Covid Christmas. Quarantine Christmas. Or in the vernacular, “Pasko na, Pandemya Pa”.
Christmas 2020 will be a memorable one, and not for all the right reasons. It’s been 9 months since the world basically ground to a halt. Our pre-pandemic lives, merely 9 months ago, seem like a lifetime ago. Businesses, big and small, start-ups and erstwhile institutions, have shuttered their doors. Schools have been reduced to laptops and sometimes suspect internet connections. Hospitals have been overrun by Covid-19. People have lost businesses and jobs. Students and their parents have been forced to turn parts of their houses into makeshift classrooms. Frontliners have been driven to their breaking point and beyond, sometimes with devastating results. And the mantra has been the same: “Wear your masks. Social distance. And most of all, STAY HOME!” How would all of this affect what is universally accepted as the most wonderful time of the year?
Here in the Philippines, a developing country, we have not been spared. Before March 2020, our economy was the envy of many. Our GDP growth was one of the highest in Asia, if not the world. Our credit rating with the world’s leading financial institutions kept going from strength to strength. Our youthful population was seen as an advantage by countries such as Japan whose population replacement rate was below one. And our President was embarking on an ambitious (audacious?) infrastructure plan that would vault the country’s stature even higher among its neighbors. But then the pandemic hit, and all talk of Build-Build-Build literally stopped in its tracks. And from an exalted position in Asia, we have fallen, and fallen hard, as data shows that we are one of the worst performing nations when it comes to addressing this pandemic and its effects on our economy. So how would Covid-19 affect Christmas in our Christian nation?
The Philippines is known for having the longest Christmas season in the world, starting once the calendar hits the “-ber” months and lasting all the way to January of the following year. Not only do we have one of the longest Christmases in the world, we also have one of the most festive, not surprising considering that 80% (or more) of the country counts itself as Christian, plus the Filipinos’ love of family, food, music, and general merry-making. But like everything else this year, the health crisis has put its stamp on the season. While the spirit of Christmas is still evident (it’ll take more than a global pandemic to kill Christmas here in the Philippines), this year’s celebrations have a decidedly more somber tone, as it should be. Malls still decked their halls with Christmas decor, even if the usual stream of Christmas shoppers was reduced to a mere trickle. The usual Christmas parties in offices and schools, and among friends and family, were transferred online to Zoom rooms. And families still adorned their homes with holiday lights even if family reunions would be kept to a minimum. The secular holiday season certainly took a hit.
But for Christians like my family, Christmas has never been about the gifts, the decor, the parties, and the carols. Yes, we enjoy all these, and they all play a part in making this the happiest time of year, but Christmas has always been about so much more. Beyond the lights and music, Christmas has always been about the birth of our Lord, the Baby Jesus, and what His birth means to us as the human race and as individuals. And when seen in this light, the light of the Star of Bethlehem, the light of the birth of our Savior, Covid-19 simply could not win. Yes, we have been told to stay away from Churches, and the traditional Misa de Gallo/Simbang Gabi and the Christmas Eve/Day Masses have also gone online. But for many, this has been a call to revisit these traditions. The regular pressure to buy gifts for everyone in our social circle has been replaced with more heartfelt calls and online get-togethers – wrapping paper and ribbons not required. And the usual Christmas rush of holiday shopping and parties has been superseded with quality time spent with our immediate families and with the Lord in prayer.
My family has felt all these. Of course, we do miss the normal Christmas and our usual trip to Manila to spend some of the holidays with our family there, but we are also enjoying this toned down version of the season. We do hope that Christmas 2021 will have more “normalcy” to it as we watch the first doses of the much-awaited vaccine being administered in the US. But for this year, we will find the silver lining, the Christmas light, amidst the general doom and gloom of this year. And we will take to heart what we have learned in our Sunday school and catechism classes – that God creates beauty out of even the ugliest circumstances.
I do know that I am in a place of extreme privilege, and a major reason I can write this and be so hopeful is because I am in such a place. My family is together and healthy. We will still enjoy our Noche Buena tonight with no sacrifice in the quality of the spread. And come the New Year, I will have a job to return to and things for me and my family will likely go along just fine. It is with this mindset, and an acknowledgment of how blessed we are, that I, along with Vanette, Lareese, and Lana, would like to wish you all the best possible Christmas. May the light of the birth of our Lord illumine your darkness, and with it, may it bring a renewed sense of joy, peace, and hope for the coming year.