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Tag: Child Jesus

  • Our Capacity to Receive and Embrace

    Our Capacity to Receive and Embrace

    January 15, 2023 – Sunday, Feast of the Sto. Niño

    Is 9:1-6; Eph 1:3-6, 15-18; Mt 18:1-5,10

    A study by the Save the Children revealed that one in three households around the world reported violence during the Covid-19 pandemic.[1] The study also found that 1 in 6 children suffered violence at home. This study also said that there is an increase of negative feelings and psychological distress when lockdowns were imposed. This explains the significant cases of depression and suicide during this time as reported by Department of Health and World Health Organization.[2]

    Moreover, according to UNICEF Philippines Representative, “The Covid-19 pandemic is worsening the incidence of online sexual abuse and exploitation in the country. Children are increasingly becoming victims of circumstances that are harmful to their development and well-being.”[3]

    While I was stationed in Iligan City at the height of this pandemic, there were concerned neighbors who asked for help in our Church. They asked for a counseling and legal assistance for a girl who was raped at home. The parents were not that concerned on how to take care of their daughter because of poverty. Both parents lost their job when the lockdown was imposed in the city. It was the neighbors who responded and wanted to rescue and help the girl. But then, when the incident was reported, the police authorities even suggested not to pursue the case because it will only become troublesome to them and will cost them a lot of money. It was suggested to just settle it with some money and let it go.

    What have we become? Have we succumbed to darkness to abuse and oppress the weak among us?

    These situations are just few reported examples of rejecting, ignoring and hurting attitudes towards the small and the weak and to children particularly. No wonder why Jesus expressed indignation towards those who try to abuse the weak and try to promote themselves to be great.

    On this feast of the Sto. Niño, the Gospel of Matthew tells us how the disciples asked Jesus as to who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Naturally, each of them must have been boasting one another about their closeness with Jesus, their great qualities, their faithfulness, on who was the first to be called and who was the favored one among them.

    At this point, the disciples must have thought that Jesus’ kingdom will be like those of kings sitting on a golden throne in the palace with a great army, a political king. They must have believed that Jesus will inherit political power and vast riches and material wealth. Thus, obtaining a position and having a closer relationship with Jesus will give them the security and assurance of a higher and influential position when Jesus reigns. What they aspired was to have power. This was their idea of greatness in the kingdom of heaven.

    As Jesus knew them, he had to teach them and to mold their hearts according to God’s desire. That’s why Jesus taught the disciples an important lesson through a child. Jesus took and placed the child in their midst and said, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

    Children, at the time of Jesus were considered not important because they were dependent, they have no rights and thus cannot be called as fully man at all. Jesus teaches us that in the Kingdom of heaven, greatness is measured in the capacity to receive God. To receive God is best expressed in welcoming, in embracing and in receiving the least in our community.

    We are called to receive God in the person of those who are the least in our church and society. We are called to aspire to be great but not in the way that we will be above others, or to seek a higher position at the expense of others, but in the way of embracing others.

    This capacity to embrace others and to embrace God fully is the message and call on this feast of the Sto. Niño. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, our God Almighty, has appeared to us as a child, who was born in a manger because through the image of a child, God shows us gentleness, not wrath and violence; the Lord embraces us with mercy, not anger and death.

    Hence, Jesus also calls us, “See that you never despise one of the these little ones.” On our part as a Church, as a community and you as parents and guardians, and all those in the position of authority and power, may we be instruments of protecting the weak in our communities. Let not our hearts be corrupted by our desire to be great and be above others by abusing the weak but we aspire to be great in the kingdom of heaven through our loving and life-giving service. Let our decisions and actions in life, let our relationships and our very person be filled with the grace of the Sto. Niño that brings freedom and the fullness of life. Kabay pa.

    [1] See https://www.rappler.com/world/global-affairs/one-third-households-globally-report-violence-home-during-coronavirus-pandemic-study

    [2] See report https://www.who.int/philippines/news/detail/10-09-2020-doh-and-who-promote-holistic-mental-health-wellness-in-light-of-world-suicide-prevention-day

    [3] See https://globalnation.inquirer.net/190923/unicef-pandemic-worsening-child-online-sexual-abuse-exploitation-in-ph#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic%20is,their%20development%20and%20well%2Dbeing.&text=The%20child%20has%20no%20interest%20in%20school%20and%20friends.

  • GREAT in God

    GREAT in God

    January 15, 2023 – Feast of the Sto. Niño de Cebu

    Is 9:1-6; Eph 1:3-6, 15-18; Mt 18:1-5,10

    During our Wednesday novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help, we always ask our mother to help us learn to adapt to our growing children. Praying this, we acknowledge before the Lord that as Christians and in particular as parents, we are imperfect. We recognize that we encounter problems and difficulties in dealing with our growing children and that, at times we fail to love and respect the children as persons and as God’s children. And for this, we implore Our Mother’s guidance and assistance.

    Filipinos love the Sto. Nino, the child Jesus, and today – every third Sunday of January, we celebrate the Feast of Sto. Nino. Like the Sto. Nino, we honor our children of today as also God’s gifts and instrument of salvation for humanity. They are God’s blessing and signs of hope for our Christian families and communities. As gifts, children must be accepted, love and provided with the love and care they need for their growth and well-being. As God’s instrument, they must also be respected for what they are and will be, with talents and limitations, for in their own unique way children can contribute to the building up of Christian families, and communities, and in God’s kingdom as well.

    In our gospel today, we hear how Jesus  emphasize Greatly the value of us being God’s children, and of being children in God’s kingdom. For Jesus, our being beloved children of God is our very dignity and rights as a person. As God’s beloved children, we enjoy personal relationship with Jesus and the Kingdom of God. We have the right and duty to grow in faith, to grow in our own personal relationship with God. It is also our vocation to be His disciple – to come and follow Jesus Christ and express our response, by our love and respect for others. Today, Jesus invites us to especially love and respect our children, as much as we demand respect from them. Our today’s children are also God’s beloved children, like us now adults Christians.

    Now if we wish to learn how to adapt to our growing children – to respect God’s beloved children, take a good look at the picture of Our Mother Perpetual Help, a portrait of Mary carrying her child Jesus. By merely looking at the picture of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, we readily notice the relationship between Jesus and Mary – Mary as the mother, the parent of Jesus the Redeemer. As a mother, Mary presents to us the child Jesus, a child who like any other child needs nourishment, love, guidance, protection and care of a parent. We see Mary as the model of Christian Parenthood for she teaches us how to love,  care and protect our children. The picture also shows us Jesus growing and gradually learning that in fulfilling his vocation in life, there will be coming great changes and suffering (as shown by angels at the side bearing cross & hyssop on spears). And Mary has to adapt gradually to the changes going in her son’s life. As Jesus grew, so did Mary grow to respect and share the giftedness of the growing Jesus to others.

    As we honor today the Sto. Nino, Jesus want us to remember that our devotion to the Sto. Nino must reflect not only our deep joy and thanksgiving to God for sharing us His only Son, but also expresses our love and concern for today’s God’s little children, His ninos and ninas. And the most relevant and meaningful way of honoring the Sto. Nino is not by merrymaking, parades or street dancing, but by concretely expressing our Christian respect, love and concern to our growing children, especially the poor and abandoned little children.

    Concretely, I invite you BE with children & spent a quality time with them these days. Listen to their stories, their concerns, and their hopes in life. Respect and Learn from them for they are also God’s children and messengers. As a Filipino song would say: “Itanong mo sa mga bata. Ang buhay ay hawak nila… at Ang sagot iyong makikita.” Ask the children. Life is in their hands… and you will find the answers.

    Through our children, may we discern and respect God’s ways and plans for a better life ahead of us.

    So May it Be.

  • WOW! ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES!

    WOW! ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES!

    January 17, 2021 – Feast of the Sto. Niño de Cebu

    Fr. Manoling Thomas, CSsR

    Click here for the readings (https://adoseofgodtoday.com/sunday-liturgy/)

    In the Philippine Daily Inquirer of January 16, 2009, Mr. Ambeth R. Ocampo in his column “Looking Back”, mentioned about the image of the Sto. Niño of Cebu.  He wrote: “This image reminds us of the conversion of Cebu in 1521, shortly before Magellan set off to be killed in the Battle of Mactan. It is believed that the image enshrined in Cebu is the same one given by Magellan to Humabon’s wife when she was baptized and renamed Juana.”

    In the Philippines, the 3rd Sunday of January, is celebrated as the Feast of the Sto. Niño. It is a feast particular to the Philippines, and very much related to the history of Christianity in this country.

    Today’s gospel is taken from Mark 10:13-16. In this section, Mark tells his readers and listeners, what the requirements or conditions are to enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus entered the Kingdom of God by way of suffering and death. This too is the way for every disciple of Jesus. To enter the Kingdom of God, one must be willing to strip oneself of ones ego and false self.

    Who are the beneficiaries of the Kingdom of God? Mark mentions four [4] groups of people: a) the children [10:14]; b) the insignificant, marginalized, and “rejects” of society [10:13-16]; c) the poor [10:17-27]; and d) those who have learned detachment [10:28-31].

    In today’s gospel, Mark describes Jesus in a very humane and personal way. Jesus got irritated and offended by the way his disciples treated the children that people were bringing to him. Jesus was just so delighted to see these children, that he “took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them and blessed them.” And he said: “Truly I tell you; whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” [10:15].

    What does Jesus mean by that statement? Jesus is neither encouraging nor advocating infantilism. Infantilism is the attitude and behaviour of a person who is already grown up but continues to behave and to act in a childish and immature way. What Jesus advocates is that we adopt the attitude of humbly acknowledging and recognizing our own human limitations and ultimate dependence on God! It is also the attitude of recognizing our interdependence with each other. Jesus tells us not only to live in the realm of our thinking, reasoning, mental analysis, arguing, and excessive worrying. Jesus advocates a balanced life of reason, commonsense, feelings, and faith.  Integrating all these essential human characteristics makes us a total human person.

    What in a typical child, that Jesus wants us to possess, in order to be admitted into the Kingdom of God? A typical child acts as a total person: open, trusting, sincere, honest and spontaneous! A typical child is aware of his/her need for others and dependence on them.  To aspire for the Kingdom of God is to recognize and to accept our dependence on God and our interdependence with one another.

    But how is this message of Jesus related to the feast we are celebrating today here in the Philippines? Mr. Ambeth R. Ocampo, says that the image of the Sto. Niño “reminds” us of the conversion of the Filipinos into the Christian faith. But what sort of conversion did we Filipinos have? What kind of faith do we have at present? Is it a dynamic and growth-promoting faith, transforming us into mature Christian-Catholics? Are we a people and nation, worthy to be called, the “only Catholic nation in Asia”?  Our devotion to the Sto. Niño is more than 400 years old!  Over these years, what are the visible signs indicating that our Christian-Catholic faith is indeed healthily growing and maturing?

    Let us take a look at our practices over the centuries which we associate with our devotion to the Sto. Niño.

    Which of these we can consider as healthy and growth-promoting to our Christian faith? And which ones are keeping us stunted or retarded, and infantile in our faith? Are our practices expressing our devotion to the Sto. Nino in accordance with Jesus’ teachings; or are some of them infected with superstitions, fanaticism, sentimentalism; and even bordering on paganism and idolatry?

    Let us celebrate with deep gratitude to God and to the missionaries, the 500th Jubilee of receiving the gift of the Christian faith! At the same time let us honestly and sincerely ask ourselves: what kind of Christianity, are going to bring and share with our Asian brothers and sisters who have not yet heard about Jesus Christ and his Gospel?