As the nation reflected on the Feast of the Holy Child Jesus or popularly known as Santo Niño, Manila Archbishop Jose F. Cardinal Advincula encouraged every Filipino Catholics to take part in our faith’s journey as a “synodal Church”.
In his homily for the Novena Mass at the Diocesan Shrine of Santo Niño in Quezon City on Thursday, January 13, Cardinal Advincula elaborated three factors of the synod which serve as faithful’s guidance towards God’s love.
“Ang una ay communion – pagkakaisa, pagkakapit-bisig, pagsasama sa buklod ng pagmamahal. Sa ating parokya, wala sanang nakakaramdam na mag-isa lang siya sa buhay o mag-isa lang siyang humaharap sa kanyang mga problema. Ang pangalawa naman ay participation. Hinihikayat natin ang lahat ng mga kasapi ng simbahan na magbahagi ng sarili sa buhay ng simbahan ano man ang taglay nating kakayahan, kayamanan o katangian. At ang ikatlo ay mission; ito ay paghayo, paglalakbay at paglabas mula sa sarili upang maglingkod at mag-alay sa kapwa. Maging mga instrumento nawa tayong lahat upang mapakinggan at maunawaan ang mga karanasan at saloobin ng ating kapwa,” he expounded.
He also said reiterated the words of the Holy Father on how we can learn from the virtues of Jesus Christ’s childhood.
“Matularan nawa natin ang Sto. Niño na bagamat lumago sa edad, karunungan at biyaya nanatili ang pusong bata. Sabi nga ni Pope Francis, “Jesus is ever young because of His lifetime disposition of being a Son.” Buong buhay Niya ikinalugod Niya na Siya ay anak ng Ama. Isabuhay nawa natin ang ating karangalan at misyon bilang mga anak ng Diyos,” the Archbishop of Manila stressed.
As one of the country’s most famous traditions, the veneration to Sto. Niño dates to the 1500s when explorer Ferdinand Magellan brought the image of the Holy Child as a gift to Cebu’s Rajah Humabon.
The devotion expanded to Luzon and arrived in the of Tondo in 1572 almost a year after Miguel Lopez de Legazpi declared Manila as Spanish Empire’s capital city in the East. (Lem Leal Santiago/RCAM-AOC | Diocesan Shrine of Santo Nino Facebook Page)
