SIMBANG GABI

I’ve been meaning to write this ages ago (since the start of Simbang Gabi) but I never got around to doing it. And now, I finally am. Weeks later hehe oh well, better late than never. I just wanted to put down some thoughts…

First of all, I’m not normally a Church-going individual. You might think that’s bad or at least think less of me because of that. But the way I see it, it’s better for me to go to mass when I am honest about it rather than go to mass because I know I’m supposed to or because people expect me to. If you think any less of me, then that’s too bad. But I believe that being a good person does not necessarily mean that you go to mass, it’s how you live you life that matters. Besides, I didn’t like the hypocrisy of most of the Church-going masses. No matter how often they go to mass, sometimes their lifestyles leave much to be desired.

This is my very first time to go to Simbang Gabi. And, me being who I am, I figured I’d give it an “all or nothing” bit. So I didn’t miss one. I was late, sadly, for some (it’s my mom’s fault! Haha) but on the whole I’m glad of what I did.

Another thing too… I didn’t complete the mass for the ‘wish’ thing and in fact, I don’t put much faith in that. Because sometimes it seems like people are going to mass because they have a certain wish they want to come true. Wouldn’t it be better if you went to mass because you wanted to and just had a wish/prayer as an added bonus and without any real expectation that it’ll come true?

Dec. 16
I went to mass with friends from the dorm, it was cold… and the jacket I wore still had some cake icing that I didn’t notice from last night’s party. Therefore, I took off my jacket during the mass and walked briskly back to the dorm to avoid getting cold.

The Gospel was about the 3 Wise Men who traveled from afar just to see Jesus the baby. Now I wish what I’m going to say next came from me, but it didn’t, although the same thought has crossed my mind more than once since the last few years. Where does it say that those who visited Jesus’ birth were kings? The Bible usually says Wise Men or Magi. Who coined kings? Who said they were from far away lands and were kings? (I was channel hopping and came across the Dating Daan or Tamang Daan or one of them and heard these there…) Because if they truly were kings… there from where exactly did they come from? Where’s the royal parade that has to protect their leader as well as… accompany royalty wherever they go because that’s their reason for being? These ‘kings’ were carrying gold, franken-something (never got the spelling right, sorry) and myrrh (again, I apologize for the spelling), then wouldn’t they need SOME protection to protect their valuables?

Although I do understand why they might’ve wished to be inconspicuous. Still. I’d like to know if they really are kings and where does it say so? Can people trace it back to the original copy of the Bible?

Dec. 17
The priest said that the Gospel of the second day (night/dawn/morning/whatever) is the most boring because it deals with St. Joseph’s ancestry. And that just gets to me… Because technically, Joseph isn’t even of Jesus’ blood. He was born of Mother Mary and the Holy Spirit. So… Joseph’s genes, his family, isn’t even in the picture, yet the Bible traced Joseph’s ancestry and not Mary’s. What gives? The whole time the priest was doing the roll call, I kept thinking that over and over. Why not Mary’s? Because it is Mary’s child (and I’d love to examine Jesus’ DNA and compare it what that of Mary’s and Joseph’s… just to see) and Joseph was just the chosen… adopted father, if you will. Or at least, to be fair, why not do both Joseph’s and Mary’s ancestry? But the thing is, the priest kept saying, “eto ang pinanggalingan ni Hesus" which isn’t true! He was talking to doctors and would-be-doctors (and a few others) and he’s talking about how this is Jesus’ line when it’s not! And everybody knows that! So why? What gives?

Dec. 18
The third day/Gospel talked about the marriage of Joseph and Mary. Sometimes I wonder if love was an issue in their marriage. In that day and age, love wasn’t really an emotion considered when fixing or accepting marriage proposals and I wonder why Joseph and Mary decided to marry.

While it’s understandable that Joseph would want to break off the engagement (that being the day and age of yore – where unwed mothers had this stigma attached to them), wouldn’t he even ask why and maybe demand an explanation for her ‘treachery’ because he cares? Wouldn’t he be surprised when Mary answers, “well, this divine being came into my room last night and impregnated me”? And I doubt if they had no way of checking the purity of a woman at that time. On that topic, how did Mary know that she was pregnant? She just did? And she considered that conclusive evidence? How did Joseph know at once that she was pregnant? Mary told him? The news spread? And he believed at once?

And finally, and possibly the shallowest ‘wondering’ question of all: they married and throughout Mary’s pregnancy, they didn’t have sex. Er… why? Didn’t they have sex, like, forever? Coz, being a doctor and all, I’ve wondered about that. If Mary was a virgin in giving birth… then wouldn’t that hurt coz not only would she be undergoing labor pains, she’d also be experiencing de-virginization. Because… well… they’re allowed to have sex already after getting married. It’s acceptable to the world. It’s acceptable to God. It’s acceptable to medical science. So why? Why did they wait, if they did wait. And if they didn’t have sex like, ever, then why did they get married in the first place and what kind of a marriage is that? And if they did have sex, then why was it so important for Mary to give birth a virgin? And what, oh what, happened to her hymen?

Dec. 18
Prediction of John’s birth. I don’t really have a comment for that. It’s pretty straight up.

Dec. 19
Sadly, I have no idea because I was late (not my fault!). Does anybody have any idea where the Gospel was taken from on this day? Thanks.

Dec. 20
Elizabeth visits Mary. Again, no comment. It’s pretty straight up and we’ve heard this daily at one point or another in our lives due to the fact that it’s one of the mysteries of the rosary.

Dec. 21-22
Again, sadly, no idea. Well, vague ideas… but I’m not too sure. I wish I could remember.

Dec. 23-24
For the life of me… I can’t remember… hehehe