FEAST
OF THE STO. NIŃO
(Feast Proper to the
3rd Sunday in January -
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Ephesians 1:3-6,
15-18
Mark 10:13-16
"Let
the children come to me…
the
The feast of the Holy Child is proper to the church
in the
1. The feast of the Senior Santo Nino encourages us
to focus and meditate on a particular stage in the life of our Lord: his
childhood. Unfortunately, our gospels are not so abundant in their accounts
about the childhood affairs of Jesus. But this is understandable since during Jesus'
time, children had practically no place in the
life of the Jews. The biblical literary language of portraying the patriarchs with
so advanced in years (cf Gen 5:1-32) is one way of telling us that they had won
heaven's favor because they had already more than enough experience in life and
they knew so much about the law. Children had nothing of this kind, and thus
they had nothing to contribute to Jewish life. So, they had to stay at the
back. That is why we must not be surprised about the disciples forbidding the
people to bring their children to Jesus. They might just bother the Master!
But it seems that it is against this particular
background that Jesus would now try to correct this seeming error brought about
by culture and tradition. In today's gospel, Mark seems to be emphatic: “When Jesus noticed it, he was very angry…”
By such initial reaction, the Lord shows how children are
precious to him. And not only that. Probably beyond the disciples' expectation,
Jesus makes himself clear: “Let the children come to me and don’t stop them,
for the
2. The wisdom of the gospel pushes us back and challenges us to be more fundamental. The answer to this puzzling question is right in our midst, if only we are mindful to the lessons of life.
a. A child is a model of a person's purity of mind. When one has no knowledge of a particular thing, he is either ignorant or innocent. But ignorance and innocence are very much different. While ignorance is a vice, innocence is a virtue. That is why even in the legal context, the law always favors the innocent but never excuses the ignorant.
The child is not ignorant; he is innocent. The child's innocence makes him a natural philosopher. He has plenty of questions to ask, most of which are the “why” questions. And though plenty and endless, these questions are motivated not by any malice but by the purity of his intentions to know. The child’s innocence is, therefore, the most evident proof of the purity of his mind. The child is truly a lover of truth. He wants to know the truth because he too wants to tell the truth. What comes out of his mouth reveals the truth he has in his mind. That is why his testimonies in court can usually and largely, influence the jury's most righteous verdict. And there is one overwhelming reason for it. The child is not ignorant; he is innocent.
b. A child is a model of a person's purity of heart. The child's purity of heart is best shown in his .untainted dealings and relationship with others. The child expresses what is truly in his heart. When he enjoys and is happy, he laughs and cheers up, and invites his peers to cheer with him. When he is offended and hurt, he cries and tells the world by his tears how sad he is. When he is angry, he bursts out in child-like fury. And when he gets into quarrel, he fights to his might until his foe surrenders or he himself gives up and cries. But this is all what the child does. He does not go any further. The child does not keep any grudge nor harbor ill-feelings in his tender heart. Let a little time pass by. When his anger subsides, he and his foe make again the best of friends.
c. A child is a model of a person's purity of will. The child’s purity of will comes as a necessary consequence of his purity of mind and heart. Convinced that what he learns is true, he proceeds with his child-like projects. But honestly mindful too of his limitations, the determination of his will is perfectly rated by the great amount of humility he shows. Observe the child. All he knows about and all knowledge he gets is from his father (or mother or someone in authority). This is the greatest truth in the child's world. Convinced about it, he knows only of one greatest person on earth: his father. He is so proud of his father and no one could stop him convincing the world how great his father is. But it is precisely in this conviction that the little child sees his own limitations. He knows too that without his father everything collapses. That is why he puts his total dependence on his father.
This seems to be the kind of dependence God wants his people to have. It is not a parasite-type of dependence which passively waits for heaven's graces to fall. Rather, it is a child-like dependence which is motivated by the purity of will to strive for individual projects, yet at the same time acknowledges that everything is futile without heaven’s blessings. This dependence is nothing else but the child’s total trust and confidence to his father.
3. Indeed, this is what life has to say. But sadly,
life also teaches us about the irony in human growth and development. The child
is born with purity of mind. But while the child always strives to say what true,
the grown-ups are there to feed him with lies. The child is pure in heart. But
ironically, it is again the grown-ups who do replace sincerity with hypocrisy.
Before men and the world, they put big smiles on their faces. But deep in their
hearts, they harbor ill-feelings that would cry out for vengeance. The child is
gifted with purity of will. But ironically, when the child grows up, he begins
to know the art of self-reliance and the beauty of freedom. Little by little he
asks and demands for it. And before he knows it, he already lives totally
independent from his father. - - Alas, the grown-up child now loses his
child-like virtue. That is why Christ admonishes: "Unless you turn and
become little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18:3).