St. Nick and Paskwa sa Banwa's Christian Paradigm
Today is the feast of St. Nicolas of Myra (December 6). Of course, only a handful know about it. Less even cared about it. Saints are no longer popular these days. Much more their feast days.
What people cared is that Piolo Pascual, their idol set upon a pedestal, remains true to the image he let his fans made of him all these years. As for old St. Nick, well, (pardon the word) he stinks--unless we reinvent him and call him by his popular name. And of course, by presenting him as the one who makes dreams and wishes come true, especially this Yuletide season.
Take for instance our Paskwa sa Banwa. Considering that Balete was the first in the Aklan to stage a grand Christmas decoration by lighting trees within the Municipal Park and Plaza, we deemed it proper that the Baleten-on constituencies have a responsibility in sustaining this laudable pageantry through collaboration with the local government and the various civil society organizations as well as the private sector. Christmas is however not just about pageantry. It is more about sharing and caring. As a matter of fact, it is about the birth of hope in an otherwise hopeless situation. Hence, we reinvented it by introducing certain variation by doing away with glamour and at times scandalous display of lights and introducing the Christian paradigm of sharing and caring. We have encouraged participating agencies to go out of their way and reach out to the underprivileged instead of spending their monies on Christmas lights and decors. We facilitated their meeting at the town plaza where these agencies, CSO's and PO's impart the spirit of Christmas to the poor through Christmas carols and gift-giving.
To put it simply, we tried to celebrate Paskwa sa Banwa in a manner old St. Nick did it many, many years ago. He went out of his way just to reach out--even risk his safety by climbing chimney just to help. Not for his own glory but for that of his God. Incognito and especially during nighttime, he carries bags of goods and discreetly threw them into the abodes of the poor.
One particular story, I love to tell my kids about is St. Nick's encounter with a poor widower who raised singlehandedly his three daughters. He was particularly concerned about their plight that when its was time that the poor man's daughter are to be wed, he slipped into the nights an threw in bags of money to enable the father to pay for the dowry of his daughters. It was said that the poor man was so keen at knowing the persona of his unknown benefactor that he labored staying at night locking the windows and watching the only entrance. He was outwitted by Bishop Nick who made his entrance at the chimney just to avoid being recognized.
So today is the feast of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra. He won't mind if we failed to remember though. But he would mind if we endeavored to live out the spirit of Christmas--not just about sending cards, giving gifts and singing carols to our loved ones during this season; not just about completing the dawn masses and giving alms to the poor. Old St. Nick would really mind if we make room for the homeless Jesus in our lives day by day. Can we make it happen?
By the way, St. Nick is popularly called in other countries as Kriss Kringle, Pere Noel, Santa Claus.
What people cared is that Piolo Pascual, their idol set upon a pedestal, remains true to the image he let his fans made of him all these years. As for old St. Nick, well, (pardon the word) he stinks--unless we reinvent him and call him by his popular name. And of course, by presenting him as the one who makes dreams and wishes come true, especially this Yuletide season.
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| Balete LGU employees sing Christmas carols for the poor |
Take for instance our Paskwa sa Banwa. Considering that Balete was the first in the Aklan to stage a grand Christmas decoration by lighting trees within the Municipal Park and Plaza, we deemed it proper that the Baleten-on constituencies have a responsibility in sustaining this laudable pageantry through collaboration with the local government and the various civil society organizations as well as the private sector. Christmas is however not just about pageantry. It is more about sharing and caring. As a matter of fact, it is about the birth of hope in an otherwise hopeless situation. Hence, we reinvented it by introducing certain variation by doing away with glamour and at times scandalous display of lights and introducing the Christian paradigm of sharing and caring. We have encouraged participating agencies to go out of their way and reach out to the underprivileged instead of spending their monies on Christmas lights and decors. We facilitated their meeting at the town plaza where these agencies, CSO's and PO's impart the spirit of Christmas to the poor through Christmas carols and gift-giving.
To put it simply, we tried to celebrate Paskwa sa Banwa in a manner old St. Nick did it many, many years ago. He went out of his way just to reach out--even risk his safety by climbing chimney just to help. Not for his own glory but for that of his God. Incognito and especially during nighttime, he carries bags of goods and discreetly threw them into the abodes of the poor.
One particular story, I love to tell my kids about is St. Nick's encounter with a poor widower who raised singlehandedly his three daughters. He was particularly concerned about their plight that when its was time that the poor man's daughter are to be wed, he slipped into the nights an threw in bags of money to enable the father to pay for the dowry of his daughters. It was said that the poor man was so keen at knowing the persona of his unknown benefactor that he labored staying at night locking the windows and watching the only entrance. He was outwitted by Bishop Nick who made his entrance at the chimney just to avoid being recognized.
So today is the feast of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra. He won't mind if we failed to remember though. But he would mind if we endeavored to live out the spirit of Christmas--not just about sending cards, giving gifts and singing carols to our loved ones during this season; not just about completing the dawn masses and giving alms to the poor. Old St. Nick would really mind if we make room for the homeless Jesus in our lives day by day. Can we make it happen?
By the way, St. Nick is popularly called in other countries as Kriss Kringle, Pere Noel, Santa Claus.
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