Last Sunday, Janurary 15,  was  the feast of the Sto. Nino or Holy Child. This is  celebrated  as a special feast in the Philippines every third Sunday of January.

There is a historical reason for this special feast in the Philippines. When Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived in Cebu in 1565, the inhabitants of a village they were approaching ran away and left their houses burning.         In one house that was not completely gutted by fire, soldiers found a chest which, when they opened, contained the image of the Sto. Nino. It was the image given as a present by Magellan to Princess Juana when she was baptized together with King Humabon.

The soldiers brought the image to Legazpi who took it as a good sign. That image is now kept in the Basilica of the Sto Nino in Cebu. It is a symbol of the beginning of the work of evangelization  in earnest,  which resulted in the Philippines becoming the only predominantly Christian nation in Asia.

Cebu is the main place for the  celebration of the feast, but it is also celebrated in a big way in Tondo, Manila, and less grandiosely in Pandacan, also in Manila. It comes like an extension of Christmas for us, Filipino Catholics.

While the feast of the Poong Jesus Nazareno, which is celebrated on January 9, focuses on the suffering Christ, the feast of the Sto Nino focuses on Christ the Child. This latter  feast re-emphasizes the Christian truth that Jesus, even as a Child, was already God. He was not a man in whom God came to dwell when the man Jesus reached maturity. Rather, Jesus was the Son of God, true God, who became man for our salvation as attested by the Gospel of St. John 1: 1, 14.

But the feast should have very important practical lessons for us Filipinos. In the  Sto. Nino we see God becoming a little child, associating Himself with children, and with the little ones of this world. True devotion to the Sto. Nino should, therefore, result in greater attention and care for our children, many of whom suffer from parental neglect, child abuse, poverty, malnutrition, and lack of educational opportunities. We cannot lavish attention on the statues of the Sto. Nino, his images made of wood or other materials, and at the same time neglect his more important and living images, children.

True devotion to the Sto. Nino or Holy Child should mean loving care for all children, especially our own. Further, we cannot be devotees of the Sto. Nino and at the same time espouse anti-natalist legislation, like the RH bills being proposed in Congress.

Likewise, devotion to the Sto. Nino should mean greater attention and concern shown to the little ones of this world: the poor, the marginalized, the nobodies, the small fries, especially simple believers. It should mean preferential love given to the poor and the oppressed, because as Jesus says in the Gospel, whatever we do to one of Jesus’ least brothers and sisters we do to Jesus Himself.        

We cannot celebrate the feast of the Sto. Nino with extravagant festivities while neglecting those with whom he has associated himself in a special way. I remember the story of Mrs. Aurora Aquino who told us that one day Ninoy (who was only a student then) reproached her with these words, “Mother, you go to Mass and communion every day, but what have you done for Christ’s poor?”

Church leaders and the Catholic faithful should see to it that the feast of the Sto. Nino does not become only a carnival or a tourist attraction, but should be a true homage to the Son of God who became human for our salvation.

The feast of the Sto. Nino should be a feast for the little ones—for children,  and the poor and oppressed of this world. It should be a feast that will lead to the uplift of our children and of the poor, instead of becoming an opiate numbing us to the needs of the little ones around us.

Pit Senyor! Viva Sto Nino!

Mabuhay ang batang Pilipino! (Long live the Filipino child!)

Buhayin ang maralitang Pilipino! (Give life to the Filipino poor!)