Reunion Time
by Oliver Carlos
I come from large clans. My father belongs to a family of 6 children. He’s no.6. My mother is from a family with 10 children. She’s the 6th of the 10. My in-laws also come from equally large families that have their roots in the Visayas and Marinduque. I observe that’s the normal family size of the Boomer generation. They didn’t have family planning yet back then, only family planting.
My father’s clan is based in Paniqui, Tarlac, while my mother’s clan is in Los Banos, Laguna. We spend Christmas here in Los Banos. For me growing up, Christmas is a time of family reunions.
In the pre-pandemic times, it was our tradition to have the 7 P.M. Christmas dinner with my wife’s family, who were also living in Los Banos. Then we spend the 12 midnight noche buena with my parents, my siblings and their children. We have our traditional exchange gifts at our father’s house.
The following day, Christmas Day, is spent with the rest of my relatives from my mother’s side. On a few occasions, we would drive to Central Luzon to have a reunion with my relatives from my father’s side.
Christmas is indeed a jolly time of family reunions. Everybody in our clan looks forward to this season, especially the old ones. They wanted to see their children whom they don’t see too often. It warms their hearts to see these once-upon-a-time little children now fully grown up with their own little kids.
I believe God has the same emotion in his heart towards his children. It’s his ultimate desire to have fellowship with us, not just for a day, but for eternity. Thus, he made a way for that to be secured.
The Bible tells us that he left all his glory in heaven to come down here on earth, live among humans, die on the cross, and rise from the dead. All these, to reconcile us with him, because we were separated from him due to our sin.
By erasing our sins with Jesus’ blood on the cross, we now have free access to the Father. We read in 2 Corinthians 5:19–20 (NLT):
“For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation…. “Come back to God!”
It’s our choice now to come to him and have a great reunion time. This Christmas, listen intently to Jesus’ voice. He is knocking at the door of your heart, speaking to you his words in Revelation 3:20 (NASB):
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”
