Hi ,

Sorry di namin napalitan ang subject! So resending with the right one!

We just want to share quickly our reflection for today courtesy of our friends from HugotSeminarista:

When we were still dating, we were given the opportunity to travel to Holy Land, where part of the itinerary was to travel to the Church where the Visitation stands—the Ein Karem. It is only then when one would truly appreciate the struggle that Mary went through to serve her cousin Elizabeth during the latter part of her pregnancy. You see, the Church of the Visitation is situated at the top of a hill and is a steep climb, not even counting the bus that carried us halfway up. My (Apple) appreciation of Mama Mary's hardship grew when I got pregnant with our first child and experienced what mothers go through in the first trimester. Considering all that, she was still able to go beyond her personal hardship to serve another in need.

Reflecting upon this, we also realized that St. Joseph could not have let his pregnant wife make the strenuous journey alone (which some Church traditions also hold to be true). What also speaks loudly about his silent character as a husband is that instead of stopping Mary due to her condition, he supported her completely. It is not possible that Mary would have acted otherwise as not only was she created by God to be full of grace, she was also carrying the source of Love in her own womb. To have put herself first before the need of another would have gone against her very nature.

Ever since we got married, we realized that we were unconsciously united in experiencing Christmas with joy and love, not through exchanging gifts but being present with one another—though not always in physical manner, but also emotionally. Sometimes, in the anticipation of Christmas day, many can get lost in the hype of what ‘needs’ to happen on the day that they forget to ‘enjoy’ the actual celebration. Mary, and Joseph, offered their presence as a gift during the Visitation, and it was this that brought real joy to the home, and womb, of Elizabeth. This season, may we always remember, whether it be Christmas or not, that we are called to be bearers of God’s joy and love in the world every day, and that this joy and love can only be shared in being truly present, and being truly a 'present' to other people.

How about you, how do you await Christmas with love?

By the way, hope you can also listen to our LATEST EPISODE about LOVE & RESPONSIBILITY where we talked about the importance and meaning of RESPONSIBILITY through the lens of Saint JP2.

LISTEN NOW!

Palangga ka sang Diyos!

Apple & Jeric

PS. We will do a small raffle draw nga pala and we shall announce it on the 25th via a random draw :)

Simply register through this link >>>>  https://sendfox.com/lp/3z9xkx

Palangga ka sang Diyos,

Apple & Jeric Defante

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