“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light… for a child is born to us, upon his shoulder dominion rests.”
The first reading speaks of a people subjected to a wretched condition, graphically described by Isaiah in the four images of darkness, hunger, slavery, and war.
The scene suddenly changes when a child enters into the picture. Darkness turns into light; the time of harvest and rejoicing arrives; the rod of the taskmaster is smashed; and every blood-soaked boot and cloak is burned in the fire. All this happens because a child is given them, who is named… Prince of Peace.
What an appropriate reading and context for our celebration of the feast of the Sto. Niño. We too are a people oppressed by darkness, poverty, bondage and violence, desperately seeking light and life. The pandemic and its threat to life, health, job and economy, the unending calamities, the corrupt politics and the power-hungry administration, the unabated killings… are just overwhelming.
And like the people in the first reading, we too look to the Sto. Niño, the “son given us” for hope of deliverance. And since “dominion rests on his shoulder,” we ask him to rule over us and be our king.
His kingdom however is not like other kingdoms. It is a kingdom that is not ruled by force or power. “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews.” (Jn 18:36) In fact, its king is a Child, who is himself small and fragile.
Furthermore, the gospel tells us that in order to enter his kingdom, one has to become like a child. “Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”
Does this mean that only the innocent can enter the kingdom of God? Unfortunately, many of us have lost our innocence as we matured in age. (Blame it on our fallen nature and the broken world!) Does this bar us then from entering the kingdom?
More than innocence (which, of course, is a sure ticket to the kingdom), being childlike here refers more to the attitude of being humble and trusting. A child knows that he is totally helpless and dependent on his parents for his needs, and so he puts all his trust in them. In the same way, we place our trust in God and surrender ourselves completely to him, knowing that “without [him, we] can do nothing.” (Jn 15:3)
The concrete expression of this childlike trust that gives access to the kingdom is obedience. By obedience, we surrender our will (our highest faculty and power) to God and submit to his own will. This, in fact, is the greatest act of love, for love is nothing else than surrendering oneself to the beloved.
True devotion to the Sto. Niño consists in allowing this Child-King to rule over us, which means surrendering ourselves to him. What an irony! Are we to entrust our life to this Child who is himself weak and helpless?
In one of his Christmas homilies, Pope Benedict gave a beautiful reflection on why the Infinite God reduced himself to become a child. God made himself small so we can hold him. He turned himself into a child, frail and fragile, so he can surrender himself into our hands. Such is God’s ineffable love for us!
Here we see that even before asking us to surrender to him, God had already surrendered himself to us. If he dared entrust himself in our hands, how can we not entrust ourselves in his? If we still hesitate, let us take courage by looking at the Sto. Niño. True, his hands are tiny, but they are mighty. As an old Negro spiritual goes, “He’s got the whole world in his hands… He’s got you and me brother/sister in his hands.”
Let’s go back again to where we started. Like the people who walked in darkness and saw a great light, we too will experience our own liberation if we accept the Child given us – the Sto. Niño. Accepting this Child-King means obeying him. Only when we do his will, will his kingdom come – a kingdom of light and peace, a kingdom of truth and love.
Our celebration of the 500th anniversary of the coming of Christianity revolves around the statue of the Sto. Niño, which was Magellan’s gift to Hara Humamay at her baptism. More than a personal gift to the queen, the Sto. Niño is a sign of a much greater gift. It is the symbol of God’s greatest gift to us, Filipinos, – our Christian faith.
“A gift freely received is to be freely given.” (Mt 10:8) Thus, the theme of our jubilee celebration: Gifted to Give.
Every year, the grand procession of the Sto. Niño culminates with the Eucharist at the grounds of the basilica. At the end of the Mass, the celebrant takes the Sto. Niño in his hands and dances the Sinulog to the festive beating of the drums. Then, he passes the statue to the one beside him. The dance continues until everyone receives the Sto. Niño.
The Sto. Niño will always be our greatest gift as long as we give him to others and to the world (missio ad gentes).
Pit Senyor!