Meaningful fiesta

For Filipinos January is a special and significant month mainly because of the centuries-old celebration and tradition honoring the Sto. Niño. Even as the practices and customs have undergone various changes through the passage of time, the religious and spiritual flavor of the occasion have not been apparently lost. Just by closely watching the participants and meditatively observing the rituals they perform, one can see and absorb several meaningful gospel messages and scriptural passages conveying something more than the temporal and secular aspect of the occasion now characterized by pomp, pageantry and commercialism similar to the Brazilian Mardi Gras.

Before attending this year’s celebration for the first time, I have heretofore associated the celebration of the feast of Sto. Niño with the Sinulog Festival as it is indeed the highlight of the fiesta held on the feast day itself, the third Sunday of January. I found out however, that, even before Sinulog which is predominantly a cultural parade, there is also a religious procession held on the eve of the feast or on the third Saturday. But whether it is the religious procession on third Saturday or the cultural parade on the feast day itself, the messages conveyed are similar.

Most noticeable of course is the behavior of the people attending the fiesta. It is as natural and contagious as to be easily transmissible. They all act and move like little children as if taking a cue from the child Jesus Himself whom they are honoring. People from all walks of life, young and old, rich and poor, the literate and the illiterate, the weak and the lowly, the high and the mighty (except politicians who were conspicuously missing or unnoticeable), estimated to number from 1.5 to 2 million, all move about in childlike innocence waiving their hands and going with the ebb and flow of the crowd as it wend its way towards the Basilica of the Sto. Niño to the rhythm of the drums and the sound of trumpets. The same attitude could be seen from the participants of the Sinulog itself the following day who dance in simple, unsophisticated steps spontaneously emulated by the crowd, all acting like little children again. They express their devotion to the Child Jesus in the purest, simplest and childlike way unaffected by their stature in life.

We also know that children are fascinated by toy balloons. Every time they see the "mag-lolobo" (balloon vendor) they ask Daddy to buy them one usually the most colorful. During the Sto. Niño fiesta, the balloon men are all over the place. But this time both children and adults are buying the balloons. Then they all write their prayers and wishes and let them fly with the balloons as they soar to the sky, trusting like little children that these balloons will somehow reach God up high Who will definitely grant their wishes and hear their prayers. And so what comes to mind right away are the words of Jesus Himself who said:

"Let the little children come to me. Do not hinder them.

The Kingdom of God belongs to such as these,

I assure you, whoever does not accept the reign of God

like a little child will not enter it."

(Luke 18:16-17; Mark 10:15; Matthew 20:14)

Also remarkable during the fiesta is the people’s readiness to endure the heat or the rain and all the pains and discomforts just to be there, to join the procession, to participate in the Sinulog parade or simply to watch standing for long hours under the sun. More admirable are the Sinulog participants coming from a record of 119 contingents with their ever smiling faces veiling the slightest traces of weariness and fatigues for the long hours spent and much effort exerted in preparation, and for the arduous trek of the kilometers long parade route that seems to have no beginning or end. The willingness to sacrifice is as transparent and perceptible as to elicit the inspiring message saying that without pain, there can be no glory, or as St. Paul stirringly wrote:

"I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing

compared with the glory to be revealed in us"

(Romans 8:18-27; See also John 16:21; Wisdom 3:1-5)

Other attractions of the Sinulog are of course the colorful costumes of the participants. These costumes represent not only the attires worn by natives of Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao but those of the various other nationalities all over the world from Asia, Latin America and Europe. The unmistakable impression created is that the Sto. Niño is adored not only by Filipinos but by people of every race, color or creed, thus affirming the scriptural passage in Psalm 22:23-30 which says that:

"All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord.

All the families of nations shall bow down before Him.

For dominion is the Lord’s and He rules the Nations."

Of course there are likewise numerous floats carrying different images of the Sto. Niño during the procession and the parade. Most of them are covered and bedecked with flowers of varying colors, sizes and shapes. Others are imaginatively designed to attract attention and admiration. But be they flowers or other works of art, all the decorations have been designed to emphasize the beauty of creation and its central figure as depicted by the image of Sto. Niño. Beholding such beautiful sights evokes the urge to praise and thank the Divine Hand who wrought them all, best expressed in the following scriptural passage:

"How beautiful are all His works even to the spark and fleeting vision.

The universe lives and abides forever to meet each need, each creature preserved, all of them differ, one from another yet none of them has been made in vain.

For each in turn as it comes is good, can anyone see enough of their splendor"

(Sirach 42:23-25).

In their own inexplicable greetings, the Cebuanos would say "Viva Pit Senyor".

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