The Church calendar puts the Solemnity of the Sto. Niño this year on January 15. The devotion to the Sto. Niño is happily a part--I would say a living part--of our culture and history as a people.
Just look around and you will readily see images and icons of this kingly child even in jeepneys, V-hires, taxis, sari-sari stores, and of course in many homes.
The devotion may run through a variety of expressions and different degrees of intensity and orthodoxy, but the devotion is simply there, throbbing and pulsating, somehow coloring people's thoughts and ways.
This is one more evidence that no matter how imperfectly lived, the Christian faith inheres in the Filipinos' ethos. It's Christian faith spontaneously lived Pinoy-style. And this is how it should be. Faith becomes true faith when it permeates a people's culture.
In Cebu there again will be the impressive celebration of the feast highlighted by Masses and a big religious procession of the "Pit Señor" matched by the popular Sinulog. Similar celebrations take place all over the country.
These festivities remind me of that beautiful psalm 149 which says:
"The Lord takes delight in his people... Sing to the Lord a new song of praise... Let them praise in the festive dance, let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp. For the Lord loves his people, and adorns the lowly with victory..."
This is the ideal picture of the people of God enjoying a living communion with their Father and Creator. It's, of course, a living communion that needs to be sustained, deepened, enriched and strengthened.
Thus, the Filipino Christian faithful would do well when together with an active participation in the festivities, there is a serious effort to imbibe the qualities shown to us in a very forceful way by the Sto. Niño.
These are the qualities of both a child and a mature person, the qualities of simplicity and humility together with prudence and wisdom. These are the qualities we all need especially at this juncture when are going through a very rapid pace of development.
Our Lord himself articulated this blend of virtues when he said: "Be therefore wise as serpents, and guileless as doves." (Mt 10,16)
St. Paul echoed it when he said: "Brethren, do not become children in mind, but in malice be children and in mind mature." (1 Cor 14,20)
Childlike simplicity is a must these days, because the allurements of the world, not to mention those of the devil, can easily overwhelm us. This childlike simplicity enables us to go on unaffected and oblivious to these allurements as we swim through this life.
It is the simplicity that makes us firmly pro-God, and everything that is genuinely good, without getting entangled with the confusing world where evil can assume irresistible appearances of good.
It is the simplicity that enables us to be vibrantly chaste and focused on what is truly essential in our life, making us happily tempered and detached from material things and ever revitalizing our spiritual life.
But it's a simplicity that does not remain in being sweet and tender. It's one that blends well and even requires the manly virtues of fortitude and prudence. A simplicity that does not excuse us from our responsibility to a deeper knowledge of our faith and to a more perfect life of virtues.
These are qualities being asked of us now as we start a new year not only as a Filipino people, but also as a Filipino Christian people. It's a challenge we all have. The goal is spelled out. The means are made available. What is simply needed is for us to put our mind and heart to bravely face the challenge.
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