Cycle C - Year II:  

16 January 2022: Feast of the Sto. Niño 

(Liturgical Color: White)

Readings:

First Reading:        Isaiah 9:1-6

Second Reading:   Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 2:41-52 

The Sto. Niño: God becomes Man!

Every family welcomes the birth of a child as a joyful event. Filipinos especially are known for their fondness and special affection for children. Also, every baby born into our world is a clear sign that God has not grown tired of the human race.

The Feast of the Sto. Niño is celebrated every third Sunday of January. 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 the year 1521.  Thus, the Holy See granted Filipinos a special permission to celebrate this Feast every year on this day.     

In our Christian faith, the Feast of the Holy Child is a celebration of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ , the Father's gift to humanity as the long awaited Messiah. 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 all of humanity to Himself.  For in the eyes of a child is a reflection of freshness and holiness in God's kingdom. 

St. Luke is the evangelist for this Sunday. The Gospel narrative is about the Fifth Mystery of the Joyful Rosary: the Finding of Jesus in the Temple. We read about Jesus going up to the Temple for His first Passover at the dawn of His manhood (usually at the age of 12 years for Jewish males.)  This shows that although He is still in His youth Jesus already recognized that He has been given a call by His heavenly Father. We can see this in Jesus' response to the anxious inquiry of His Mother Mary: "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

Today's Gospel is really a story about growing up.  It is about Jesus growing up for His Passover in the Temple. It is about Mary and Joseph growing up in their understanding of their roles as Jesus' human parents. It is also about us growing up in our faith. Growing up is not about how old we are. It is really moving into deeper and more authentic relationship with God.

Now growing up spiritually involves leaving our comfort zone, letting go of what is safe and familiar, and moving to a bigger place, to the Father's place in the heavenly kingdom. It means, letting go from our attachment to worldly concerns and grow in love and likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ.   

Today's Feast of the Sto. Niño should remind us  that our devotion to the Holy Child should not stop at His infancy. For the Holy Child we revere grew up to be Jesus of Nazareth who inaugurates the kingdom of God by His preaching, healing and missionary work.  So also our devotion to the Sto. Niño must grow up 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 for it to be meaningful.  Because our heavenly Father also calls each one of us to a unique task and mission in this life for His kingdom. All we need is to understand and cooperate with God's plan in our lives.  The Lord gives us the grace to say "yes" to His will and grace to persevere in our calling or mission.

May the Feast of the Sto. Niño inspire us to grow spiritually so that we become witnesses and missionaries for His saving work on earth. And may our devotion to the Holy Child inspire us to have a special love for the "little ones" in our midst: the poor, defenseless, persecuted, and all those who rely on God their their support.

Happy Feast of the Sto. Niño to all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!