God who is a Child

FEAST OF THE SANTO NIÑO C

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

JANUARY 20, 2019

Jesus, I trust in you!

When he was reproached by Mary for staying behind in Jerusalem without asking their permission, the child Jesus said to her: Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be in my Father’s house? His answer seemed impolite and rude but it was actually a revelation which Jesus made about himself. By being in his Father’s house, the child Jesus revealed who he is: He is the only begotten Son of God. The teachers of the Law were all astounded at this child’s understanding and answers because he was no ordinary child. He is the Son of God. Last Sunday, at Jesus’ Baptism in the River Jordan, both the Holy Spirit and the voice of the Father testified to Jesus: You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

The readings today testify to who the Santo Niño is. Many of us here are devoted to the Santo Niño. Who is the Santo Niño: he is the Son of God! Let us not forget it. The Santo Niño raises his hand in blessing us. The reason why we are blessed in him with every spiritual blessing in the heavens is because the Santo Niño is the Son of God. His Father is God and therefore he is Lord and God. If the Santo Niño were not God, then we will never be chosen in him to be adopted as children of God.

The Santo Niño holds the globe in his hand because he is the child born to us, the Son who is given to us. On his shoulders, dominion rests. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, from David’s throne, and over his kingdom which he confirms and sustains by his judgment and justice now and forever. This child is Wonder-counselor, God-hero, Father-forever, and Prince of Peace.

The Santo Niño, therefore, is no ordinary child. He is God. Therefore, he must not be treated just like an ordinary child. We must revere him as God. He is not our toy, nor is he our doll, nor is he our personal pet. We do not subject him to our whims and petty pleasures. Instead, we venerate his image and revere his Holy Name. He is not our play thing. Instead, we surrender ourselves to him as St. Therese did: “I had offered myself, for some time now, to the Child Jesus as his little plaything. I told him not to use me as a valuable toy children are content to look at but dare not touch, but to use me like a little ball of no value which he could throw on the ground, push with His foot, pierce, leave in a corner, or press to His heart if it pleased him; in a word, I wanted to amuse little Jesus, to give Him pleasure; I wanted to give myself up to His childish whims. He heard my prayer.

“At Rome, Jesus pierced His little plaything; He wanted to see what there was inside it and having seen, content with His discovery, He let His little ball fall to the ground and He went off to sleep. What did He do during His gentle sleep and what became of the little abandoned ball? Jesus dreamed He was still playing with His toy, leaving it and taking it up in turns, and then having seen it roll quite far He pressed it to His heart, no longer allowing it to ever go far from His little hand.” (Story of a Soul)

This rather poetic meditation of St. Therese is the essence of devotion to the Santo Niño. Our faith in him is shown by our subjection to his Divine Will. Let our devotion to him be both mature and child-like. The revelry of dancing to the beating of drums is not enough. It should deepen into a real filial relationship with the Father. This filial relationship must imitate that of Jesus who saw it necessary to be in his Father’s house, doing his Father’s business. May the Father of Jesus and our Father give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened, that we may know the hope that belongs to his call, the riches of glory in the inheritance among the holy ones.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee! 

Sto. Nino: Let the children come to me

FEAST OF THE SANTO NIÑO B

YEAR OF THE CLERGY AND CONSECRATED PERSONS

JANUARY 21, 2018

Jesus, I trust in you!

People were bringing children to Jesus so that he may bless them. But the disciples rebuked them. After all, Jesus has become a celebrity of sorts. His healing power made him very popular. And so, a celebrity like him should not be bothered by trivial matters like children. Is this not what we do when we receive important visitors at home? Do we not order our children to go and play outside so as not to bother important guests? Do we not dismiss children in the presence of celebrities? Apparently, we are no different from the disciples of the Lord.

However, when the Lord saw this, he became indignant and said to them: “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them.” The Lord challenges the worldly paradigm that great people, celebrities, must be inaccessible and so remain mysterious. He associates greatness to accessibility. A great person must be accessible to others. In other words, “dapat madali siyang lapitan.” And who is the truly accessible/approachable one? He is the one who easily accommodates the little children. If little children can approach that person, anyone can approach him. And this is what the Lord reveals to us today: God is an approachable God. The Lord tells us: “Let the little children come to me. Do not prevent them.” No one is to be prevented from approaching him…not even the little children. In fact, in order to encourage children to approach him, he himself became a little child. Is it not true that children are not intimidated by other children like themselves? While they may shy away from adults, children will never be afraid of approaching other children like themselves. And so God became a little child. And never will he forget that he was once a little child. Adults like us can become very cranky towards little children. And when we do so, others reprimand us by saying: “Have you never been a child before?” Unlike our cranky selves, the Lord Jesus has never forgotten that he was once a child. Thus, he tells us that we should never prevent children from approaching him. He understands children because he was once a child.

And so, we must never prevent children from approaching the Lord. At a very early age, we should accustom them to go to Church so that they may be familiar with the Lord. Sometimes, we encounter priests who get upset with the crying of a baby in Church. They easily dismiss parents by telling them not to bring their noisy children to church. But when will you bring your children to church? When they are teenagers? Do you seriously think that if you do not bring your children to church while they are young and impressionable, you can successfully bring them to church as independent-minded teenagers? I don’t think so. If you are unable to bring them to church while they are young, you may never be able to successfully bring them when they get older. This is why we must start them young. Their relationship with the Lord must begin at an early stage. At a very young age, they must learn to develop a friendship with the Lord because a relationship is not created overnight. By bringing our children to church, we provide for them the opportunity to know and befriend the Lord. This is the kind of friendship that will benefit them for a lifetime.

The Santo NiÑo invites us all to draw close to him. Do not hesitate. If little children should not be prevented from approaching him, no one should be prevented from drawing close to him. To God who made himself little for us, we should hasten without hesitation. After all, he said, “Let the children come to me. Do not prevent them for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!   

The Fearless Surrender of a Little Child

Jesus, I trust in you!

Children are usually told to watch and learn from adults. Adults like us are always presented to them as models who they should imitate. But the mind of the Lord is different. He tells us: “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.” Those who aspire to enter heaven must watch and learn from children. They are the models who we should all imitate if we want to be part of his Kingdom.

The Lord puts the little child in our midst today…the little child who oftentimes is relegated to the side because he has done nothing yet to prove his worth. The child has not proven his worth because he does not yet earn his keep nor has he achieved anything to assure him of his niche in society. And yet, when asked: “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven,” the Lord puts the child in the midst of his disciples and tells them: “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

In this way, he reveals to us his glory…for who is greater than Him who is the Lord? Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. To him, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given by the Father. And yet, in entering this world, he humbled himself and became a little child. He diminished himself. He made himself small, because in the Kingdom of God, littleness is the measure of greatness. Even Philosophy affirms this: God is the simplest of all beings. In the image of the Sto. Niño, we see the true glory of Christ: it is the glory of God’s only Son, full of grace and truth. Indeed, what the world deems important (like power and wealth) is nothing in the sight of God. A person’s true greatness is measured by his simplicity and child-like trust in the Lord.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus teaches us the doctrine of spiritual childhood. She wrote: “I understand so well that it is only love which makes us acceptable to God that this love is the only good I ambition. Jesus deigned to show me the road that leads to the Divine Furnace, and this road is the surrender of the little child who sleeps without fear in its Father’s arms. ‘Whoever is a little one, let him come to me.’ So speaks the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Solomon. This same Spirit of Love says: ‘For to him that is little, mercy will be shown.’ The prophet Isaiah reveals in his name that on the last day: ‘God will feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather together the lambs with his arm, and shall take them up in his bosom.’“ (Story of a Soul, 188.)

“The surrender of the little child who sleeps in its Father’s arms” is the oblation that pleases the Father. This surrender is the way of trust that the Lord is asking us to offer to him. Self-sufficiency brings us nowhere. We need the Father and we should never hesitate to ask for his love. With confidence, we should approach him for “there is no detail of my life that is too tiny for his concern.” As Jesus became a little child in order to enter our world, so we should become like little children in order to enter heaven. Let us confidently walk this way of spiritual childhood – the way of unconditional surrender and trust in the Lord. He does not need anything from us except our love. Let us give him this love as this is all the Father wants from us. Let us ask the Santo Niño: “O Son of God, who for my sake took on the dependency of childhood, help me to accept the readiness of the Father’s grace.”

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!  

The Challenge of Conversion to Child-like Nothingness

PRAISED BE JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH.

“Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Children are seldom regarded as role models. In fact, children are always taught to imitate the good examples of the adults. They are always told that they still have many things to learn and to experience. “Marami ka pang kakaining bigas,” the usual admonition they would receive from adults, would imply that their lack of experience disqualifies them from being models.

However, when asked about greatness in the kingdom of heaven, the Lord Jesus puts a child in the midst of his disciples and tells them, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” When we look at the image of the Santo Nino, we see the real implication of these words of the Lord. In the Santo Nino, we see Christ who is King of kings and Lord of lords and yet has become a little child. By his incarnation, God the Son, in assuming human nature, became a little child. He humbled himself like a child. He became a child…and therefore, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. In the humility of his childhood, Jesus remained to be who he is: God’s only begotten Son in whom the Father was well pleased. His humanity never diminished in any way his divinity. He continues to be the one to whom is given every authority in heaven and on earth. This little child is for ever Wonder-counselor, God-hero, Father-forever, and Prince of Peace. His dominion is forever peaceful. As David’s successor, his power is based on right and justice.

By the mystery of his childhood, the Lord Jesus prepared for us the path to greatness in the kingdom of heaven. He challenges us to conversion: “Unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Fr. Marie Eugene of the Child Jesus said: “…to become authentic children of God, to receive truly all the benefits of the Incarnation and partake of them, whoever we may be, rich or poor, we must be truly poor.” St. John of the Cross has underlined this poverty: “Try always to prefer…not what is easiest, but most difficult; not what is most delightful, but most difficult; not what is most satisfying, but unpleasant; not what is restful, but laborious; not what brings consolation, but what does not; not having more, but having less; not what is most desirable, but no one wants; not wanting something, but wanting nothing; not seeking the best, but the worst; in short try always to prefer the desire to be stripped of everything, in poverty, for the sake of Christ.” (John of the Cross, Ascent to Mount Carmel, book 1, chapter 13.)

Fr. Marie Eugene said that it is by realizing in life this self-emptying (poverty) that we reach spiritual childhood. “This state of littleness, or complete and absolute poverty is the condition for bringing about the perfect incarnation of grace in our souls; it leaves God free to accomplish in us the plenitude of grace that he has prepared for us for all eternity.” (Marie Eugene of the Child Jesus, Emmanuel: When
God walked on our land, p. 100.)

Becoming like a child is not as easy as it seems to be. It involves a real conversion to nothingness: a conversion to having pleasure in nothing, to wish to possess nothing, to desire to be nothing, to wish to know nothing. Seeing how we crave to possess every known pleasure and satisfaction, we realize that this conversion is indeed difficult. Would any of us who is earning his own money would want to return to becoming a penniless child? Would we, who have experienced the joy of independence, even want to return to a child’s dependence on his parents for his most basic needs? It is difficult to be like a child with nothing of his own. To go down this way of child-like nothingness is to pass through the narrow door.

Jesus, I trust in you. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.  

His Humility Is His Exaltation

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

When asked by his mother why he caused them to search for him in sorrow, our Lord responded: “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” Here the Lord Jesus, although a mere boy of 12 years, manifests his clear knowledge of who he really is – he is the Son of his Father. Thus, he must be found in the temple, which is his Father’s house. He must be doing his Father’s business for he was sent by this same Father on a mission here on earth. He knew that he was sent, thus he sets out doing his Father’s business. “Here Jesus lets us catch a glimpse of the mystery of his total consecration to a mission that flows from his divine Sonship…” (CCC, 534) St. Ambrose wrote: “What was accomplished in a manner above nature, above age, above what was usual, must not be ascribed to his human excellence, but must be referred to the power of his divinity.” (St. Ambrose, On the Gospel; Catena Aurea) Jesus, the Son of God was totally consecrated to the mission given him by the Father. Thus we understand why the Father would later on declare his pleasure in him: “You are my Son, my beloved. In you my favor rests.”

Indeed, the Father ought to be well pleased with Jesus his Son. After all, Jesus was truly obedient to his Father in heaven. In his obedience, he descended from heaven and assumed a human nature. Although his divinity was never diminished by his humanity, nevertheless he submitted himself to the authority of Mary and Joseph. His humble submission to those who in reality were but his creatures is a manifestation of his filial obedience to his Father in heaven. St. Ambrose said, “Are we to be astonished that he obeys his Father who was obedient to his mother? A subjection like this, (is) not of dependence, but of filial love.” (Ibid.) The obedience of Jesus is a wondrous obedience. “He was obedient to man. He was obedient to his handmaid…” (Ibid.) St. Bernard asked, “Who was subject to whom? A God to men. God, to whom the angels are subject, whom principalities and powers obey, was subject to Mary…(and also) to Joseph.” (St. Bernard, On the Feast of the Holy Family; Catena Aurea) Such an excellent humility that God should obey a woman! (Ibid.)

In the Santo Niño we behold excellent humility and obedience. He is fully divine and yet he stoops to obey his human mother. Doing so does not diminish his divine dignity but makes it even more astonishing. He himself said that those who humble themselves will be exalted. Indeed, he is the both humble One and the Exalted One. A little Child and yet a mighty King - His humility is his exaltation. And thus he paves for us the path to salvation but setting himself as the example. And so, St. Bernard said: “Learn, O man, to obey. Learn, O earth, to be subject. Learn, O dust, to submit. The evangelist in speaking of thy Maker says: He was subject to Mary and Joseph. Be ashamed, vain ashes that you are. God humbles Himself, and do you exalt yourself? God becomes subject to men, and will you, eager to lord it over men, place yourself above your Maker?” (Ibid.) And so the Lord invites us: “Come to me…and learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart!”

Jesus, I trust in you! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Without Evident Greatness

The much revered image of the Sto. Niño commemorates the holy childhood of our Lord Jesus – the hidden life during which, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Lord spent “the greater part of his life” sharing “the condition of the vast majority of human beings: a daily life spent without evident greatness, a life of manual labor.” (CCC, 531). This hidden life in Nazareth, about which the Sacred Scriptures gives very few details, embraces much of His life on earth. Whatever we know about our Lord in his public ministry took place only in the last 3 years of his life. 30 years of it was very much spent in anonymity, in hiddenness: “a daily life spent without evident greatness.” The Catechism tells us that one of the purposes of the Incarnation is for the Word of God “to be our model of holiness.” (CCC, 459.) This means that God desires that we imitate his Son so that we can become holy. Often, many people wonder how this can be possible. After all, much of what the Lord did were easily done because of his Divinity. It can be easy for us to justify our failure in imitating Christ by saying, “I am not God like Christ.” It is in His hidden life in Nazareth where the Lord is very much like us who spend our daily lives without evident greatness. The 8 million crowd who drew close to the Nazareno in the 22 hour long procession last Monday – they are the ones like us who spend their daily lives without evident greatness. The Lord spent much of his life being like most of us – without splendor, without evident greatness. It is in the mystery of his childhood that his life resembles very much like ours. And seeing him as so much like ourselves, we find it so much easier to draw close to Him. Perhaps, the similarity of the hidden life of Christ to our very ordinary selves is the reason why Reina Juana of Cebu chose the image of the Sto. Niño from the 3 images presented to her at her baptism. Perhaps, this same similarity becomes the reason for the Sto. Niño’s popularity. What Filipino home is without a Sto. Niño? We are comfortable in seeing the Almighty God as being so much like us. Here He is reachable. Here He is approachable. Here He is accessible. Looking at the Sto. Niño, we realize that the Christian life, as an imitation of Christ, is not impossibly difficult. This is so because God bent himself so low – He became like us, without evident greatness.

And he wants us to draw close to him in the ordinariness of our humanity. That is why he says, “Let the little children come to me. Do not prevent them.” Not only does he want the children to come to him. He wants us to approach Him like little children – without the evident greatness of adult achievement. Last Sunday, we said that one of the reasons why the Magi were believed to be kings is that they were received by Herod – something that can easily be done if they were kings. Today, Jesus receives children. He wants us to approach as children – without the trappings and complications demanded of adults. We can approach him even without proofs of achievements. And to make it easier, the Lord becomes a little child – a Child among children as Herod was king among the Magi who were kings.

“To such belongs the Kingdom of God” – when we look at the Sto. Niño, we see him dressed as King and rightly so. After all, He is the owner of the Kingdom of God. “God will give him the throne of David his father, and his kingdom will be without end.” But in the image of the Sto. Niño, we see this King in the utter ordinariness of a Child. This King is a Child. As a child, He is so much like us. As King, He is so much above us. As a child, He makes it easy for us to approach Him. As King, He gives us the reason why we must approach Him – He has the power to give us what nobody else can: access to the Kingdom of God.

Divinity and Humanity

He who was God has been made man, by taking to Himself what He was not, but without losing what He was. It is in this way that God has become man. You have there something for your weakness, and you have there something for your perfection. May Christ raise you up, through His being man. May He lead you, through His being the God-man. May He take you all the way to what God is.

St. Augustine, Tract. in Johann., XXIII, 6.