Keep the Sto. Niño devotion strong

WE should consider ourselves very lucky and quite blessed

that we still have a vibrant spirit of popular piety as evidenced by

the tremendous outpouring of devotees during the feasts of the Black

Nazarene and of the Child Jesus (Sto. Niño). I don’t know if there are

still other countries with the same show of popular piety that we

have. We should thank God for this great blessing and strive to keep

it strong and growing always.

  

          I would say that this devotion to Sto. Niño is crucial in

our Christian life because it helps us to establish a strong

sentimental fondness to Christ who shows himself as a little child.

And yet he already reminds us that he is not just any ordinary child,

but a very important one, a king to whom we have to submit our whole

being.

  

          I am always moved to see great crowds of devotees pouring

out their affection and fondness for the little Sto. Niño. They carry

his image, sing and dance with it, clearly showing how fond they are

with the little child Jesus. Human as we are, it is important that we

have a basic fondness for Christ as a child so that no matter what

happens in our life, Christ will always be in our mind and heart.

  

          And we know that whether we like it or not, we will always

have all sorts of trials and challenges in this life, all kinds of

difficulties and predicaments, etc. But as long as we would still have

a strong fondness and affection to the Sto. Niño, we would not be

afraid to face Christ when he appears to us as the Black Nazarene who

invites us to suffer with him whatever suffering we have in this life.

  

          It is important that whatever situation we may find

ourselves in, we always relate ourselves and our concerns to Christ.

And, indeed, it helps that for as long as our fondness for Christ that

is fueled by our devotion to the Sto. Niño remains strong, we would be

able to do that.

  

          I know of certain persons who get a good spiritual lift and

boost whenever they would just picture in their mind the image of the

Sto. Niño. Whenever they have problems and difficulties, what helps to

keep them going is their devotion to the Sto. Niño.

  

          I believe that we really should promote this devotion more

insistently. And that’s because there are now many elements and

factors that tend to weaken the faith and piety of people, especially

the young ones.

  

          The new things of the world today, while not necessarily bad

and in fact are in themselves good, can undermine the spiritual and

moral lives of people if they are not referred to God. Our times are

in great need of being offered to God. There is so much indifference

to God now, so much confusion and ignorance about faith and religion.

   

          We have to find ways of how this devotion can be made more

relevant to the lives and concerns of the young ones, especially those

living in very urban areas and exposed to many worldly elements. We

cannot deny that most of the devotees are the elderly ones and those

coming from the provinces whose lives, concerns and challenges are

simpler than those living in the cities.

  

          This effort will indeed require a lot of creativity. And we

should not be afraid to face that challenge. To be sure, there are

many possibilities through which we can infuse attractive and

innovative ways in the evangelization of people, especially the young

ones.

  

          Let us remember that the very source of what is new, of what

is true, good and beautiful is God himself. If we would just persevere

in our relation with God, we can always come out with these attractive

and innovative ways.