Amidst the COVID-19
pandemic, Christmas is still considered the most wonderful time of the year.
When the ber-months started, many also started to make their Christmas trees
and lanterns. The excitement is in the air since Christmas is the birthday of
our Lord Jesus Christ. After all the challenges and struggles we’re
experiencing, we still hope that everything will turn back to normal. However,
Christmas celebrations have changed since the pandemic started. Restrictions
hinder family reunions and meetings with friends. It’s a difficult situation.
Christmas is important to
everyone so we try our best to celebrate and enjoy the season but at the same time
protect our health. Most of us are disappointed that we may not able to
celebrate the yuletide season in the usual way. We may feel the emptiness in our
hearts due to the absence of family members, relatives, and friends. They may not
able to come home because of travel restrictions, others may be in the hospital, or worst they lost their lives due to Covid-19. Many people feel a range of
emotions like grief, loneliness, and depression because of separation or the loss of
loved ones. This situation is challenging. We can’t meet friends like before. We
can’t do caroling because we are afraid of going to every house, there may be a
person infected with Covid-19. Most of us have already been vaccinated but there’s
still fear of going everywhere we want. We can’t even play and eat buffet in
the neighborhood like we used to do. However, amidst these challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we can still celebrate Christmas and feel its essence by
understanding and accepting our situation. We should focus on the important
meaning of Christmas which is giving and loving. Demonstrate kindness to
everyone and be generous to the less fortunate. We can extend our love and care
to our distant family, relatives, and friends by video calling and sending
loving messages. We can send flowers, cards, and gifts to them. We can pray for
their safety if they are alive and for their souls if they’ve already gone. We
can also share foods, vegetables, and fruits with those who have nothing. We can
attend "simbang gabi" but respect social distancing. We can’t be near
to others like before but still, we can smile and greet them. Instead of
remaining down and depressed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we can lift up our
spirits and have faith in the Lord that He will not forsake us.
In short, let us feel the
essence of Christmas and it will give us hope that we can eventually overcome
all of these challenges. Everything will turn back to normal. Always pray and
have faith. Let’s celebrate and enjoy, but never forget to protect our health
and that of others. We should balance the fun and responsibility of being healthy
for the sake of everyone especially now that it came out a new variant of
Covid-19 called Omicron. Anyway, we should work together to protect the health
of each other.
SciTechDaily. "CDC Releases New COVID-19 Holiday Celebration Guidelines - Safer Ways To Celebrate Christmas" retrieved from: https://scitechdaily.com/cdc-releases-new-covid-19-holiday-celebration-guidelines-safer-ways-to-celebrate-christmas/
This blog is good and very inspirational! The way of celebrating Christmas may have changed but the essence and its message will forever remain with us. God is good and he love all his people. Have a good day!
ReplyDeleteAn inspiring and informative blog indeed. We are in a pandemic and it has stopped us from what we used to do in daily life. Especially this Christmas season, many has changed, but it doesn't break both our spirits and the essence of Christmas.
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