Feast of Santo Niño (Cycle B, Year I)
Community Word: Jesus is the guiding Star in our journey of faith.
Theme: We are guided by the Star in our journey of faith when we trust and have confidence in God’s providence.
Promise: “You may know the hope that belongs to his call, the riches of his glory in his inheritance among the holy ones.” (Eph 1:18b)
Reflection:
Has it ever crossed your mind that the Catholic practice of commemorating religious festivals, including devotions to saints and various religious practices, is actually based on the bible, contradicting claims that the Catholic Church merely invented these rituals and traditions?
The Gospel passage today, which marks the Feast of the Santo Niño in the Philippines, contains at least five important points that support the tradition for which we are at times severely criticized:
First point. “Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, (Lk 2:41-52). This demonstrates that even in those days, the Jews – and definitely the early Christians – were mandated to observe, and indeed faithfully observed, certain traditional feasts. It also shows that our commemoration of feasts and devotions are perfectly grounded on the faith of our ancestors. While it was not mentioned in this passage, Joseph and Mary were obeying a law that calls on every Jewish male adult living within 15 miles of Jerusalem to attend the Feast. They had no choice but to go to Jerusalem to join in the celebration of the Passover in obedience to the law.
In those days, a Jewish boy crosses the line to adulthood at the age of 12, and since Jesus was already of that age his parents had to bring him along to introduce him to the Jewish Passover tradition. In fact, the tradition is still maintained today, and every Jew throughout the world makes it a point to attend the Passover Feast even once in their lifetime. So whatever we do in the practice of our faith is not mere whim, or caprice, but part of biblical tradition that have been handed down to us from generations to generations.
Secondly, the family is the basic unit of society. Here we see Jesus traveling with his parents, Joseph and Mary, demonstrating the family bond between them, in contrast to some situations today when children have become not only disobedient but disrespectful of their parents for some reason or other – perhaps through premature exposure to uncontrolled adult media. The lesson for us is that we must not lose sight of the importance of the family. Families must move as a team, each looking to the best interest of the others. Like the Holy Family, we too must make sure that our families are guided by love, unity, peace, harmony and trust in one another.
Thirdly, for the first time, Jesus makes known that he is aware of his heavenly heritage in his response to Mary when she asked him: “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you?”His response is revealing: “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”This must have shocked Joseph for when he said this, Jesus was actually taking away from him the title of ‘father’, and giving it back to God. No one can really say as to when Jesus realized he was the Son of God. We can only surmise that it was the Holy Spirit who moved in him, such that at his first Passover, he suddenly had a sense that he indeed came from God.
What Jesus experienced must be what those who have yielded control of their lives to the Holy Spirit must experience when they realize that our lives are no longer our own, but that it is Christ who lives in us and that by the Grace of God poured out on us, we have been transformed into sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty (2 Cor 6:18).
Fourthly, “Jesus went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them,”(v.51). Here Luke tells us that Jesus grew up obedient. While we know nothing of those years, we know one important thing – he grew in grace and wisdom, and was obedient to his parents. We know that this obedience will mark all the events in his life, including his death on a cross (Phi 2:6). This is the quality that could unlock the power within us to live a fruitful and fulfilled Christian life. What we know is that because of his obedience, Jesus was highly exalted and glorified, such that he sits at the right hand of God to judge the living and the dead. Jesus himself also tells us: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it,” (Lk 11:28).
Fifth, “But his mother treasured all these things in her heart,” (v.51). Like Mary, we are to keep everything in our hearts as the plan of God is revealed to us. Indeed, there will definitely be times when it is not easy to understand God’s plan for us, but if we cooperate in loving obedience to his Word, God will empower us by his Holy Spirit so he can use for his purpose. God already had a plan for us when he created each one of us. He will not leave us orphans; he will come to us (Jn 14:18) to equip and empower us for the task at hand, and it is through obeying and keeping his Word in our hearts that we are transformed into members of God’s family. There should be no doubt about our calling. The only question is how we are going to respond.
Reflection Questions:
1. Like Jesus, what is your attitude towards God’s plan for our lives?
2 Do you keep the word of God in your heart and allow it to guide your way of life? Cite situations that you were blessed by your obedience to God.
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
January 18, 2015 (Sun) Is 9:1-6/Ps97:1,2-3,3-4,5-6/Eph 1:3-6,15-18/Mk 10:13-16
January 19, 2015 (Mon) Heb 5:1-10/Ps 110:1,2,3,4/Mk 2:18-22
January 20, 2015 (Tues) Heb 6:10-20/Ps 111:1-2,4-5,9,10/Mk 2:23-28
January 21, 2015 (Wed) Heb 7:1-3,15-17/Ps 110:1,2,3,4/Mk 3:1-6
January 22, 2015 (Thurs) Heb 7:25-8:6/Ps 40:7-8,8-9,10,17/Mk 3:7-12
January 23, 2015 (Fri) Heb 8:6-13/Ps 85:8,10,11-12,13-14/Mk 3:13-19
January 24, 2015 (Sat) Heb 9:2-3,11-14/Ps 47:2-3,6-7,8-9/Mk 3:20-21
“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”
