Our great treasure in the Sto. Niño

We should be most thankful that even up to now we still have a great devotion to the Sto. Niño. Instead of waning through the years, this piety has grown.

There are still things to be made right and purified, but we cannot deny this devotion has helped us in a world and in times becoming increasingly secularized and paganized. Think of the liberal people in the world who consider faith, religion, and piety as obsolete.

Thanks to God the image of Christ as both a child and king so captured the Filipino heart (especially the Cebuano heart) that whatever situation we find ourselves in we still keep our Christian faith and try our best to live by it.

Let's hope this devotion continues to develop and spread, especially among the young ones who are most vulnerable to the faith-killing and piety-numbing ways of the world. In this, we have to use both the human and supernatural means of prayer and sacrifice, and to involve as many people and institutions as possible.

That the Sto. Niño is both child and king reminds us we need to be like a child to attain our ultimate kingly goal of human maturity and Christian perfection. As we grow older, more exposed to the world, we need to be more like a child, deepening and enriching our spiritual childhood in Christ.

Christ himself said: "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Mt 18,3)

Children and heaven are almost synonymous. No wonder we feel like we are in heaven every time we see children around. Every time a baby is born, we feel happy because we somehow know he did not just come out of his mother's womb, but from the hands of God who created him before his parents procreated him.

Despite the many limitations of children, what makes them always desirable is their pure, innocent heart, incapable of malice, ambition, pride and haughtiness. They are a source of many good things.

Their heart is always trusting in the Lord, just like a kid always trusts his father. Faith and hope easily grow when nurtured in a child's heart. It's this attitude that leads them to go on no matter what, for life to them can only be an adventure.

It's this kind of heart that makes them sincere and simple, not afraid to be known as they truly are. They may still lack prudence, discretion, and be prone to spontaneity, but they hardly mind these deficiencies.

They are only interested in doing what they think is good and enjoyable. Suggestions and corrections do not humiliate them. Rather, they welcome them.

Children are humble, teachable, flexible and docile. You can tell them anything, and they always tend to believe and obey. Attainments, achievements and successes do not spoil them. Neither do difficulties, temptations and failures crush them and plunge them to sadness or bitterness.

They are easy to motivate and console. Falls and mistakes are easily forgotten. They only leave a mark that becomes a source of precious lessons for them to learn. They are quick to heal when wounded.

‘Children and heaven are almost synonymous. No wonder we feel like we are in heaven every time we see

children around.’