Santo Niño of the Filipinos
Cebuanos and the rest of the country buckle down to work today following yesterday’s culmination of the Feast of the Holy Child Jesus, the last of the great festivals of January.
In Cebu City, the weekend of festivity began with a colorful sea parade, land procession and a long prayer dance at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño led by Bishop John Du, bishop of the Diocese of Dumaguete.
Bishop Du said it was the 14th time he led the Mass in the church’s pilgrim center at the end of the solemn foot procession, on the eve of the Fiesta Señor.
In his homily, he focused on the need for faith-based renewal of the Filipino nation, starting with the family.
Indeed, the trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona at the Senate-turned-impeachment court takes center stage today (and the Sto. Niño devotees prayed for its peaceful resolution last Saturday, chanting “Pit Señor sa Presidente kini, sa mga huwes kini, sa Senado kini, sa Kongreso kini” as they danced last Saturday).
But Du points us to the more essential task of caring for the institution that no less than the Constitution recognizes as “the foundation of the nation.”
The bishop scored members of the family who are guilty of false religiosity: “How many husbands wave the Sto. Niño in the air here and dangle knives at their wives at home?
“How many wives pray every Friday in this place but do not go to Mass on Sundays because they spend that day gossiping with their neighbors?” he asked. “How many students pray to the Sto. Niño when exams are around the corner but do not bother to study hard? The Sto. Niño is not a magician”
Young people that they cannot afford to be lazy, forever depending on their parents or others, the prelate said. The youth need to be rsponsible if they want a bright future,
Bishop Du did not fail to put in a word about caring for creation as part of the responsibilities of the family of faith.
He noted that Dumaguete City, which is under his jurisdiction, also bore the brunt of Typhoon Sendong. The city was flooded because drainage was clogged by trash indisciminately thrown away.
We support Bishop Du’s call for integrity among Filipino Christians who comprise the majority of our population. We see the wisdom of his exhortation.
Justice in the corridors of state power, effective stewardship of the ecology and a strong national foundation can only be achieved if we live the values of charity, industry and reponsibility family by family.
