Christmas and martyrs

The video above is my Pulong ng Editor, Editor's Word, in the November-December issue of Misyon which I edit for the Columbans in the Philippines. I focused on martyrdom because Christians are being persecuted in many parts of the world today. The most awful incident this year was the attach during Mass on the Syrian Catholic cathedral in Baghdad in which 58 died, nearly all of them worshippers and including two young priests.

This morning we began the novena of pre-dawn Masses here in the Philippines in preparation for Christmas. They are known as Misas de Aguinaldo, Misas de Gallo and Simbang Gabi. 'Aguinaldo' is a Spanish word meaning 'goft', in this case the gift of our Catholic faith. 'Misas de Gallo' is the Spanish for 'Masses at cockcrow' while 'Simbang gabi' is Tagalog for 'night worship'.