No heaven without Sto. Niño spirituality

In the Philippines, the feast of the Sto. Niño is celebrated with pomp and circumstance. The Sinulog of Cebu has become a folk tradition since the early 16th-century Spanish era when the first devotees enshrined the image of the Holy Child in Mactan. We know the history of the devotion began when the wife of Rajah Humabon was gifted with the image when she was baptized into Christianity. How it was lost in the course of a century and found burned black during a fire by a soldier, is history. From then on, miracles of grace and blessing have been attributed to the devotion.

Today, wherever the replica of the image is enshrined, the celebration of its feast on this third Sunday of January, is always accompanied by the beat of drums to the rhythm of a warrior dance, the Ati-Atihan with band music and song. Already a week before, the Congregacion del Santissimo Nombre de Jesus has announced an exhibit of 500 images of the Sto. Niño in vestments spun in gold and woven with gossamer, embellished with brilliant, to coincide with the fiesta on Jan. 17 to 30.

We must have gotten from our Spanish Christian colonizers the flare to dress images of the Blessed Mother and the saints in rich finery the way royalty is dressed, crowned and bejeweled. This is part of Filipino popular religiosity, that we recognize our patron saints and our Blessed Mother Queen of heaven and earth, as befitting an honor due to those we raise on our alters because they have joined the elect in heaven. Above all, to the Sto. Niño, we give an adoration due only to God; for He is after all the only begotten Son of the Father in heaven and He reigns as Prince overall princes. We have some reason why we dress our Sto. Niño in royal paraphernalia, with a golden crown on His head and a scepter in His right hand and holding the globe on His left.

However, the greatest honor and adoration we can give the Sto. Niño is the way of spiritual childhood He exemplifies. That’s the reason why He came to us, a naked helpless baby in swaddling clothes lying in the manger. Among the 500 images just mentioned to the exhibited, during the feast, let’s see whether among the fabulously attired images, we can find a Sto. Niño dressed as the child Jesus was when He was one of the poorest boys living in Nazareth, starting early to learn from His foster father, Joseph, the carpenter’s trade. The chosen people of God waiting for the coming of the Messiah never recognized Jesus for He lived meek and humble, the poorest among the poor at the time. We have it in Scriptures that He came unto His own and His own received Him not.

The Word of God today is very emphatic about a spirituality exemplified by the child Jesus Himself. With radical preciseness, Jesus says: "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 18:3-4).

The "little way of spiritual childhood" is well taught by St. Therese of the Child Jesus who lived and died to bring it to the world. One doesn’t enter heaven without it as Jesus Himself said. This ‘little way’ gives all the meaning to our celebration of the feast of Sto. Niño. It is our recognition that of ourselves we are nothing unless we completely depend on God. It is the way of absolute faith and full trust and confidence in God who is Mercy and Love and to whom we abandon or surrender ourselves completely. We need the grace of God to be able to follow this ‘little way of spiritual childhood’ a grace we cannot receive unless we humble ourselves before God like the little child.

In our feasting of parades, dance and music, the beat of drum and hilarious celebrations, let us not lose this most precious of Jesus’ teaching about the one thing necessary for us to enter heaven to join the elect who have humbled themselves to give God the fullest adoration of faith, confidence and obedient surrender to His holy Will at all times.

Feast of Sto. Niño, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Matthew 18:1-5, 10.

The Jesuit Priests and Brothers will be holding a vocation seminar for male college students and young professionals on Jan. 23, 2005, Sunday. The seminar will be held at the Conference Room-Pemhouse of Makati Citadel Inn at 5007 P. Burgos St., Makati City, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Registration is free. Those interested may call 426-6101 and ask for any member of the Vocation Promotions Team for more details. Or, you may write us at [email protected] or at acoloma@ admu.edu.ph. Or, you may text us at 0927-6492119 or at 0927-2184567.