The Greatest in the Kingdom. Pit Senyor!

Today is the Sinulog Festival; the culmination of a week-long Fiesta of Cebu honoring not only the history, but also the miraculous image of the Señor Sto. Niño. So it is not surprising that there are two Sunday Gospels today, one specifically for the Philippines entitled “The Greatest in the Kingdom” which you can read on Matt.18:1-5,10 while for the rest of the Catholic world, the reading is about John the Baptist’s testimony to Jesus which is found in John 1:29-34. So for this Sunday, we shall use the reading specifically for us in the Philippines.

“1 The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a child over, placed it in their midst, 3 and said, “Amen I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. 10 See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”

This is one of my favorite scriptural passages because it is a direct teaching by our Lord Jesus Christ about humility, which is best described by a child. Talk to a child … and you will see only honesty, sincerity and trust with those older than them. Tell a child something he doesn’t yet know and you will see the glow in the child’s eyes that you imparted some kind of secret knowledge to them. 

The Catholic Church has an army of theologians who have become so learned about our Christian faith or doctrines because they dig deeper and deeper into their own thoughts and theories to expand their knowledge. However many of them eventually go astray or worse go against Christian doctrine or against the Pope because they have become too smart for their britches … because they have totally lost their childlike faith. They conveniently forgot that what knowledge they got is not theirs, but given to them by the Holy Spirit of God.

A few days ago Cebu was blessed with the installation of our new Cebu Archbishop Most Rev. Jose Palma the replacement of our beloved Ricardo Cardinal Vidal. Aside from his appeal for Christian unity, one of the vows Archbishop Palma made was obedience to the Pope, which I found to be very comforting that we have a Shepherd who bows to the successor of St. Peter in Rome.

Indeed as Catholics we are bound by our faith to obey the tenets of our church and most especially listen to what the Pope, our Shepherd who teaches us and consequently cascades his thoughts to our local Shepherd like the Archbishop of Cebu Jose Palma, who in turn brings these teachings down to each and every parish priest and to the faithful flock. If you are a Catholic and find it difficult to obey the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, then you should consider looking at other Christian churches that split with the Catholic Church because they just can’t follow her teachings.

Now back to the spirituality of Cebuanos. I have never doubted in my mind that God had a plan for Cebu when he allowed the Armada de Moluccas (the official name of the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan) to flounder in our archipelago, which at the time Europe did not yet know existed. From Guam, Magellan already stopped in Homonhon Island, yet instead of proceeding either to Samar or Leyte, he continued on to Limasawa Island and moved again bypassing Bohol to sail to Cebu. If you ask me that was no coincidence. God allowed it to happen and plant his cross in Cebu so that we get the honor to be called the First Christians in Asia!

Even more intriguing is that the expedition of Spanish Conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi that followed Magellan’s voyage 44-years later discovered the very same image of the Señor Sto. Niño amongst the burnt ruins of the settlements that the Spaniards raided. Again this is another miracle that Cebuanos witnessed… hence 446 years later, Cebuanos still honor the very same image of the Holy Child Jesus and in the last two decades, the Sinulog Festival has become not only known throughout the country, but foreign tourists come to our shores to see us honor the Sto. Niño.

In honoring the image of the Child Jesus, we should also honor our children and more importantly protect the unborn child living inside the womb of its mother. I used to be annoyed by little children, especially the noisy ones when we are in church… but the teaching of our Lord Jesus especially when he said, See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father” is a reminder to us that God is just around us… as the guardian angels of our little children always look at the face of God the Father. Pit Senyor!

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