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Monday, January 16, 2012

Viva Senior Santo Niño!

That's what the dancer's shouted in the mass we attended last Sunday in a presentation for the Feast for the child Jesus.  The Philippines, as mostly composed of Roman Catholics, annually celebrates the feast every third Sunday of the month, with this year falling on the 15th of January.  Like the feast of the Black Nazarene, it is also a very colorful event attended by a lot of faithful devotees and characterized by dances, singing and parades, most especially to places where it is known to be celebrated like Cebu City and barangays or parish churches named after the Sto. Niño (which is very common nationwide).

The Gospel Reading was related to the celebration with emphasis on children, it was taken from Mark 10:13-16 "The Little Children and Jesus" :
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. 

The story is very familiar to me, since my children has that Bible story in their book which we often read to them before they go to sleep.  In the priest's homily, he emphasized that faith to the Lord must be that of a child.  Innocent children don't have any biases, they don't choose whom to play with, they don't look at their playmates' status in life... they just play together.  He said, it is from the adults influence that they learned to be cruel, oppressive, doubtful, greedy, rebellious, and a lot more unpleasant behavior.  And I guess, he's right, these behaviors are not innate to a child, he must have learned it from someone.  That's why Jesus reminds us that God's kingdom are for those whose faith is like of a child, always open, willing to accept and unbiased.  

As human beings, it is normal for us to seek knowledge and ask questions, but why must we include questioning God for our faith... to what extent do we question Him for this?  Is it not enough that He gave His only Son as a sign of His eternal love for us, more of His existence?  Still we seek physical truth of Him, isn't that the exact opposite of faith?  The more we seek for answers, the more we find meaningless in life.  Frustration then takes place and leads to rebellion... and rebellion makes us do the opposite of what He wants us to do.  And before we know it, we are no longer with Him... 

In faith, we must all be like a child that believes without any apprehensions... without any doubts.  For believing in something we don't see and beyond the physical aspect is the very definition of faith, and only an uncorrupted and pure mind can accept that without any reservations.  Yahweh bless.

37 comments:

  1. Oww, you're Catholic? I thought you were not, because of the "Yahweh bless" greeting. Sorry for that. :|

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    1. yes i am michy... it's okay, i spent my elementary in a catholic school where we usually use His name "Yahweh" in a worship song. i use His name so people would know my God. Yahweh bless.

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  2. Guilty! ;-( I'm one of those always questioning.. Thanks for this.. It is so enlightening. ;-)

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  3. Viva Pit Senior Sto. Niño!!! i was in Kalibo, Aklan few days ago to celebrate the Ati Atihan and of course the most important to celebrate the Fiesta of Sr. Sto. Niño... dancing on the street with all the people from all walks of life...

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  4. This is very true but it's not really bad to seek for truth. With all these false prophets emerging from here to there, we have to be vigilant as Christians. We must ASK QUESTIONS! but not to the extent of questioning God Himself or His existence. We are told to seek. And we should seek righteousness above all.

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  5. VIva Sto nino! Viva! God bless us all!

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  6. This is such an enlightening post! Thanks for sharing. God Bless.

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  7. I usually have a lot of questions but fortunately, I've never really questioned God's existence. Thanks for sharing this btw. God bless.

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  8. That's the Sinulog right? Ang daming tao nyan. Pero mas want ko puntahan yan kesa sa Feast of Black Nazarene kasi super daming tao nun. Sana taga Cebu ako hehe

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  9. nice post! gosh I miss the Sinulog this year...

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  10. Very enlightening post! :) God bless! :)

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  11. It's nice to read blog stories like this. Reminds us of our spiritual obligation as Christians.

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  12. wow! daming tao! hehe
    Pit senor!
    I haven't visit cebu, hope I can come there some time. I want to experience that festivity too.

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  13. "For believing in something we don't see and beyond the physical aspect is the very definition of faith, and only an uncorrupted and pure mind can accept that without any reservations. " - love this line! Thanks for sharing!:)

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  14. great way to be grateful is by joining the celebration. This is the same celebration of our City's patron, Sr. Santo Nino which is why we also have Pasalamat Festival. In all my life, I have never first time celebrated fiesta in Cebu! hehe.

    Salamat at nagpost ka neto bro. It reminds me of that wish long time ago

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  15. It just showed how devoted Filipinos are. Ang dame lang tao. Galing lang ng Pinoy magkaisa.

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  16. Viva Senior Santo Niño! Patron saint ng mother ko. Seeing this picture makes me feel happy because nakikita mo na maraming tao nagsasampalataya at patuloy na naniniwala :)

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  17. Why this is so... the child is easy to be taught, easy to be driven. He/she is humble and innocent. He/she has a tendency to be caring, thoughtful and meek. Thus, the child is likened by Jesus Christ as the Kingdom of heaven. Another spiritual thoughts from Gil Camporazo of RandomThoughts!

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  18. I believe "faith" is not measured on how we join processions or religious gatherings like these. It must always reflect in your life with or without this feast. So after this feast, what comes next? That question should open up our eyes that it is how we live "pleasingly" before the Lord than showing to the public how we sacrificed ourselves joning events like this. This is a part of our culture but God really look our life after this feast, so how our life has changed for the better after this feast? That should be the essence of this feast that after joining, there must be a massive change in our Christian Life for the better. What is sad is that some people join here because it is a "tradition" but God is watching you on how you maintain your life after this, and that should be the essence of this. A permanent change of our life for better. ------ from EDMARATION

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  19. It's healthy to question everything, even God. But of course we should know that God's existence can never be proven scientifically. That's why it's called faith.

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  20. January month for us is crazy..
    with all the festivals and fiesta all over the country
    coming from western visayas, Ive seen Ati-atihan and Dinagyang too often that I tend to shy away from it..
    Really, how we celebrate can be bizaare

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  21. I respect every one, whether he/ she believes God or not. But I jsut hope they respect others too. I wanna go to Cebu to witness Sinulog Festival and also to see how devoted Filipinos are especially durimg the celbration of the festival.

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  22. viva pit Señor! Filipinos are devotees of different patrons but hopefully it can translate to good Christians...believing and following are two different things...

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  23. Pit Senior! Imagine, our God became a little child just like us? That is really awesome and mind boggling, isnt it?

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  24. I am not a catholic and i don't believe in Catholics tradition and idolatry .I pray straight to the Lord,no memorization and repitition of prayers.I read the bible.I do what i think is pleasing to the eyes of the Lord.

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  25. I'm also not a Catholic, so I'm not into these kinds of traditions. I'm praying that these people would realize that there's only one true and living God.

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  26. Inspiring :) Sayang di ako nakapunta ng Cebu to celebrate the feast :)

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  27. The image of Sto. Nino reminds as to be childlike. Jesus has a special inkling to children. And God always grant children's prayer. Because they are God's little angels. Viva Senior Santo Niño!

    http://travel-on-a-shoe-string.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-say-happy-new-year-in-chinese.html

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  28. tomorrow we will be parading for this, its also the feast of Sto. Nino here

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  29. unique sa ating faith ang affinity natin kay sto. nino. very Filipino

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  30. In faith, we must all be like a child that believes without any apprehensions... without any doubts. For believing in something we don't see and beyond the physical aspect is the very definition of faith, and only an uncorrupted and pure mind can accept that without any reservations. Yahweh bless. - This is what i like the most.

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  31. pwerte ka layo san cebu hehehe di kaya ng budget, thanks for sharing this inspiring celebration

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  32. I'm Catholic but after learning the Bible I suddenly found myself questioning many of my religion's traditions and practices, this one included.

    Anyway, I guess it's okay specially if it gives people hope.

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  33. This is my favorite verse, Prov. 3: 5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.

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