Christmas 2024 message of Abp. Valles

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

On behalf of the Archdiocese of Davao, I send you my warm greetings of joy this Christmas when we joyfully and prayerfully remember and recall the Nativity of our Savior.

As we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, let us remember that Christmas is a time of joy because it is a time of peace, love and hope. Why? Because the person of Jesus, whose birth we recall, this Jesus is our joy. He is our peace. He is love and He is our hope. The reason then for our joy is that this Jesus wishes to be born in our hearts. And with this truth, we dare to pray to the Lord “that you may love in us what you loved in Christ”. (That’s a quote from Saint Augustine.) And so, in these days of Christmas we dare to greet and proclaim Merry Christmas confident that the Lord desires to be present in our hearts.

To our dear listeners of our Catholic radio station of the Archdiocese, our DXGN 89.9 Spirit FM and readers of our Davao Catholic Herald, thank you for being part of our mission which is to proclaim this ever abiding Good News, the presence of our Lord in our lives. Your support inspires us each day. In this joyful and spirit-filled holy season, let us be challenged again to open our hearts to the true meaning of Christmas, the gift of God’s love freely given to each one of us. And may this gift who is Jesus, in turn, encourage us to share Him with others. Thus, may this season encourage us to share that love with others, especially those in need and to bring light to the world around us. This is the meaning of our greeting Merry Christmas. May our experience of the true meaning and spirit of Christmas make us hopeful and ever daring to face the challenges of the new year. Kaninyong tanan, Malipayong Pasko sa Pagkatawo sa atong Manunubos ug malaumon kitang mosugat sa bag-ong tuig!