December 2001

Greetings to all my friends,

As we’re approaching Christmas, I pray that you’ll experience a joyous and peaceful holiday season. May you find lots of happiness and contentment in the company of your loved ones and may Jesus’ message of Love rings clear in your heart.

I’d like to share with you a memorable experience I had with my family a few weeks ago. On Friday, November 16, I gave my kids a nice little surprise. I took them to see the movie "Harry Potter" on its first opening day. My oldest girl is one of Harry’s most loyal fan. She read and re-read all 4 of the Harry Potter’s books... not twice, but ... too many times to remember. Her room is filled with Harry Potter’s poster and collections. Being such "devout" Harry Potter’s fan, she said it would be "outright shameful" if she missed the movie’s debut. Although she didn’t really nag us about seeing the movie on opening day, she was indeed persistent in hinting us toward that goal. It finally paid off. Being such "wonderful" parents as we are, we decided to make her wish come true.

On opening day, as soon as the theater opens at 11:00 am, my husband and I went and bought tickets for the 3:00 pm showing (that’s 4 hrs. in advance!). When school was over, we picked the kids up and drove them directly to the theater. They were really surprised and excited. As you might have guessed, long lines had already been formed by the time I got there (which was 30 minutes early). Well, the movie was well worth the wait. Our whole family really liked it. I’ve never read the book but I enjoyed the movie a great deal. I was very impressed with the author’s creativity and wonderful sense of imagination. The movie took me to a very exciting and magical world. It actually brought me back to many of my childhood dreams and fantasies (to be able to fly, to have magical power, to fight evil and defend good, etc...).

I guess by now, most young people have already seen the movie. Have you gotten a chance to see it yet? One of the parts I liked the most was when Harry Potter discovered the magic mirror. This mirror has the power to reveal a person’s deepest desire or wishes. Since Harry Potter was an orphan, he missed his parents very much. So in this scene, Harry was standing in front of the mirror and he began to see himself standing with both his parents by his sides. At one point, Harry’s mom was gently putting her hand on his shoulder as if to comfort him. Harry, longing so much to be in the real presence of his parents, put his own hand on his shoulder, hoping to touch his mom’s hand the way he saw it in the mirror... but Harry soon realized that the mirror was only an image of his dream. In reality, Harry was standing all alone in front of the mirror! That was one of the most touching moment of the movie for me. It made me think a lot... about the things people long for, the things they cherish and desire the most in their hearts. I thought about how wonderful it would be if our truest and deepest desire becomes a reality. How about you, my friends - have you ever wanted anything so bad that you could almost see it coming to life in your mind? For example: winning a championship game, or getting a perfect score, or dating that special someone, or reuniting with a loved one, getting that dream car, etc... Imagine actually getting the things we so longed for. What an awesome excitement that would be!

In real life, it’s not too often that our deepest wishes are fulfilled. Some people live their whole life and never get what they wish for - in the end, their wish & dream got buried with them in the grave. Some people do get the things they wish for but still ended up being unhappy and discontented. Others just feel a deep longing for something but can’t actually pin point exactly what it is that they need. Come to think of it, it’s rather depressing. Yes, life could be very depressing indeed...if it weren’t for that little Baby who came into the world on that very first Christmas night!

You see, God, the Father who created us knows precisely what each of us really need. He knows our deepest and innermost desire. He sees each of our heart and knows what we long for. It all comes down to this -- we all want to live a lasting, happy life! God knows exactly how we can achieve such lasting happiness. Unfortunately, each one of us has his/her own interpretation of what happiness means. We live our lives trying frantically to pursue our own happiness. Lots of times, we end up disappointing ourselves because the kind of happiness we think we want might not necessarily be good for us. Lots of times, our ideas of happiness is not the same as the kind of happiness God had in mind for us. It must be very frustrating for God to watch us running around in circle and not getting any closer to all the wonderful things He had in store for us. God wants so much to show us how we can truly be happy and that’s exactly why God decided to become one of us in order to speak to us in a way that we can understand. This, my friend is the beauty of the Incarnation - when God becomes man in order to lead man out of his misery and into everlasting happiness!

Now you might ask: "what then exactly is God trying to tell us through His Son Jesus Christ"? My friends, may I suggest you spend this holiday season trying to come up with your own answer to that question. Believe me, once you take the time to search for the answer and once you’ve discovered your answer, it will stay with you for a long, long time! During the advent season, I invite you to look at His Birth, look at His Life, look at His Ministry, look at His Death and, finally, His Resurrection - see in Him the reason for all the seasons!

Have a blessed Christmas, may your heart be filled with joy and gratitude!