Twin fiestas mirror Filipinos’ duality of spirit

There seems to be a consensus among scripture commentators that the reference to children in todays Gospel carries two ideas: one, children who were counted among the poor, the disadvantaged and the helpless; and two, children who in their simple innocence showed humility.

This Sunday is very special for us Filipinos. We celebrate every third Sunday of January, the Feast of the Santo Nio, the only Catholic country given this special feast on a Sunday.

Before this, we saw the phenomenal devotion to the Black Nazarene of Quiapoprobably one of the worlds largest processions, if not the largest on an annual basis.

These two events in January define a great part of our Filipino culture and spirituality from a Christian perspective, in a Catholic tradition. Quiapo is the serious devotional spirituality of Good Friday, the Passion and the Cross. The Santo Nio is the festive devotional spirituality of Christmas and, though not as pronounced and obvious, the Resurrection, Easter Joy.

Some who view these twin phenomena are perplexed and seek to understand the interesting mix of spirituality. One faith, many spiritualities.

In this case, it is one Christ with many facets, thus the different spiritualities and devotions.

Yet todays Gospel seems to offer some integration, a synthesis point. Unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God. It is our longing and desire to be one with God that is the synthesis. Clearly, it is the way of the child that leads us to this.

Powerful medicine

In the December Time magazine article on Pope Francis as Person of the Year, one line struck me. Pope Francis was quoted as saying that the Holy Mass and Holy Communion is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.

This struck me as a very apt description of this spirituality of the way of the child. It is not a prize but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.

See the original post:
Twin fiestas mirror Filipinos’ duality of spirit