Tao Po! Tao Po!

It's Christmas tomorrow and tonight will be the “panuluyan” of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Joseph. Shall we say that these same scenes happened in the Philippines and every character speaks in our native tongue, in Tagalog!

“Tao po! Tao po!” said the couple to every house they came across while knocking on their doors. Not one, but many will reply, “ Wala po, patatawarin po. Puno na po dito!”
Sadly, the couple will go along way until finally, a man will show them to the makeshift “barong-barong”. And there, the Savior will be born. The man to be called “Anak ng Tao”.

In our daily lives, many persons knocked on our doors, windows and wherever part of the house to get our attention. “Tao po, may tao po ba?” “Tao sa tao”, anybody, stranger or not, will start this kind of greetings, specifically, to get our attention. They won’t tell “hayop po, may hayop po ba?” but the truthful, sincere, polite and soft spoken “tao po”. In the “panuluyan”, their knocks on the doors could represent many things.

One could be, the truth of having God in her bosom knocking in every ones’ heart (house). In the “panuluyan” they were shoved away and told that the house were full. Our lives or hearts are full of some other things that we can no longer accommodate the mystical invitation of letting God into our hearts, into our lives. We are full of earthly materials, aspirations, ambitions that we no have the time, space and will, to let God to come in.

The “tao sa tao” is the fellowship being required by a man with the “kapwa tao”. It is the announcement of the arrival of another “tao” that should be treated likewise. It was also Gods’ way of expressing His desire to be with the highest form of His creation. God created man in His likeness, and by meeting the other tao, fellowship between God and His creation materialized. Likewise, the other "tao " who opened up himself meets God in his likeness.

This season, let’s open ourselves, feel and be responsive to others. Merry Christmas!