Filipinos are Evangelists

Sunday, Jan.21,2007

My wife and I were invited to attend the "Parangal Kay Sto. Nino by Filipino American Council of Greater Chicago at Dr. Jose Rizal Heritage Center 1332 W. Irving Park Rd., Chicago, Il 60613.

The Feast of Sto. Nino is a celebration in honor of the Holy Infant Jesus. "Started in 1998, by devotees of Filipino American Council of Greater Chicago, the nine-hour one-day novena has become an annual religious tradition in the Filipino-American community. The text of the novena is similar to that used by the Congregacion del Santissimo Nombre del Nino Jesus in the Philippines."

The celebrant was Rev.Carlos Llagas and Rev. Joselito Coquilla, con-celebrant. Thomily was delivered by Fr. Joey apologizing that he has not prepared for a topic but told the over a hundred Sto. Nino devotees on that very cold Sunday afternoon that we, Filipinos always bring with us 2 cultures- the culture of Godliness and the culture of sharing. That Filipinos scattered all over the globe bring with them their religiosity and devotion. That we are evangelists. We celebrate 2 great Feasts: the Birth of the Child God, the Nino at Christmas and the Death of God-Man at Viernes Santo- the Holy Week.

This Sunday is the celebration of the Sinulog- the praising Of the Holy Infant-the Nino reminding us of 2 words: thermometer ( an instrument for measuring temperature and thermostat ( a device that regulates/controls temperature) We must be in control of the environment, not the other way around.

Fr. Coquilla told the story of "nahulog sa tulay"- (fall from the bridge) when one violated the 10th commandment -thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. In the confession, the townsmen were told by the priest to just say I fell from the bridge when they violated the 10th commandment of which they were given their corresponding penalties. However, the priest was transferred and a new priest took over. The same scenario came to the confessional vestibule. Now the new priest told them to really fix the bridge before tragic things could happen. When the town mayor did the same confessional overture, the new priest of the town detected something fishy going on. He made a secret personal investigation and found out that there really was no bridge in town." ( Laughter from the devotees )

"The standard of Christian value is freedom, salvation, liberation. As Christians, we must mature to meet Christ in the calvary of our salvation...We must not let the environment lord over us but we must be in total control of ourselves with our commitment to God's laws, with our Godliness and with our being evangelists.

And lastly, we must never forget the powerful novena of childlike confidence to the Sto. Nino, the Holy Infant who said: " Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you through the intercession of Mary, thy most Holy Mother.

We are grateful to our ancestors, to our culture. We are proud to be Filipinos scattered in different countries of the world.