In the Father's House (Santo Niño C)

This year's celebration of the Feast of Santo Niño brings hope to our communities as we journey
together through this holy year of the jubilee. As "Pilgrims of Hope," we are invited to carry on with both the spirit of joy and the courage to face the challenges of our time-- including the lingering effects of natural disasters due to climate change, the on-going battle against poverty , political uncertainty, and the impact of health crises. These struggles certainly weigh heavily on our hearts. But we should not be disheartened. In the face of these adversities, we are called to embody the childlike faith that Santo Niño represents, urging us to reflect on our journey as "pilgrims of hope" in the light of the gospel reading (Lk 2:41-52). We are invited to seek the Lord, to be in the Father's house, and to grow in faith. 

Seeking the Lord. In the Gospel, Mary and Joseph travel to Jerusalem for the Passover festival and realize that Jesus is missing. They searched diligently for three days before finding Him in the temple, engaging in deep discussions. This narrative emphasizes the importance of seeking the Lord, especially in times of uncertainty. If we do not have the Lord in our midst, it can be disconcerting. If the Lord is missing in our daily lives, in our family and community life, we can all end up fragmented. If the Lord is not in the consciousness of our political leaders, governance is all about their vested interest and nothing more. If the Lord is not seen in the sanctity of creation, we continue to abuse it. 

As pilgrims of hope, we must ask ourselves: How diligently do we seek the Lord? Our devotion to Santo Niño inspires us to pursue a deeper relationship with God, just as Mary and Joseph sought their Son. As we face all the challenges of our time, we are reminded that our true refuge lies in the Lord. Jesus is our anchor of hope amidst the storms and rough waves we are facing. Allow the devotion to the Santo Niño to encourage each one of us to turn to prayer, to seek God's guidance, and dwell in His presence amid our struggles.

Being in the Father's House. When Mary and Joseph find Jesus, He is in the temple, astonishing everyone with His wisdom. Jesus asks them, "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:49). This statement reveals that even as a child, Jesus understood His mission and purpose. To be in the Father's house means to be concerned about the Father's business.

As pilgrims, we journey towards the Father's house. This means that we are called to align our lives with God's business, His divine plan. For us now, being in the Father's house means living in accordance with our God-given purpose and mission, filled with hope. Our devotion to the Santo Niño invites us to discern God's will in our lives, to act in obedience, and to engage actively in the work of the Kingdom.

What is my mission in life? What does the Father send me for? This is an essential question for a meaningful life. May our journey here on earth lead to the house of the Father. And may we always  strive to be faithful stewards of our calling, embodying the obedience and commitment that the Santo Niño represents. 

Growing in Faith, Hope, and Love. The Gospel concludes with, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52). The child Jesus grew. This growth reminds us that our journey as pilgrims of hope is also one of continual growth in faith.  It invites us to consider our own faith journeys—growing not only in our personal needs but also expanding beyond ourselves to embrace a broader view of our calling as Christians.

Like the child Jesus, we are called to mature in our faith. In the early stages, our faith often centers on personal concerns—our needs, our struggles, and our desires. However, as we continue to grow, we are encouraged to shift our focus from self to service. This transformation leads us to a missionary faith that reaches out into the world, responding to the social challenges that beset our communities.

As we grow in faith, we may transform our personal struggles into motivations for service, extending our hands and hearts to those who face hardships. Our devotion to Santo Niño calls us to be active witnesses of hope, bridging the gap between our faith and the pressing social issues of our time. In doing so, we become true instruments of God's love in our communities, carrying forward the message of Santo Niño as servants of compassion and agents of change.

With so much hope in our hearts, we celebrate the Feast of Santo Niño today. Let us renew our commitment in our journey to seek the Lord, our anchor of hope, to be in the Father's house doing what He has commanded us to do, and to grow in faith, hope, and love as we all face the struggles of our communities. May our devotion to the Holy Child inspire us to be pilgrims of hope, transforming our struggles into stories of resilience and triumph.

Freedom and New Life (Lord’s Baptism C)

Christian Duguay's Golden Globe-nominated film, Human Trafficking, depicts the horrible world of sex slavery where abducted girls are reduced into sex commodities to be sold and resold over and over to insatiable patrons of this sex industry. The film unfolds the story of four girls who have been kidnapped from across the world and consigned into the hellish prison of international sex trade without hope of escape. Only a specialized team of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are determined to bring down the global network that sponsors such heinous crimes.

One of the four victims is Nadia, a 16-year old girl from Kiev.  She winds up in the brothel after signing up, without her father’s knowledge, for what she believed to be an opportunity for modelling.  Desperate to find her, Nadia’s father sets out to save her and risks his own life by joining the syndicate that runs the dangerous world of sex trade. He has no hope of saving her unless he enters the evil world of sex industry where she is held as a slave. In the end, the risk he has taken pays off. Nadia is reunited with his father.

What has this to do with the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism?  Allow me to spell out two things.  But already at the outset, we can maintain that the film’s motif of slavery and liberation lends itself to a deeper appreciation of our Lord’s baptism which has to be understood within the similar biblical motif of slavery of sin and the promise of salvation.

First point, the Saviour’s solidarity with the sinners. Was there a need for Jesus to be baptized by John? John’s baptism was a summons to repentance and conversion.  It was directed then to the sinners.  Jesus was everything like us except sin. Hence, as far as Jesus’ personal spiritual life was concerned, He did not need John’s baptism.

But why did He submit to John as recalled now by our gospel reading (Lk 3:15-16, 21-22)? Some biblical scholars suggest that Jesus’ submission to baptism is his act of fully identifying himself with the sinful people whom He is called to save.  His public calling as a saviour demands that He be in solidarity with those whom John has called to conversion.  Very similar to the decision of Nadia’s father to bravely enter the world of sex trade to save her, for only this, risky as it may be, gives a glimmer of hope for Nadia’s liberation.

The baptism of our Lord then marks Jesus’ resolve to embrace us even more in our sinful condition in order to save us. He enters our world of slavery that He may liberate us. No wonder that He finds time to laugh and dine with the sinners.  This commitment to be in solidarity with the sinful people culminates in his passion and death on the cross. He pays the price of our sins; and in his resurrection, wins for us our freedom, our new life, and our salvation.

This gives profound meaning to our own baptism.  When we are “immersed” into the water of baptism, we experience ritually our burial into Christ’s death, from which we rise up by resurrection with him, as new creatures (CCC 1214). Our baptism incorporates us into the death and resurrection of our Lord, hence, bringing about new life in Christ.

Nadia cannot help but weep for joy as she realizes her freedom, safety, and new life with her loving father who has risked everything for her.  On this feast of the Lord’s baptism, let us relish the freedom and new life that Jesus has won for us over the slavery of sin and death.

Second point, the Saviour’s true identity.  It’s too risky to plunge into the world of sin. One can easily lose oneself.  But Nadia’s father survives in the sneaky world of sex industry because He knows who he is.  During a raid in one of the brothels, he is cornered by a police officer to whom he appeals, “I am Nadia’s father. I must go and find her.” And he runs away to continue his search. 

Jesus needs to know his true identity as He decides, in his baptism, to be fully identified with the sinful people.  The gospel of Luke reports that after Jesus’ baptism and in his prayer, the Father’s assurance comes as a voice from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with whom I am well pleased” (Lk 3:22). This certainly gives Jesus a shot in the arm in fulfilling his mission. With clarity, He brings with him his true identity as he embarks into the sinful world of the people He is called to save. He is to walk not in the ways of sin but always in the ways that please God, His Father.

In our baptism, we become adopted sons and daughters of God in Christ. And this identity is indelible.  In this sinful world where we move and live, we need to be always reminded about who we really are, lest we easily lose ourselves.  We are the children of God.  Amid the growing Godlessness of our societies and cultures, do we have the conviction to stand as God’s children whose only resolve is to do what pleases the Father?

The world as it is now is beset with terrifying structures of sin.  One of these is the impenetrable structures of human trafficking and sex industry as an example. Lest we succumb to despair, let us allow the Feast of the Lord’s baptism to bring us hope—one that springs from our conviction that we have a God who journeys with us through the road of salvation  and that He calls us his children, hence, empowering us to create structures of grace where freedom and new life is celebrated.

Gifts of the Magi (Epiphany C)

Christmas gift-giving in the early centuries was originally done on the Feast of Epiphany understandably on account of the Magi’s presentation of gifts to the infant Jesus as we hear in the Gospel reading today.  With our present practice though, all the exchanging of gifts have been done by now and what’s left probably are the piles and litters of gift wrappers and boxes in our rooms (or in my room particularly).

But we can still take this Feast of Epiphany as an opportunity to make sense of our experience of gift-giving on Christmas.  Is there still sense to it?

The Lettermen’s “What Can I Give You this Christmas?” is one of my favourite Christmas songs. Some lines stand out for me as meaningful:

What can I give you this Christmas?
Not a thing that I’ve seen will do
So I’ll give you my heart and my own true love
That will last the whole year through.

I resonate not so much with the Lettermen’s genre as with the song’s expression of the existential ache common to us all to give no less our heart when we love.  Love compels us to give. One cannot love without giving. Giving is an act of love. Gifts then are signs of love, symbols of our hearts.  Oftentimes, however, we find the Christmas exchange of gifts a mere routine for merry-making, an activity to fill in the Christmas parties we have organized.  So that after all the parties, the real gift-giving happens in a less conspicuous way when we approach the people we truly care for and hand them what represents our love for them or when we quietly reach out  in charity to those who are less fortunate.

In today’s gospel (Mt. 2:1-12), the wise men from the east inspire our practice of gift-giving.  After travelling far and wide in search of the Lord, the Magi, led by a brightly shining star, found the infant Jesus with Mary his mother. “They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then, they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (v. 11).

Again, gifts are symbols of love.  In this particular event, the gifts of the Magi highlighted the great irony in the history of salvation:  The pagan people, represented by the wise men from the east, had come to express their love to Jesus and to receive the Messiah while the chosen people of Israel who had been waiting for their promised saviour would eventually hate and reject him.

Gold is a gift befitting a king for gold stands as the king of metals. With this gift the Magi expressed their love and acceptance of Jesus as King. This was in stark contrast to the evil intent of Herod, Israel’s King, against the child whom he saw as threat to his kingship. The frankincense, moreover, is high quality incense, the aroma and smoke of which goes up heavenward and exudes divinity.  With this gift, the magi expressed their love and worship of Jesus as God.  The God of Israel became then the God of all nations.  The third gift, myrrh, is used as a perfume in the preparation of the dead for burial. This gift foreshadowed the passion and death of our Lord as human being. With this gift, the magi expressed their love and acceptance of the humanity of Jesus and his obedience unto death.

On this Feast of Epiphany then, we may do well to pose some reflective questions pertaining to our experience of gift-giving this Christmas:

What gift did I receive that I am most grateful for? Right now my place is still in shambles as I come back from Christmas break.  As I start to get rid of the litters of gift wrappers, ribbons, boxes and what not, I realize it is not for a particular gift which has come with the wrappings that I am most thankful.  It is the gift of friendship, of love and of family that has made the Christmas season not just merry but truly happy for me. For others, there may be some outstanding gifts that they can easily be grateful for.  In whatever case, this Feast of Epiphany invites us to relish our sense of gratitude and just be thankful.

What gift have I given that bears the sign of my heart? How have I given this Christmas? Have I given with love? Have I reached out to those who are in need? Our honest answer to this will allow us either to appreciate our own capacity to share and to be selfless or to be aware of our tendency to be close to ourselves and to our own needs.  Let Epiphany be a manifestation for us of our own capacity to give love or our need to grow more in it.

What gift have I given to Jesus who is the be-all-and-end-all of this season? Despite the widespread annual celebration of Christmas, our societies have given way to secularism. God and His precepts have been increasingly brushed aside from public affairs. There is even talk of renaming the Christmas tree into holiday tree to avoid the religious connotation of Christmas! While the present day Herods reject God, can we continue to stand by Jesus as our King, worship Him as our God, love Him and suffer with Him as one among us?

We may have crooned and belted out Christmas songs this season including my favorite, promising to give even our hearts as gift, but the real challenge is that on this Feast of the Epiphany we are called to offer to the Lord once more the gifts of the Magi.