parishworks! 1 Vol. 5 No. 42 January, 16 2010 STO. NINO – THE FILIPINO GOD-CHILD by Msgr. Emmanuel V. Sunga My Beloved Parishioners : The celebration of Christmas is Jesus incarnation in each of us. As He became flesh in the womb of the Blessed mother, so is He in each of us as St. John’s gospel puts it “And the word was made flesh and MADE HIS DWELLING AMONG US” (John 1:14) That celebration ended up liturgically last Sunday. It is now followed up by the feast of Sto. Nino. SUNDAY GOSPEL LK 2:41-52 turn to page 3 Bel-Air II celebrates its Fiesta on January 23 Following are the activities lined up to honor its patron, St. John the Beloved: TRIDUUM PRAYERS: Time: 5:45 P.M. 20 January - 16 Saturn Street 21 January – 17 Constellation Street 22 January – 9 Comet Street FIESTA PROPER – JANUARY 23 Mass 4:00 P.M. Bel- Air II Park Procession 5:00 P.M. Along Hercules, Orbit & Juno Sts. Salu- Salo 5:30 P.M. Program follows after LC Sub Ministry has a new Coordinator Christy Vasquez a member of the Lector and Commentator sub ministry since 2005, is now the new Coordinator . Her term starts, January 16, 2010.
Transcript
parishworks! 1Vol. 5 No. 42 January, 16 2010
STO. NINO – THE FILIPINO GOD-CHILDby Msgr. Emmanuel V. Sunga
My Beloved Parishioners :
The celebration of Christmas is Jesus incarnation in each of us. As He became flesh in the womb of the Blessed mother, so is He in each of us as St. John’s gospel puts it “And the word was made flesh and MADE HIS DWELLING AMONG US” (John 1:14) That celebration ended up liturgically last Sunday. It is now followed up by the feast of Sto. Nino.
SuNDay GOSPEL
Lk 2:41-52
turn to page 3
Bel-air II celebrates its Fiesta on January 23
Following are the activities lined up to honor its patron, St. John the Beloved:
TRIDUUM PRAYERS: Time: 5:45 P.M.20 January - 16 Saturn Street21 January – 17 Constellation Street
22 January – 9 Comet Street
FIESTA PROPER – JANUARY 23Mass 4:00 P.M. Bel- Air II ParkProcession 5:00 P.M. Along Hercules, Orbit & Juno Sts.
Salu- Salo 5:30 P.M. Program follows after
LC Sub Ministry has a new Coordinator
Christy Vasquez a member of the Lector and Commentator sub ministry since 2005, is now the new Coordinator . Her term starts, January 16, 2010.
2
For 2010 from page 1...
BEING aLONE VS. BEING LONELyby: Eilish Uy Ongchoco
Chances are that in some point in your life, you sometimes wish to be alone. Even though we like to be with people, there are times that we feel the need to take sometimes for ourselves.
When walking on the shore, sitting on top of the hill, reading a book, going on a retreat, looking at the sky, admiring the view of the City or watching a bird chirping at the veranda can be quite nourishing. Being alone can be a busy time. Activities such as writing, cooking, planting, planning, painting, reflecting designing or cleaning the room are mostly accomplished while being alone.
Loneliness has opposite characteristic – a person can be a member of a community or she can have a large family and get still feel lonely. Have you ever felt the need to talk to someone after attending a big party or felt the need to call someone while in the middle of doing your household chores? Have you tried going from store to another without knowing what you really wanted?
We are increasingly mobile. People are relocating or finding jobs elsewhere in the process of losing closeness to families, good neighbors and caring friends.
We used to know people around us, now we don’t know who the person in the next house is. No wonder loneliness is of big proportion in our generation. Some think that through e-mail and chat-rooms, we can dispel loneliness but this is not so. Until the day we are willing to communicate to a genuine friend, we will feel lonely. Even if we choose to be alone, we don’t feel lonely because we are in true relationship with GOD, with ourselves and with others.
We are never alone. GOD is always around.
parishworks! 3
How to relate this feast with Christmas? If Christmas is God’s incarnation in each of us then the feast of Sto. Nino is God’s incarnation in the Filipino people as a nation. It is not just coincidental that the Sto. Nino was given at the start of the Christianization of our country. It took place when the wife of the Rajah Humabon was baptized by Fr. Pedro de Valderrama on April 14, 1521. The story of her baptism was related by Pigafetta in the following words;
After dinner the priest and some of the others went ashore to baptize the queen, who came with fifty women. We conducted her to the platform, and she was made to sit down upon a cushion, and the other women near her, until the priest should be ready. She was shown an image of our Lady, a very beautiful wooden child Jesus, and a cross. Thereupon, she was overcome with contrition, and asked for baptism amid her tears. We named her Johanna, after the emperor’s mother; her daughter, the wife of the prince, Catherina; the queen of Mazua, Lizabeta; and others, each their distinctive names.
After the Cebuan queen’s baptism, Magellan gave her an image of the Child Jesus as a gift. This image is preserved to the present day as the patron saint of Cebu.
Afterward we know what happened to Magellan, how he was killed by Lapu-Lapu on April 27, 1521. Much later, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi came to Cebu with his Spanish assault force hitting the shore and grappling furiously with the Cebuan dependers. He conquered and burned the whole place and on the following day, April 28, 1565 one of his men, named Juan de Canuz, discovered the image of the Sto. Nino in an unburned Cebuan house. This was the same image given by Magellan in 1521 to the Christian queen of Cebu. From there Christianity spread throughout the archipelago
getting deeper into our history and culture. There were also many attempts from foreigners and colonizers to destroy the solidity of this Christian faith such as the Dutch attempt to get hold of the Philippines on 1646 known as the La Naval de Manila. But they all failed. This unique union of the Christian faith and the Filipino culture is now manifested into so many versions of the Sto. Nino f.e. you have the Sto. Nino as a fisherman, fireman, farmer, Chinese, vendor. Igorot, policemen,
maginoo, palaboy etc. This is truly a phenomenon only found in the Philippines wherein God’s union in His people becomes so outwardly manifested and expressed.
How can we connect this in the gospel of today? The boy Jesus, when confronted by Mary why He disobeyed her and St. Joseph, said that “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house? (Lk. 3: 49) He is right. Being the Son of God, He is to be in constant union with His Father. But after that He went down with Mary
and Joseph to Nazareth and was obedient to them. This was his immersion to that particular place and people, becoming one with them wholistically. “And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favour before God and man” (Lk. 3: 52) This is true for the Jews and this is true for us and all other nations. God is truly growing in each and all of us in our particular milieu.
Don’t you think this is the meaning of what the priest says in the Mass “The Lord be with you”,
Don’t you think this is the meaning of the word “Emmanuel”?
Don’t you think this is the meaning of God’s indwelling in each of us? Reflect upon this. This should give us more courage to embrace our Christian faith as we face different challenges in the future of our catholic faith.
