EDante
Grande Centre Point Hotel, Ratchadamri, Bangkok, 31 December 2021

On 16 December 2021, I stood in the garden behind my parent’s home in Mindanao awaiting to see the coming of Typhoon Odette. I videoed the powerful storm breaking the trees and the horrible howling sound it made. After a few hours, the wind died down and some damages became visible. Electricity and water supplies were cut off. What I saw was just the tip of the iceberg. Some 200-300 km away from where I stood, the eye of the storm passed through several islands and decimated many cities and communities in northern Mindanao and the central Visayas. Millions of people lost their homes and livelihood and over 400 people died. Horrible footage of the storm and plea for help soon flooded social media. 

A few days after, I joined a meeting with the governance team of CFC Thailand to discuss how to respond to this disaster. The message from the meeting was clear, “Go big or go home”. This is an exhortation to go all-out, to put all our efforts into helping out. It is a call to be bold and impactful. Anything less is not acceptable. The team decided to allocate a significant portion of the community’s fund to support ongoing relief efforts and provide financial support to affected members.  They sent out communications to the community regarding the relief efforts and searched for information on ongoing relief efforts on the ground to support.

I messaged Atoy Franco, a childhood friend and one of the leaders of CFC Agusan del Sur. Some eight years ago, Atoy and a few other friends joined me in a relief effort in Leyte following Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). That contact brought back memories of our experience in Leyte in 2013 and immediately paved the way for another joint relief effort. On Christmas eve and Christmas day, I found myself busy packing relief goods together with Atoy’s family and other friends. While packing, we enjoyed chatting, recalling our childhood memories, and sharing stories about our common way of life in the CFC community. Forgetting the time spent and body pains, we completed 776 food packs containing 3 kilos of rice, 6 canned food and 6 packs of noodles. In addition, we received donations of 5 sacks of rice, 350 kg of squash, 450 new shirts, 228 bottles of 10-litre purified water, some biscuits and used clothes. In total, we had over 7.5 tons of relief goods. 
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The day after Christmas we took a long road trip to the ravaged towns in Surigao del Norte and dropped off relief goods in seven areas along the highway between Butuan and Surigao City. Devastations were seen everywhere. No house was left untouched. About 90% were completely destroyed. Trees were broken or uprooted. Children were standing on the road with a note “Help”, “No Food”. We witnessed a repeat of the horror caused by Typhoon Yolanda eight years ago. A young couple from CFC Surigao guided us along the way. They organized the drop-offs in an orderly manner to avoid confusion and mob attacks. They themselves were victims of the Typhoon, having lost their home and many other possessions, and experienced the horror of surviving daily without electricity and limited access to drinking water.  We completed our journey in Surigao City where we handed food packs to over 100 people in front of the CFC office.

As we were preparing to return home, our couple guide advised us to take another road to avoid the city traffic. It turned out to be providential. As we were driving, Atoy spotted a convoy of trucks carrying relief goods and huge signage “1 Bukidnon Help Movement”. Suddenly he knew that our other good friend from high school must be in the convoy. We stopped and were amazed to find our dear friend Pol Murillo. We were jumping with joy. Pol was equally overjoyed and came to hug us without restraint. The last time and place we met with Pol was in 2013 in Leyte where we delivered relief goods in separate Typhoon Yolanda efforts. It was an unexpected reunion among friends with a common love for service for typhoon victims.  I learned that Pol leads the 1 Bukidnon charity movement and is currently the Vice Mayor of Valencia City. It was an amazing experience and a wonderful way to spend Christmas and discover the true essence of Christmas through charity and love.

Some 2,000 years ago, on the first Christmas day, the people in Bethlehem were busy going about their lives and had no room to offer to pregnant Mary and her spouse Joseph. The people had no clue of the significance of the time and place they were living in. They were completely unaware of the awesome divine action happening in their midst. They failed to recognize the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6) in the baby lying in the manger. They disregarded the presence of Mary, the greatest joy of the Father and the most perfect human being. Her perfection is inferior only to God. They overlooked the Christmas star, dismissed the shepherds, and ignored the three Magi. Darkness enveloped the little town of Bethlehem.

The world today remains blind to the spiritual reality of Christmas. It busies itself with things of the world and does not accommodate the Holy Family in its hearts. It fails to see the wonder of Christmas beyond the visible celebration of exchanging gifts, setting up Christmas decorations, organizing parties and shopping. It is, therefore, our prayer that God gives light to this world to see and recognize Him in everything around us and within us. We live, we move, we breathe, we walk, we see, we eat, we talk, we drink, we work, we laugh, we jump because of God. St Paul says “...nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:39). God is present in all around us, how can we fail to see Him?

EDante, AIT home, 10 April 2021

In March 2020, when the corona virus just emerged in Thailand, I got a distress email from an unknown woman living in Europe (not her real location for confidentiality). She sought help for a young foreign man and his six year old nephew who was hospitalized in Bangkok to find a suitable apartment and do some chores. I responded immediately. I learned later that the woman named Mary (not her real name) searched google for several Christian groups in Bangkok for assistance and got one response.

The child was diagnosed with “severe immunodeficiency” resulting in a weak immune system that is unable to fight off even mild infections. It is a serious disease and it came when the whole world was facing risk of corona virus infection. At that time, they thought that the child would be discharged by mid-April. While at the hospital, they needed someone to buy diapers and cereals for the child. I accepted to do that.

After several weeks, the child’s condition remained fragile and hope for a quick recovery faded. On top of that, Thailand shut its borders and halted international travels due to the pandemic.  Both were to remain in Bangkok for a long, long time. The hospital bill surged to at least Baht 200,000 (US$ 6,600) per month. My added task was to receive money and deliver it to the hospital. My family also helped in some chores for them.

The child’s mother named Martha (not her real name) was a refugee and a recent convert to Christianity. She and her child left her country to Thailand to escape from her abusive father and deadly treats from her in-laws. Martha was a victim of a forced marriage to a rich man. After her husband’s death, she suffered torture from her in-laws. While in Thailand, she managed to get her documents to travel to Europe as a refugee but had to leave her child. So Martha’s young brother who was living in Indonesia (not the real location) came to Bangkok to take care of the child while she was in Europe to work out the papers for the child to join her. The entire process was so long and painful. I often got updates late at night of her agony and torture of being away from her child and of her great pain to complete all documents and fight oppositions from immigration officials. As a recent convert, she poured all her troubles to God and wrote asking me to join her in praying, “In the name of Jesus, we come together and pray for strength to stand firm and trust Him. Jesus will be with me, I had faith. Faith in Jesus is the only hope for deliverance.”

Receiving money from Europe also became a challenge. Following several rounds, the money transfer agent blocked me from receiving funds due to the unusually large amount involved. Another option was to transfer direct to my bank account. This worried me thinking that I should at least know the source of funds. I wondered how Martha, a refugee, could sustain the flow of funds. Because of my doubts, Mary was obliged to tell me something that both Martha and her brother were not able to tell me about as they were strictly sworn to secrecy. Mary revealed that the funds used for the hospital and all their other expenses came from her retirement funds. She said she was led by the Lord to make such decision, even with the future financial risks it involves, and to totally trust in Him alone for her future.  Mary met Martha at her church and immediately became involved in a team of people who organized many different types of assistance required to support her.  Again, with the leading of the Lord, she ended up inviting Martha to live with her at her apartment. She said that this was a wonderful arrangement and that she considered Martha, her child and the brother as family members and gifts from God.

She wrote: “It has been very, very difficult in so many ways to be part of their journey, however, even in the darkest times the Lord has blessed us in ways that could never have happened apart from His leading us to become so close.  May we never forget the dark times that the Lord miraculously brought them through!  We wait in HOPE for God’s merciful deliverance to FREEDOM for each of them!”

I was so inspired by her story and responded: “What you are doing for them is incredible and extraordinary. It reminds me of the story of the rich young man in the Gospel of Matthew whom Jesus told "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." The Gospel story did not end well as the young man did not accept Jesus' challenge and thus "became very sad because he was very wealthy".  I believe you don't consider yourself wealthy, yet you gave everything you had and rely on God's provision for your future.  Therefore, you possess both perfection and treasure in heaven that Jesus promised to those who obey to sell possessions and give them to the poor.
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To cut the long story short, exactly one year after I received Mary distress email, the child got his travel papers and went through a difficult flight from Bangkok to Europe accompanied by a Thai nurse. Finally, the mother and the child got reunited and delivered from their painful journey. Few days after that, Moonyeen and I sent off the uncle to the airport to return to his home country. He arrived safely and informed us that her mother was in critical condition. Martha’s in-laws continued to abuse her mother physically and mentally torture her to the extent that the mother was scared and shivering of fear. The uncle was into another mission but this time with resilience and great courage. He wrote “I have a strong belief that one day I will be free from all these problems and all of your prayers are like a strong shield for me to protect from evil”.

This is an incredible story of suffering and pain. Who brought this sorrow to innocent people like Martha and her child and brother? It was not God but the evil act of people around them and the instigation of the devil. These people were so corrupt that they tried to increase the suffering of others for self-serving reasons. But the hand of God was there to protect and comfort those who suffer. God inspired many people to help, comfort and pray with them. All I heard from Mary and Martha were words of faith. They went through a long process and waited patiently the deliverance promised by God without losing hope. And they were rewarded tremendously. Through their suffering, they learned how to truly love God because they realized that everything is sorrow in this world, except God. Sorrow is a cross, but it is also a wing. Blessed indeed are those who mourn without complaining because the Lord himself comfort them. I prayed that someday we shall meet with them again to praise and celebrate together God's mercy and kindness. 

EDante, AIT Home, January 2021

2020 is an extraordinary year that may be remembered as the most traumatic year of our generation. As early as January, Taal volcano overwhelmed the sky in Metro Manila and nearby provinces with ashes and lava causing suspension of flights, schools, and businesses. Moonyeen and I were just stepping out of the campus of the St Paul College, Pasig City where a Couples for Christ leaders conference was held when the news about the eruption broke out. The following day our scheduled flight to Mindanao was cancelled forcing us to look for alternative mode of travel. We took a 24-hour journey via a ship from Manila to Cebu.

In February, news about the corona virus outbreak in China came out and travel restrictions were introduced in many countries especially travelers from China, Japan, Republic of Korea and Singapore. In March, the UN office in Bangkok was closed and staff were asked to work from home initially for three weeks. Within a few weeks, cases of corona virus surged in many parts of the world, particularly in Europe and North America. Our son Kent just managed to return home to Bangkok from Vancouver the day when Thailand shut down its borders. 

But God forewarned us that the pandemic was not short term. Through a message from True Life in God received by Vassula on 13 March, God said: “summon the people and tell them: without repenting and truthfulness in your prayer this evil will last longer than you think, turn to Me, your God and repent; a sincere and universal prayer will reach Me.”  Indeed, at that time, nobody anticipated that the pandemic would continue. Despite all measures, the virus has spread in all corners of the world and the number of infections surged exponentially. By year end, 12,000 people were dying each day. 

The Lord asked us to repent and pray. Repentance demands a complete change of heart and a change in one’s way of life. To change is difficult; but not to change is fatal. In His goodness, the Lord permitted the pandemic to happen. He has stopped the world. He has ceased our travel, sports, gambling, entertainment, businesses, shopping, holidays, and many other activities. He has removed our busyness and forced us to stay home. He has given us more time for family and ourselves. He allowed trials and suffering. He has done all these out of love and for one sole purpose, to save us from eternal death. 

Listen to the words of the Lord to one of His followers: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered and anxious about so many things, but only one thing is necessary.” (Luke 10:42). That one thing is to know, love and serve God. We were made for that purpose. To love God with all our hearts, all our minds and all our strength is the greatest of all the commandments. If we no longer fulfil that purpose, we will no longer reach our destination, which is heaven with God. Therefore, we repent by giving God his rightful place in our hearts.

We must therefore bravely free our hearts from all matters that deprive the presence of God. We should not be afraid to knock down those that are unnecessary but keep only those that are essentials. We should examine each affection, desire and passion against the word of God. We should assess our actions and how we spend our time and use our resources against the justice of God. We need to demolish many things unnecessary and give more space for God to reign in our hearts. 

About 2000 years ago, God sounded a call for repentance through his prophet John the Baptist. That call preceded the beginning of the mission of Jesus. It was a signal of Jesus great coming into the world. John the Baptist proclaimed: “The time has come, the Kingdom of God is at hand, Repent and believe the Good News”.  Once again, God sounded a call for repentance amid the present pandemic. He signaled the time of the second coming of Jesus. The bible warns us to be ready because the exact timing of his second coming is not known by men (Luke 12:40; Matthew 25:13). It also tells us that there will be many signs. This current pandemic is one of these signs.

Jesus sends this message for us through True Life in God: "...now the time is near, the time of My Return, that is ever so imminent; little do you know generation, that soon, very soon, My Light will be seen in the sky; trembling with fear will grip those who disdained Me; cheers of joy will rise from all those who never stopped loving Me... after that Sign the world will never be the same". The Lord is indeed coming again. Just as in the old days, we must prepare to meet Him with our repentance and prayers.

EDante, AIT Home, 25 December 2019

This reflection draws from the visit of Pope Francis to Thailand in November 2019.  My family were among the 70,000 excited crowd gathered in a stadium in Bangkok on 21 November to receive the Pope and attend mass with him. Expectations of heavy traffic, endless queue and scorching weather turned into amazement. We easily reached the venue, got through the entrance into our seats within minutes and were blessed with surprisingly bearable warm weather. The Pope riding in his “Pope Mobile” passed by waving his hands just four meters away and blessed us with divine joy and peace.  Everything that happened that wonderful afternoon was extraordinary and something that will be remembered for the rest of our lives.

Following the event, we met an Indonesian friend, Andrian, in a gas station on our way back home.  He, together with his family, was also in the stadium with the Pope. He told us an incredible story of their encounter with Pope Francis at St Louis Hospital in the morning that day.  He said he and wife Lily wanted to get the blessing of the Pope for their 10-year-old son who needs special care due to some paralysis. This issue started from birth, yet the couple decided, possibly against the doctor’s advice, to keep the baby knowing the great sacrifices they must endure for his care.

He recalled his miraculous escape from traffic congestion to get to St Louis Hospital. They were led somehow to a small Soi (street) they didn’t know that brought them to the very gate of the venue. They found a spot among many other disabled and sick children waiting for the Pope. Suddenly, the most unexpected happened, they saw the Pope who suddenly got off from his vehicle and rushed towards them giving the most wonderful miracle and blessing of all – a kiss to their son. They were so touched to the bottom of their hearts.

About a month after, we met Andrian and Lily at a fellowship following the Sunday mass at St Gabriel church in Sapan Mai. I spoke with Lily who was carrying her special son. She recalled their experience with the Pope and showed me some photos. Lily told of another miracle that day with the Pope. She felt a new warmth from his son’s body after the kiss from the Pope. It appears that some form of healing has occurred.

I was so moved by their experience and reflected on God’s mercy and compassion to those who suffer for the love of God and for His commandments. It reminded me of the words of Jesus I read earlier “..[many] have gone far apart from Me, when they encounter My Cross they get terrified from it; have I not taught you that My Cross and I are linked and inseparable?” (True Life in God). In scripture, Jesus says the same thing: “If you want to be my disciple, carry your cross”. Indeed, the Christian mystery of suffering is a paradox. While suffering may look like a destructive force that breaks us down, it is in spiritual truth a way towards joy and peace with God. It is a pathway to heaven and an integral part of Christian life. This is an important truth for all of us who are afraid to suffer, who run away easily from any minor inconveniences and trials, and who breaks God’s command of love and fidelity to avoid the crosses of life.

The birth of Christ is a commencement of a life of suffering of the Holy Family. From the first journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary following the leading of the Spirit embarked into a great risk from robbers along the road and uncertainties about a place to stay. At that time, there were no more relatives living in Bethlehem due to persecutions in that place against the descendants of David. They feared they may not provide a comfortable place for the birth of Jesus who is the King of Kings and the Almighty God. After the birth of Christ, they were told to remain in Bethlehem according to the prophecy that the Messiah must come from the place of David. They obeyed and stayed with some help from the locals until about a year when an Angel told Joseph to take Jesus and His mother to Egypt to escape from Herod’s wrath. Thanks to the gifts from the wise men, Joseph was able to procure a donkey and bought some provisions for the long, arduous and risky journey. As refugees in a foreign land, the Holy Family bore hardships, poverty, persecutions and uncertainties for over three years until it was time to return to Nazareth. Arriving in Nazareth, they found their small house, abandoned for about four years, in ruins and needed much repair to be livable. Such was the beginning of their life of suffering which culminated in the cross at Golgotha.

As we celebrate the day of the birth of Christ, let us pray for those who suffer great trials and difficulties in life, especially the sick, disabled, orphaned, refugees, abandoned, separated, unloved and prisoners. We pray for courage and perseverance and for God’s grace to allow them to endure life sufferings. Let us also pray for ourselves that we may have the courage to face our own crosses and see them in a different light, a pathway to heaven and divine life. May God bless us all! 

 EDante, AIT home 25 December 2018

The evening of 15 December was the highlight of the annual AIT Catholic Community Christmas caroling. It was the time to visit Prof Karl Weber and celebrate Christmas with him together with his household members and about 40 special guests, mostly retired expats from Germany and other parts of Europe. We were asked to fetch Father Joe Maier who lives in the slums of Klong Toey on our way to Prof Weber’s residence. 

Father Joe just returned to Bangkok from the US and was still recovering from the long flight. Being 79 years old, he went to visit his remaining family members while he is still able to travel. As he emerged from the entrance of his Mercy Centre building we saw a weak and ageing Father Joe in his casual white shirt and dark pants. Seeing us in our colorful Christmas carol attire, he stopped to ask if he looked okay and we all assured him that he is fine. While in the car, he sighed wearily about the political crisis that heavily polarizes people in the US into pro or against the current administration. But more so, about how Americans turned Christmas celebration into a purely secular and commercial holiday season. People no longer tell about God and the birth of Christ and nor use the Holy Name of Christ in their greetings.

The truth is that the whole world is making Christmas celebration less Christian. We treat Christmas as a holiday of leisure and consumption, in marked contrast to the true spirit of Christmas. We gave more importance to decorating Christmas trees, exchanging gifts, eating the best food, shopping expensive goods and partying with families and friends. Christmas cards no longer bear the name of Christ. They read “Season’s greetings”, “Holiday season”, “Year-end celebration”, "Happy holidays", etc. because people started to believe that the Holy Name of Jesus is offensive to other religions.

Through the messages contained in the book True Life in God, Jesus expresses his sadness about the way we come to celebrate Christmas these days:

“Today I come with peace-terms and a Message of Love, but the peace I am offering is blasphemed by the earth, and the Love I am giving them is mocked and jeered in this Eve of My Birth. Mankind is celebrating these days without My Holy Name. My Holy Name has been abolished and they take the day of My birth as a great holiday of leisure, worshiping idols. Satan has entered into the hearts of My Children, finding them weak and asleep. I have warned the world…” (True Life in God).

It is good that God still addresses us as “My Children” although we no longer treat Him as our Father. But God is good and is always good. He has warned us through many natural disasters that happened and those that are yet to come. He wanted to draw our full attention to the true meaning of Christmas and the good it is offering us. The truth is that Christmas is about healing of our soul. We know of our body well and how to make it healthy and strong and able to make us look good and allow us to travel around and do our work without disruption. Sickness of the body brings all sorts of problems, not only physical not also mentally and emotionally and affects relationships, income and overall state of happiness. We want to keep healthy to the extent possible. It is therefore to no surprise that we see a marked expansion of health products and services worldwide.

But where do we go when the soul is diseased, broken and poisoned?  Do we even know the condition of our soul? Man is both body and soul. The body will have its end when we die but the soul does not die, it continues to live in eternity. The soul is diseased when it is deprived of its true origin, God. When one lives without the true faith, or in complete rejection of God, the soul is broken. The soul is poisoned when it is laden with sins. The Church teaches about the seven deadly sins of lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. They are called deadly because they can “kill” the spiritual part of the soul.  The soul of a sinner is filled with guilt that reproaches and causes nightmares at sleep. It is devoid of sanctifying grace that gives faith, hope and love. When a sinner reaches old age, his soul suffers in agony, remorse and terror as God gradually reveals its true condition. On the same book True Life in God, Jesus explains this truth:

“When the hour of Darkness comes, I will show you your insides; I will turn your soul inside out and when you will see your soul as black as coal, not only will you experience a distress like never before, but you will beat your breast with agony that your own darkness is far worse than the darkness surrounding you. I will make human life scarcer than ever before; then when My wrath will be appeased, I will set My Throne in each one of you and together with one voice and one heart and one language you will praise Me, the Lamb” (True Life in God).

What Christ is offering us at Christmas is healing of soul and through that healing an inner peace and tranquility. It is the forgiveness of sins and removal of guilt that he offers so that the soul is alive and active again. Jesus can take a soul back to the freshness of a child’s soul when through penance the sinner washes, detoxicates, cures and recomposes his poor soul. Forgiveness and healing is found in no one else except through the name of Jesus. For there is no other name under heaven given to mankind (Acts 4:12). Only if we fully appreciate the meaning and significance of what healing of souls mean and what it can bring to our lives, there is no logical explanation why we should run away from Christ at Christmas and turn Christmas into something vain and useless. When the resurrected Jesus appeared to His apostles he made his peace offering to us very clear: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).

Father Joe was truly relieved to be back to Bangkok where he can see Christmas being lived in Christ and with Christ. He said he was grateful for the religious freedom given by the Thai people. He was happy to join the Christmas carol at Prof Karl Weber’s together with his beloved children of the AIT Catholic Community. On the eve of Christ’s birth, while saying the Christmas mass at AIT, Father Joe astonished us by telling that his greatest joy and honour in life is with the AIT Catholic Community. Father Joe has been our priest for more than 40 years, yet he is well-known globally for his charity work towards children and communities in the slums of Bangkok, for which he had received many international and national recognition, and had written several books. More information about his work is available from the website https://www.mercycentre.org/.

So on this Christmas day, may you seek healing and forgiveness from Jesus through the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist and be filled with peace and joy that comes from Jesus and may your family and work be blessed now and for the coming new year.

EDante, AIT home 26 December 2017

Daniel in the lion’s den is one of the old testament bible stories I loved so much when I was young. The story tells how Daniel, a Jew slave, was promoted to high office in Babylon by king Darius, but jealous rivals tricked Darius into issuing a decree which condemned Daniel to death (Daniel 6). Against his will, king Darius ordered Daniel to be cast into the lion’s den hoping that Daniel’s God would save him.  The next day the king hastened to find Daniel alive giving him immense joy. Because of Daniel's holiness and faith, God gave him the gift of “understanding of all visions and dreams” (Daniel 1:17) and revealed to him the high prophecies of Christ and of the Antichrist, which are a key to present and future times. Daniel lived around 500 years before the birth of Christ.

The most significant of Daniel’s prophecies is the “seventy weeks” period for establishing the time of the birth of Jesus. This prophecy opens with these words; “Seventy weeks have been declared for your people and your holy city…” (Daniel 9:24).  The word “weeks” is a translation from a Hebrew word “shayuim” which means “sevens”.  It is like the English word “dozen”, which refers to a dozen of anything. The word “weeks” in Daniel’s prophecy also refers to a seven of anything.  Therefore, the “seventy weeks” is understood as seventy sevens of years, i.e. 70 x 7 years, which is equal to 490 years. This is the period given to establish the year of the birth of Christ from the time when the rebuilding of Jerusalem was announced (Daniel 9:25). This prophecy was well understood by the Jews in the old testament times and even during the time of Christ’s birth.  

Knowing Daniel’s prophecy very well, the Jews had anticipated the time of the coming of the Messiah. This is evidenced in the Gospels. For instance, Luke observes that “the people were filled with expectations, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah. For this, John adamantly answered them, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming, I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals” (Luke 3:15-16). In the same Gospel, Luke tells of a man called Simeon who received a revelation from the Holy Spirit that he should not die before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord (Luke 2:25-26).

Maria Valtorta’s Poem of Man-God further reveals that the Jews had anticipated the coming of the Messiah. From that book, an interesting question is asked by the child Mary when she was a little less than three years old to her old mother Anne: “How long will it be before we have the Emmanuel?” For this, Anne responds: “About thirty years, my darling.”  In the same book, Gamaliel is seen speaking with fellow Pharisees and their followers about the coming of the Messiah according to Daniel's prophecy. He states that the Messiah must had already been born, because the seventy prophesied weeks, from the time the decree of the reconstruction of the Temple was issued, expired some ten years before that time. Fellow Pharisees objected strongly believing that the Messiah, known as the Prince of Peace, would come only when Israel is free from the slavery of the Roman Empire. The boy Jesus at twelve years old interrupted the conflict and confirmed that Gamaliel was right. What follows was a heated discussion between the child Jesus and the group of Pharisees that we read in Luke 2:46, "Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions."

Later in the same book, it is shown that the time of birth came much earlier than anticipated owing to the prayers of Mary asking God for the grace of sending the Messiah sooner.  How can God respond to such prayer? Can God make wrong the prophecy made several hundred years ago?  Because of the prayer of Mary and perhaps of other just people as well, God indeed shortened the prophetic period of seventy weeks, while keeping the number of years (490 years) unchanged. This was possible by taking the measure of the prophetic time according to the course of the moon, not of the sun.  A lunar year has 11 days less than a solar year. Mary’s prayer hastened the birth of Christ by 11 days for each of the prophetic year. This amounts to a total of 5,390 days or about 15 years over the period of 490 years.  Mary therefore waited for only 15 years, and not 30 years according to the original idea of the prophecy of Daniel, to become the Mother of Jesus at the age of 17 or 18 years old.

As we celebrate Christmas, let us thank God for listening to the prayers of His people by sending Jesus to the world sooner. Let us also thank Mary for offering herself to God as a virgin to bring Jesus to the world. The child Mary herself explains that being a virgin means one does not want to know human love, but only the love of God. It means that one has no other thought but for the Lord. It means to remain children in the flesh and angels in the heart. It means that one has no eyes but to look at God, and ears to listen to Him, and a mouth to praise Him, hands to offer oneself as a victim, feet to follow Him fast, and a heart and a life to be given to Him.  Mary did all these to obtain the grace of God for saving His people.