Sunday, January 21, 2018 Feast of Sto. Niño 1st Reading: Isaiah 9:1-6 2nd Reading: Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18 Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
Our life is so sacred that God had allowed himself to experience it by coming to the world as a newborn infant. In the Philippines, people honor this infant the longest in the world, beginning December 16 with the Misa de Gallo, and ending on the second Sunday of Ordinary Time with the celebration of the Feast of the Santo Niño. This timeline is most pronounced in Cebu where the Sinulog follows immediately after Christmas.
The blaze of Christmas had hardly subsided and we already had to begin the novena to the Holy Child. This untiring devotion is an unmistakable sign of attachment to the Holy Child. How nice if this attachment should move us to follow him not just as an infant in the manger and a child beautifully clad as prince. How fruitful of us if we also follow him as the Suffering Servant of Yahweh at Mount Calvary!
It’s amusing to follow an infant, and much more alluring if that infant is also a prince. But what if he’d be stripped of his royal vestments and sentenced to die like a criminal? A child is pleasant to follow because he imposes no requisites. A child orders this and that. But such are always subject to our discretion. What happens when that infant grows up and becomes the suffering servant with non-negotiable demands? Jesus said, “If you want to follow me, you must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow in my footsteps.”
As we honor the Holy Child today, let’s do the “VIVA PIT SENYOR” chant with clinched fists thrown into the air, not because we are angry but because we are determined to give Jesus all our strength till we get to Calvary with him. Let us stop the current practice of throwing our hands into the air with open palms out of respect for Europeans who take offense at this gesture because it reminds them of the atrocities Hitler had done to humanity. Let’s revert back to old practice of shouting Viva Pit Senyor with clinched fist as we show our determination to follow Jesus until death. Viva Pit Senyor! – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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