains why the farmers have a breakfast feast after the Mass – to thank God for the fruits of their harvest. It is both a religious and a secular festival. In many parts of the country, it is customary to give to the church the very first grains of palay reaped from the harvest. So the folk regard the dawn Masses as the official start of our Christmas celebration.

Last Halloween, the face of Osama bin Laden was used as a motif along with witches and warlocks. In Christmas, we have a universal symbol of anti-Christmas in the fictional character of Scrooge. But the real life enemies of this coming Christmas are bin Laden and Nur Misuari. If they could have their way, they would ruin this coming Christmas with more senseless terroristic attacks. The war in Afghanistan is coming to an end.

In a few days, it will be totally concerned with the capture of bin Laden, dead or alive. In the case of Misuari, it is all a matter of having the Malaysian authorities deport him back to the Philippines, the sooner the better. It will be a mistake to unnecessarily prolong his stay in Malaysia even if he has allegedly broken the laws there because of his participation in the kidnapping of foreigners in a beach resort.

One thing we can be sure of, the terrorist problem will be the dominant theme in all newspapers for the rest of this year. What a way to the end the first year of the third millennium.

Our real concern is the world-wide campaign against poverty. Poverty is not the cause of terrorism. It is ignorance. The best proof is that the world’s top terrorist is anything but poor. He is a billionaire who is using his fabulous fortune to terrorize the American people. He hides in Afghanistan, but has done nothing to alleviate the poverty in his adopted country. On the contrary, he has added to their misery because now Afghanistan is under siege because of him.

In Mindanao, China has an ongoing project in General Santos to assist the development of the region. The Abu Sayyaf kidnapped and killed two Chinese engineers, who were part of the Chinese team who are helping our country. What a way to encourage local and foreign aid to the Muslim sector.

The spirit of Christmas will prevail over terrorism.