Cycle B - Year I:   

18 January 2015: Feast of the Sto. Niño 

(Liturgical color: White)

Mark 10:13-16

The Sto. Niño: the human face of God!

In the village where we live, it is an inspiring sight to see little children rush to the altar of our community chapel just after our community Mass in order to kiss the hand of the priest-presider. The priest touches the children and bless them. Kissing the hand of priests and other elders is a tradition that is deeply ingrained in our Filipino culture.

The scenario of children rushing to the priest is reminiscent of Jesus' encounter with children in this Sunday's Gospel. The evangelist Mark wrote

that people were bringing the children to Jesus so that He may lay His hands upon them. They knew of the healing power which came from Jesus' touch. But Jesus' disciples prevented them. So Jesus rebuked his disciples for hindering the children from coming to Him.

The Church celebrates this Sunday the Feast of the Sto. Niño, who is the human face of God as a little Child. Filipinos revere the image of the Holy Child or the Sto. Niño throughout the country. The devotion to the Holy Child is said to be the oldest and one of the most popular in the Philippines, recalling the birth of the Catholic faith in our country in 1521. The Holy See granted us special permission to celebrate the Feast of the Sto. Niño on third Sunday of January, which falls on the 18th this year 2015.

The Feast of the Holy Child is a celebration of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. That is, God came to us as a child to show us how to become children of God, and how we must entrust our lives to our heavenly Father. God chose to make Himself visible in Jesus as an appealing child in order to draw us to Himself. Jesus Himself loves the little children as today's Gospel narrates. He sees in their eyes the reflection of the freshness and holiness of God's kingdom.

Do we show kindness to the youth we encounter in the neighborhood, home, and Church? Do we pray for them that they may grow in the knowledge and wisdom of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Going back to the Gospel incident, perhaps the disciples just wanted to shield Jesus from the nuisance of noisy children. But Jesus delighted in the children, and he wanted to demonstrate by his actions of welcoming the children instead that God's love has ample room for everyone. Because no one is unimportant to God. He comes to each person individually that He might touch them with his healing love and power.

Our devotion to the Holy Child should not stop at his infancy. We are also reminded that the Holy Child grew up to be Jesus of Nazareth who inaugurates the kingdom of God by his preaching, healing and mission work. So too our devotion to the Sto. Niño must grow and deepen so that we become witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ by our words and good examples of Christian living. In other words, our devotion to the Sto. Niño must bear good fruits in practical life.

This Sunday is also the Feast Day of our village since our Patron is the Sto. Niño. We started our celebration with a nightly nine-day novena in our community chapel from January 9 to 17. On the Feast Day this Sunday, our celebration starts with a procession of the Sto. Niño around the village and Thanksgiving Mass in our chapel at 8:30 in the morning.

We join our prayers with those celebrating Holy Mass with Pope Francis and other bishops and priests on this Sunday at the Luneta Park. May the Feast of the Sto. Niño inspire us all to have a special love for the "little ones" in our midst: the poor, the defenseless, the persecuted, and those who rely only on God for their support.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!