It’s Christmas!

Parishioners wait for the priest to celebrate the Simbang-gabi mass. In the recent decade or so, the Simbang-gabi has become literally Simbang gabi. Traditionally, these masses were actually held technically in the early morning. (Not that it went away, there is still Simbang gabi in the early morning.) Well, as far as the Filipino culture and language is concerned, when it’s dark, it’s gabi. So, regardless of the time being 4 or 5 am, if it’s dark, that’s “gabi”. Anyway, we won’t have 16 hour nights or 20 hour days here in the tropics. It’s just the Westerners who confuse our sense of time by teaching that past midnight is already morning although the sky is still dark. Church attendees must have been having a hard time waking up early to make it to those pre-dawn masses, that parishes had this bright idea to hold the masses early in the evening for convenience. It’s Christmas.

Parishioners are still waiting for the priest. It has been close to an hour. It turns out the Father has been caught in the middle of Naga City traffic which has stopped to a standstill. Well, of course, that’s a hyperbole. Vehicles on the road are still moving, although, at a snail’s pace. It’s Christmas.

A family needs to go across downtown from the malls along Diversion Road to the restaurants along Magsaysay Avenue. They decide to take a tricycle ride which does not follow a specific route, and could cut through residential streets of Isarog or Mayon through Dayangdang, the trip could take some 15 or 20 minutes. But, dinner has to be pushed further and hunger held, because just like that priest, the family would have to sit on the traffic for more or less an hour. Catching a jeepney or tricycle ride has become a hassle. Booking a grab taxi is taxing on one’s patience. That should serve as our warning sign. We still have to buy grocery items next week for the New Year’s Eve media noche. Do it early, or get creative.

The same goes for bus trips and buffet reservations. They have been fully booked for days. It's Christmas.

A couple of weeks ago, I almost stepped on a small tambourine as I was getting off a jeepney along Diversion. If I had stepped on that makeshift musical instrument, I may have slipped down the ground and hit another or other parts of my body in the process. The clanging percussive instrument was intentionally left there by one of a couple of kids who were holding on to the railings behind the jeep, by the entry/exit passageway of passengers. The kid must have thought that he would just leave it there and get it when he would need to play it already. He must have thought that it would not cause any problem. I noticed that there seem to be a couple of additional group of kids who do this sort of thing, on top of that duo with an improvised drum and a squeaky horn instrument. (I have to give credit to the musical talent of those two. They play with rhythm and harmony with each other.) Now, there’s this group of tambourine playing boys. Then, there’s a group of singing children who hand out envelopes. My skin crawls with nervousness at the thought of them possibly falling down the road, while they stand or sit on that step entering a passenger jeepney. It’s Christmas.

Along the same note, children carolers seem to prefer the ABS-CBN Christmas station ID songs over the traditional “Jingle Bell” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. Traditionally, carolers are carolers, with emphasis on the s, meaning plural. But lately, kids have been going solo on their caroling. Well, the fewer members, the greater the dividend a caroler gets. It must be due to a bad economy. While eating at McDonald’s at Centro, a girl approached our table doing what I later realized was caroling. Her voice was so weak. The tune was not very distinct. She was more whispering and murmuring. After close auditory scrutiny, I heard a faint tune of “Ilaw ng Pasko” from her modified singing. She ran off when we asked her where her parents were. It’s Christmas.

I noticed that there haven’t been firecrackers going boom every now and then. There has been a steep decline over the past years, but there were still some insistent little explosions around the neighborhood, trying to keep the tradition. But in Christmas season of 2025, around Naga and Canaman where I live, I have not heard (as far as I could remember) any crack of firecracker, as of now. Now, this is Christmas!

I know someone who’s scheduled for medication just before Christmas eve. I gave my little help and suggested that she go to DSWD. She told me that the office couldn’t help because the disbursement reached it cut-off for the year, Oh, blame it on government procedures. This Christmas, extend your hand to our neighbors who need help. This is Christmas.

Luke 2:11: Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.