Saturday, January 18, 2014

A Child that Liberates Us



Feast of the Sto. Niño
January 19, 2014
Matthew 18:1-5, 10

“Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Mat 18:5)”

Today, Catholic Filipinos are celebrating the feast of the Santo Niño (festivity of the Child Jesus). Together with the Black Nazarene (the suffering Christ), Sto. Niño have become the two pillars of Filipino devotion. Last January 9, estimated 12 million people attended the feast of the Black Nazarene at Quiapo Church, Manila. If the number was correct, then more than 10% of Philippine population flocked around the revered image! Today, we are going to witness once again millions of devotees march toward this small yet beautiful statue of Sto. Niño.
Going deeper into these very popular devotions, they are presenting the foundations of our faith. Sto. Niño is pointing to the mystery of Incarnation, while the Black Nazarene are reflecting the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord, the summit of our redemption. Definitely, my Filipino friends did not come to these churches because they are aware of this sublime theological underpinning, but because of their filial trust in God’s loving providence. I myself am a devotee of the Black Nazarene and although I visit the Black Nazarene not in regular basis, I have to admit there is kind of spiritual magnet that draws me closer to Him. I find also a sense of pilgrimage and sacrifice as I fall in a long line just to touch the foot of the Black Nazarene (traditionally called ‘Pahalik’).
There is something deep and beautiful with these two devotions that leading us to the very core of our faith. It is that we are saved by God through these two moments where Jesus was at his weakest. The King of kings was born as a meek baby at the poorest place people could imagine, and our Savior accomplished His mission as a suffering victim of injustice at the most humiliating cross of execution. Yet, why does God use these realities to show His marvelous power? I believe because God is also a liberator, not as a military commander nor political specialist, but that He liberates us from the very limited human concept of power and greatness, literally from ourselves!
In Today’s Gospel, the disciples asked Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Perhaps, the one who possesses the super-abundant wealth, or one who owns collections of sport cars, or one who earns educational degrees with Summa cum Laude, and the list can go on and on. But, Jesus called a little child and set him as a model. Jesus is challenging the problematic concept of success and of human greatness. It is the achievement earned at the expense of other people. We need to step at other persons’ heads just to be on the top and they see nothing but our buttocks. Terrifying image indeed, but the modern world is promoting it!
Why should we climb to the pick and eventually find nothing but ourselves alone? God did come neither as a warrior-conqueror nor a shrewd politician; He is a little baby and a suffering servant. Jesus is here to destroy sins, and one of the greatest sin is that we are so full of ourselves. And, when God has liberated us from ourselves, the redemption and the fullness of life may flow inside our lives and community. 
Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

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