Christmas is just around the corner, literally. Eight more days and we once again feast, celebrate, gather family and friends, and feel God’s abundant blessings.
Are you fond of making Christmas lists? If you haven’t yet, maybe you could include these five things that I hope would make Christmas more meaningful to you.
A meaningful Christmas is:
1. Thanking God for His gift to mankind. Have a few minutes of reflection at the start or end of the day, and recall how God’s love is manifested through the gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
2. Giving back. As you complete your Christmas list, don’t forget to set aside for your favourite charity.
Our church, the Shrine of Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life near SM Mall of Asia, has an annual Christmas fundraising project for the Shrine’s maintenance and repairs. Last year, my children’s choir donated and we’re planning to do the same this year, hopefully with a higher amount. Your P1,000 donation will go a long way. Contact our Shrine Office from Tuesday to Sunday for details.
3. Serving others with gladness. Be it volunteering for an institution, visiting the poor and sick, or sharing your talents and skills for the church. Sharing is serving.
4. Doing good. In the simplest forms, like not littering, recycling, supporting local products, showing courtesy, following traffic rules. There are a thousand and one ways to do good anytime, anywhere.
And teach others to do good. MY daughter did her own share of doing good by donating to the SM Cares’ Bears of Joy. P200 for two bears, in which one is given to charity. She chose to give both.
5. Connecting with family and friends. Especially those whom you have not connected with for a long time, even enemies! Give love on Christmas Day may just be a song, but it holds the real essence of Christmas, which is God’s love for us.
And from the mall chain that has got it all for us, here’s how they make a very #MerrySMChristmas! Visit http://bit.ly/MerrySMChristmas for more details, and watch “How #MerrySMChristmas Begins.”
Have a good one!
~ Touringkitty