Yuletide moments
The First Moment
Marie was a fortunate girl. She was born to an upper-class family. She was able to study and graduate at a prestigious university. Sometime in her 20th year, she has never felt so alive. She was raring to go to work for a multinational company in two weeks time. The more beautiful thing is, she has found her love. And they were due to get married within the next two years.
Marie’s life seemed complete. Except probably for her faith. Marie grew up in a family of conservative and religious members of the community. She learned to pray the rosary at age 5 and was a choir member at age 9. But somehow, she has never felt closed to God. The idea of a higher being seemed distant to her.
She’s not even sure if angels are real. When she was 12, she predicted that if an angel appeared before her one night at the foot of her bed, her life would never be the same. By 16, her prediction somewhat changed, hoping the angel that would appear to her would look like Piolo Pascual.
But the angel that appeared at the foot of her bed one night did not look like Piolo. Marie was not even sure if it was a boy or a girl. All she knew was that in an instant, amid the cold night, she felt this warmth followed by a radiant light emanating from nothing. And the next thing Marie saw was a person with wings looking calmly to her.
The angel spoke, "Don’t be afraid. I have arrived to send you great news."
For a few seconds, Marie couldn’t say a word. She thought she was dreaming, but then she remembered she hadn’t slept yet.
"Are you an angel?" Marie replied.
The whole encounter seemed to last for only a few minutes. But by the end of it, once the angel disappeared and the room went dark again, Marie sat on her bed frozen.
She felt that her whole life — everything she had planned for the rest of her life — went down the drain.
"I’m gonna be the mother of a saviour? How can that be?" Marie kept asking to herself.
The angel told her she would give birth to the son of God, a God she has viewed only as an abstraction, a God she was not sure existed. But then there’s the angel and she’s not hallucinating. "Or am I?" Marie asked in the dark.
Fear and confusion crept inside her. But somehow, she was amazed at herself. "Is it really me who said that?" Marie thought when she remembered what she uttered before the angel disappeared. "I will submit to God’s will" Marie repeated her words.
The Second Moment
Yousef knew Marie was the girl she was meant to marry. He has always laughed at the concept of love at first sight, not knowing that he would experience it a few days before graduation.
Yousef also knew that his life would be an uphill climb the minute he professed his affection for Marie. Yousef’s family was middle-class. Though half-Arab, Yousef was born Catholic. Nevertheless, Marie’s parents disapproved of him. Had it not been for Marie’s insistence and the recent success of Yousef’s family business, theirs would have been a tale of Romeo and Juliet.
But like villains in a play, Marie’s parents were just waiting for a moment to cancel their daughter’s march to the aisle.
The time came when Marie told them the news. Marie’s parents heard and remembered everything, except the angel. Suddenly unmindful of any Catholic sacraments, Marie’s parents laid down their ultimatum. Marie gasped and wailed. She was told only two choices: the child will be born if Marie severed her ties with Yousef, otherwise the child must die.
The Third Moment
Yousef felt as if he was buried alive. Marie told them about the angel and its news. Unlike Marie, Yousef had a strong faith in God. He believed in angels.
But in an instant, he felt like a fragile human soul. He felt dazed and unbelieving at the prospect of divine intervention. He began to worry about what people would say about Marie and him. He began to ponder of breaking up with Marie, fearing that people would think they had premarital sex. Then he thought of staying with her, fearing just the same that people might think Marie had a tryst with another guy. HIs actions would have repercussions to other Arab people in the community who continue to receive prejudice from neighbors.
But Marie did not remember him saying all these things to her. She only remembered Yousef telling her how much he loved her and how much he’s excited with their baby sent by God.
Yousef went home feeling empty. Then later in the night, the same angel appeared to Yousef. Like a douse of cold water, Yousef realized his role in God’s plan. And he needed to do everything to play his role well.
The Fourth Moment
Yousef became the only one Marie relied on for support. She was on the brink of a nervous breakdown, almost thinking of ending her misery and her baby as well.
Every night, the couple prayed. Marie fought hard to remember what the angel said and how she felt at that instant when she submitted to a will not her own. That total surrender, the feeling of floating into space and being carried by strong arms towards somewhere only happiness exists. The certain feeling of hope and serenity.
She needed to remind herself to be strong. She and Yousef are homeless. Their only possessions are their clothes. She is more than eight months pregnant. She and Yousef went from house to house, from one friend to another to seek shelter. Through it all, the night remained starry, the air remained fresh, as if preparing for the arrival of a king.
The Fifth Moment
Clarita is 64 years old. Her husband left her for another woman forty years ago. They had six children. She took almost every job imaginable, except sell her flesh, just so she can send her six children to school.
She can just smile at her achievements. Her eldest became a doctor and was working at a private hospital in the city. Her two daughters became lawyers. Her second eldest son was a military officer. While her two youngest became engineers working abroad. All had families. All had left her. Not even a single birthday card arrived at her house since her children left.
Three stray cats were all the company she had in her tiny house. On one corner of her bedroom laid a box full of old photographs, broken toys, reaction papers and other mementos reminding her that she was once a mother.
She would look at these things every night. On one such night, she heard a knock on her front door.
Within a week, Clarita was swept with joy. For the first time, she felt as if she saw her first grandchild.
The Sixth Moment
"You have guests. They want to see your baby," Clarita said to the couple one Sunday morning.
Marie and Yousef stood frozen. Who could it be? Their families? What would they do? Take away their baby, send Yousef to jail and Marie to the convent?
Fortunately, the guests were not their parents or in-laws. They were not even wearing conventional attire.
Three magicians entered Clarita’s house. They had gifts for the baby. They were followed by a group of gypsies, and a group of farmers. The gypsies sang lullabyes while the farmers gave the couple a month’s bounty of food.
"We followed the star. We heard the good news," the guests chorused.
The Seventh Moment
How mistaken she was. Twelve years ago, Marie thought her life was going down the drain when she heard the angel’s news. But now, while looking at her son helping Yousef in the junkshop, she realized what went down the drain was her self-doubt, her insecurities, her anger. She need not see God, she is seeing God in her son.
If there was a feeling left along with happiness, it’s fear. "He is not my own. I am just a vessel. My child is God’s child. And one day I have to let him go," Marie said to herself…
…Marie’s hands were covered in blood. Her hair was full of spit from the crowd that gathered that afternoon for the execution. She held her son in her arms, gazing at his lifeless body one last time. She kissed his son’s forehead. Then a group of armed men took his son’s body away.
With weakened knees, Marie struggled to stand. She was helped by another woman and a young man, among the few who stood by his son when everyone else turned their backs.
She knew from then on everything will change. Because everyone was saved.
