The Santo Niño enthronement

Ordinarily Kings are enthroned where there subjects are. As a king the Santo Niño should ordinarily be enthroned in the hearts of the devotees who are His subjects. The Santo Niño is real King because he is the image of the invisible God, but he is a different King for he died for us on the cross, and so he will be King of our lives, if there is a resemblance in us to what he is and what he did.

Kings and kingships belong to the past, and if they still exist, you can find them in history books. Thank God, we live in democratic times. Why, then, we still keep on celebrating the kingship of Santo Niño? Does it mean that we are longing to get back to monarchy? Not in the least.

We call Santo Niño “King” in a different sense and hence he may not like titles such as “Jesus Christ Superstar”! This is only an ornamental figurehead of the Christian people. If he were not only a real King, when he commanded the devils, they would not have obeyed him; when he commanded the dead Lazarus, he would not have come back to life; when he commanded the wind and the sea, they would not have calmed down.

Christ is real King but a different one. That is the strangeness of his kingships, instead of celebrating some glorious enthronement; we enthroned him on the cross. The Santo Niño is real King, first, because of who he is. He is not just “the king of the Jews”, but he has in him all that is best in creation. Gold is called the king of metals, since it is popularly thought to be the most precious of all metals; lion is called the king of the forest, for he is thought to be the noblest of animals.

Similarly, Jesus is the King of the human race, since he is the best and noblest human being who ever lived, “ the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation, in whom everything in heaven and on earth were created through him and for him. “How right Arnold Toynbee was to finish his monumental work on the history of the world with these words: “when he began this work, we found ourselves looking at a great parade of marchers.

But as it passed, the marchers all fell, one by one, by the wayside. And now, only one marcher remains, growing larger and larger with each step.” And that one marcher is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is a real but a different King, also because of what he did. Some years ago, sea-divers located a 60 years old Japanese sunken ship off the Manila Bay.

Among the treasure they found was a man’s wedding ring, on which was engraved a hand holding a heart with the inscription: “I have nothing more to give you.” Of all the treasures found in the sunken ship, none moved the divers more than that ring and its beautiful inscription.

The engraving on that ring and its inscription could have been placed on the cross of Christ, for he gave us everything he had when he died on it, by which,”we have redemption and forgiveness of sins.” Jesus as King is not out to dominate, but to love; not out to rule, but to serve; not out to order, but to seek out the lost ones such as the repentant thief on the cross, assuring him today you will be with me in paradise.

Hence, like the tribes-people who gathered at Hebron of old to  acclaim David as their king, so we too can now ask Santo Niño to be the Lord and King of our lives, lives of the families & members of the Cofradia del Santo Niño.

Santo Niño will be King of our lives if he finds in us and in our actions some resemblance to what he is and what he does. My dear sisters & brothers, do we love others as he loves us? God has poured his love into us from the cross of Christ, and why should we freeze it? Our heart may be like a cup which can’t hold much, but it can overflow a lot. Do we serve others as he serves us? Love rolls up its sleeves to give, for you can’t love without giving.

Those who are willing to sit God’s table have also to be willing to work in his field. It is unthinkable that the followers of such a King, who was a king, who as so passionate in the service of others, should spend all their lives in the service of their own passions! Do we forgive others as our king forgiveness? Forgiveness warms the heart and cools the sting as well. If we are strong in love, we can forgive. Only the weak cannot forgive, because forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. The Image of Señor Santo Niño is a practical reminder to all members of every family and to all of us that each and every devotee freely & conscientiously follow the virtues shown & exemplified by the giver.

And the Santo Niño will be happy if his Image is enthroned in our hearts & in our family houses not as a King who dictates, but as a King who inspires; not as a King who creates hatred, but as King who inspires love.