By disguise we mean camouflage, concealment and dissimulation.We speak of blessings in disguise.

The idiom "blessings in disguise" means something that is good which we did not recognize at first as good. For example, I lost my job which made me seek another job but which turned out to be much better than my previous job. The job I lost was a blessing in disguise since it paved the way for my securing the better job I have now.

We are told not to take our blessings for granted. How about all the blessings in disguise in our lives? What are the blessings in disguise in our lives? Blessings in disguise can be people or situations we find ourselves in. We have to unravel the blessings of disguise in our lives because nothing happens by chance. God has a purpose for everything. "Not a leaf falls without being ordained by Divine Providence."(St. Catherine of Siena)

I am reminded of that episode in the life of St. Philip Neri while he was in the oratory, begging God for the virtue of patience. Stepping outside the prayer room, he met one of his confreres in the community who started to lash out at him, all the while saying very uncharitable words. Philip lost his temper in the process and lashed out in return. With this outburst, he left that brother only to be met by another confrere who also spewed unkindly words at him. Philip hit back at this brother. Realizing his defeat, Philip ran back to the oratory. He asked God why was he not granted the patience he implored. He heard a voice telling him that it was precisely because of those difficult situations that God was giving him the opportunities to practice patience! Moreover, what the episode teaches us is that God comes to us in difficult peoples and circumstances. God was disguised in those people who are emotionally sick and poor for Christ said, "I was sick and you visited Me." The challenge for us is to seek God in all things that God may be glorified in all things.

It is said that lukewarmness is the devil in disguise. Lukewarmness, mediocrity and tepidity are devils in disguise. What are the symptoms of lukewarmness. To be lukewarm is to be half- hearted. It is to be half-committed in our discipleship and faith! It is to be unconcerned with those so called little sins or venial sins. According to St. Teresa of Avila, lukewarm people do not carry the cross. They drag it! One very good sign of lukewarmness is to lose one's taste for prayer. The one thing the devil hates is prayer. He will do anything to hinder us from praying for to pray is to run to the Source of our strength to overcome evil. In the Bible, we hear of lukewarmness tackled in the book of Revelation where God says, "You are neither hot nor cold. I will spew you out of My mouth!"

St. Augustine brilliantly comments on the meaning of Christmas. He wrote that the Christ who was born in a manger is the same Christ who holds the world in His hands. The Christ who was fed at the breast of the Virgin is the same Christ who feeds the angels. The Christ who was wrapped in swaddling clothes is He who clothes us in immortality. He went on to add that on Christmas day, strength took on weakness that weakness might become strength. For God to become human is to accept the weaknesses and pains that come with humanity. It is when we learn to accept our weaknesses that we attain inner peace. When we go to those places in our hearts where we are most hurt, broken and fragile and learn to accept them that we attain to interior peace. God comes to us in our poverty for as St. Paul says, "I rejoice in my weakness that the power of Christ may rest in me." Our weaknesses come as blessings in disguise for they humble us, make us realize that left to ourselves we are nothing and that we have to rely only on God. Our weaknesses lead us to the merciful love of God. God has turned our sins into "blessings in disguise" because it is because of sin that we celebrate the love of God in Christmas!