For the Universal Church, it will be the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary time, but for the Philippines, it will be the Feast of the Sto. Niño de Cebu (Holy Child of Cebu).

Originally, the feast date was set on April 28. However, starting in the 18th century, Pope Innocent XIII, in order to avoid possible conflicts with the Easter Celebrations, moved the date to the Third Sunday of January. Furthermore, he approved special liturgical texts to be used during the local feast in the Philippines.

Later changes by other popes include:

  • Pope Paul VI issued a Canonical Coronation for the image on April 28, 1965. Then, in May 2, 1965, through his Papal Bull “Ut Clarificetur”, the sanctuary in which the image was housed was raised to a Minor Basilica.
  • In 1981, Pope John Paul II gave his papal endorsement for the image in his Mass for Families.

The devotion to the Sto. Niño shares its worldwide venration of the Infant Jesus of Praque.

READINGS AT MASS:

First Reading: Isaiah 9:1-6;
Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18;
Gospel: Luke 2:41-52

In the Gospel, we recall the incident when the young Jesus went missing. Mary and Joseph were probably at their wits end trying to find him. It was only after three days of searching that they finally found him in the temple.

48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he said to them. 51 He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus advanced [in] wisdom and age and favor before God and man. (Luke 2:48-52 | NABRE)

By Jesus own words, we realize that even at a young age Jesus already knows who He is and probably knows what His true purpose is. He may have even have known about Isaiah speaking about him.

6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder–Counselor, God–Hero, Father–Forever, Prince of Peace. 6 His dominion is vastand forever peaceful, upon David’s throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains. By judgment and justice, both now and forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this! (Isaiah 9:5-6 | NABR)

Despite that however, Jesus knew that He also had another role to play. This is why He went back home with Joeseph and Mary “and was obedient to them”; He also needed to be a kid to His earthly parents.

We can all look to Jesus’ example. We all have a purpose in life. Most of us probably know our own selves and what we want to do in our life — what our goals are. Thus, we strive to be successful in whatever we do in our careers so we can provide for ourselves and our loved ones. Unfortunately, we becomes so focused that we forget our other roles. At times, we need to step back and realize that we also need to simply become dads and moms to our kids, kids to our parents, a good friend, a good neighbor, or a good coworker.

Likewise, this story also shows us that children do have a voice and often have a lot to say. It is not right for us to simply disregard what they are saying. There is a need for us older people to stop and listen to our children. Although we are tasked to guide them, there are those times that we need guidance from them. Sometimes, their own innocence is an advantage as our own experience and knowledge sometimes becomes a disadvantage.

Let us therefore look to the Sto. Niño and ask Him to show us to recognize our roles in life and at the same time recognize the contribution of children in our world.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]