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Homilies | Sunday, January 15, 2017

Through this image of the Christ Child God began to reveal his glory to the Filipino nation

Homily at Mass with Filipinos celebrating Santo Niño de Cebu

Homily by Archbishop Thomas Wenski at Mass with the Filipino community celebrating Santo Niño de Cebu. St. Bernard Church. Sunday, Jan. 15, 2017.

Today, the third Sunday of January, the Filipino nation celebrates Sinulog. Viva Santo Nino de Cebu!  Pit Senor!

From the time of Queen Juana until today, the Santo Nino continues to reveal his glory to the Pinoy and Pinay so that they, like the first disciples, might believe in him.

In the first reading the Prophet Isaiah’s speak about how a people who have walked into darkness have seen a great light.  Isaiah addressing the Lord says, “You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing.” And aren’t Isaiah’s words today also descriptive of the Filipino people, who since the baptism of Queen Juana have embraced the Catholic faith and have become members of the Church.

In this celebration in which we venerate the image of the Santo Nino “with abundant joy and great rejoicing” we recall the beginnings of the Catholic faith in the Philippines. We recall, we could say, that beginning of the love story between Christ and the Filipino people. In the words of Pope Benedict, “Faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it is communicated as an experience of grace and joy.” Today, our celebration – the sound of the drums and the Sinulog dance – expresses the joy of believing: for faith is not a burden but a gift that gives us strength – and encountering the living God in Jesus Christ is what brings true joy to our lives.

Through this image of the Christ Child, given to Queen Juana on the day of her baptism, God began to reveal his glory to the Filipino nation. Faith in God has animated the life and culture of the Filipino people for almost five centuries. From this first encounter between that faith and Queen Juana there has emerged a rich Christian culture which has found expression in the art, the music, the literature and above all in the people’s religious traditions and their whole way of being.

This beautiful devotion of the Filipino people reminds us of the humility of Christ, the Santo Nino; and this devotion points out to us the path that we should follow. We dance the sinalog as an expression of our willingness to walk humbly with our Lord.

Our Lord’s humility is what makes him accessible to us – and when we are humble we become accessible to others, especially those most vulnerable, those most in need. In the Gospel today, Jesus when he saw his disciples arguing about who was more important, place before them a little child. The Kingdom of God, he tells them – and he tells us – is for those who are humble like a little child. It’s a lesson we need to appropriate lest we in seeking to be important forget how to be good.

Sometimes, people stay away from God because they are afraid of God. Many people have an erroneous idea about God – that he is a hard taskmaster, someone who is waiting for them to do wrong so that he can punish them. Oftentimes, people who have not had an experience of a loving Father at home have a hard time understanding that God is a loving and merciful Father. And so they keep their distance. But, in Jesus Christ, God became small; he became a little Child; the Santo Nino reminds us that we do not need to be afraid of God.  

Other people are angry with God. They blame him for the woes that they suffer, making him responsible for all that goes wrong in their lives. But, God became a little child – who can be angry with a little child?

Today we also find people that look on with God with indifference. That he exists or does not exist doesn’t matter to them, and so they live their lives as if God doesn’t matter. But, God became a little child – and who can remind indifferent at the smile of a little child?

As Isaiah prophesied, “for a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests.” May we imitate the humility of this child as in doing so draw closer God and to others especially to those most vulnerable, to those most in need. Pit Señor!  Viva Santo Niño!  

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