Dear brothers and sisters, what joy it is to gather once again for Simbang Gabi! It’s such a beautiful tradition born of faith, sacrifice, and hope. Thank you, Father Vernon for your welcome and Michael and his team for your organization and for many of you who come every year for this annual cultural preparation for the Birth of Christ! While the world sleeps, many in the Philippines rise early for this Mass of the Rooster (Misa de Gallo). I’m sure someplace in the world it’s five o’clock in the morning. While the world rushes ahead, you pause to pray. This alone tells us something profound: you are a people who know how to wait for the Lord. Nowadays, it is so very important that when everything around you is saying to hurry up with days filled with appointments and events, you say, “Yes we know!” It is likewise important that we reflect on what is truly happening on the great feast of Christmas, keeping our eyes focused on the true meaning of the Christmas event.

The Scriptures today are filled with expectation and promise. Psalm 24 asks: “Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?” It seems we’re doing it every day!

The answer is not abstract. It is practical: those who seek God sincerely, “with clean hands and pure hearts.” That is exactly what Simbang Gabi trains us to do-day after day, step by step, heart by heart. One can do so with preparation and readiness, with a goal in mind-to provide a fitting welcome to Christ in our lives, our Messiah, our Emmanuel, God-with-us!

Isaiah announces a sign that is both mysterious and tender-a child born to us, Emmanuel, God-with-us. In the Gospel, we see how that promise unfolds, not in palaces of power but in a stable in Bethlehem through the faithful cooperation of Mary and Joseph to God’s plan.

Mary says yes with her whole life. Joseph says yes in silence and obedience. Together, they show us that God’s greatest works often begin quietly, within families, within cultures, within communities that trust Him.

This is why St. Paul insists that Jesus is not a myth or an idea. He is real. He comes “according to the flesh.” He enters a specific people, a specific history, a specific culture. And today, He comes among you, unbound by space and time, in your language, your songs, your devotions, your customs, your deep reverence for family and faith. As one who’s not Filippino, I’m happy to be an interloper to appreciate this radiant cultural heritage that adds an immeasurable dimension of joyful preparation.

But Advent also challenges us. The coming of Christ always does! To welcome Him means allowing Him to enter our hearts and change us from within. It means embarking on a new path; one shaped not by convenience, but by obedience to God’s will. What am I getting ready for?

Simbang Gabi is not only a cultural preparation for Christmas. It is preparation for discipleship. It trains us to recognize Christ when He comes: surely, in the manger, but also in the poor among us, in the migrant and immigrant, in the suffering, in the forgotten, and in the wounded within our own homes and communities.

Like Joseph, we may be asked to trust when we do not fully understand where God’s plan is going to lead us. Like Mary, we may be asked to say yes before we see the outcome. But this is where joy is born—not shallow happiness, but deep, resilient joy rooted in faith. It is part of ridding ourselves of fear and opening our hearts to God’s love.

Stay awake, dear friends. The Lord is near. Emmanuel is already among us.

When Christmas comes, may He find a people ready to celebrate His birth and welcome His transforming presence into every part of life. After all, He came for us! Stay awake! The Lord is near!