The Feast of Santo Niño follows the Christmas season. The four Gospels in the Bible provide little detail about the Child Jesus, other than the narratives found in Matthew and Luke about the special circumstances surrounding His birth. These infancy narratives serve to highlight the importance of the birth of Jesus and His role in overcoming the forces of sin and death. Some of the other gospels that were rejected by the church are said to contain fantastic stories about the childhood of Jesus and the miracles He worked even as a child. These Gospels were set aside because they were irrelevant to the message proclaimed in the church, namely, that Jesus took on human flesh in order to save all peoples from sin.

Combined with the Filipino love for children, apocryphal tales about the Child Jesus may be the basis for the popularity of the Santo Niño. Filipino artists have depicted the Santo Niño in the diverse costumes of a policeman, doctor, fireman, pawnbroker, a carpenter, and so forth. Many devotees believe their images of the Santo Niño can drive away evil and provide them with blessings.

Jesus taught simple and directly. "Blessed are you, poor.’’ "Love your neighbors as yourself.’’ "As long as you did it to one of these, the least of My brothers, you did it to Me.’’ Thus, to rightly celebrate the Feast of the Santo Niño people should act with love and justice – especially for the poor, the suffering and the innocent victims in Philippine society. Those celebrating today’s Feast of the Santo Niño should not forget to live according to the teachings of Jesus.

Happy fiesta to all keeping today’s annual religious devotion.