"Commemorating the Festivity of Sr. Sto. Nino"

"Commemorating the Festivity of Sr. Sto. Nino"

Sto. Nino Festival is the time to party and dance to the beat of the drums.  Enjoying life and dancing in the street makes me contented on what God has provided me through the past year and for the up coming blessings I will receive. Ati- Atihan is one of the greatest, most colorful and fun festivals in  honor of Sr. Sto. Nino. It has been known as the wildest among Philippine fiestas. During  this week-long festival (fiesta), a parade is characteristic from tribes, schools, and some of the organizations. Some people paint their faces in many different ways and who are dressed in the most outstanding costumes. The informality of the festival is what makes it so terrific and allows everyone to participate, dance, beat on a drum or just take photos while in the middle of the tribal groups. I have my simple ways of commemorating the festivity of Sr. Sto. Nino.I love to take a lot of photos too as my way of commemorating the festivity. I grab every opportunity to be with the tribes so I can have something to treasure and post in my Facebook account. So that my friends and people around the world will see how colorful it is to become a Christian in my own way. It is my way also of showing my love to the minority people as what God us wanted to have in our heart. Loving them is my way of showing my love to our Sr. Sto. Nino also. The groups include in all age groups - another wonderful aspect of the festival. But what I love most and the center of the festivity is having the memorabilia of Sr. Sto. Nino and I can see it also in the faces of children who join in different tribes. Some of them have a creative costumes distinct to the tribal themes are displayed by few of the local people. The festival includes every local group in Aklan with a unique tribal tradition, various civic or commercial organizations and individuals that create new costumes every year.

 

(A picture is truly worth a 1000 words. When our memories are foggy our memories can captured and treasured with photography)

In the festivity of Santo Niño, we see that God is not frightening. We behold a God who loved us so much that He made Himself visible and tangible, seen in flesh and bone. We come to terms with the Creator who willed to become created to share the Divine Life with His beloved creation. We meet a God of omnipotence, yet became a child out of His love for us. God became helpless so as to share in our weakness and in that weakness, we are made strong.

(Viva Senior Sto. Nino!)

Finally, may our devotion to Sr. Sto. Nino not become mere lip service, but become a pattern of Christian life for us. As Saint James warns all of us in his epistle, “Faith without works is dead.” (James 2:20) Let us therefore, be imitators of the Santo Niño – becoming humble, simple, loving and cheerful in all things, keeping in mind what Christ reminds us in the Gospel, the Kingdom of heaven belongs to the childlike.