“Pit Senyor!” Everyone greets each other as the third Sunday of January approaches. It cannot also be helped that people bring their little “Niños” to church with them and wave along as “Batobalani sa Gugma” is sung. It gives one an overwhelming sense of belongingness and pride as one watches the sea of devotees lovingly call out to the Child Jesus.
But as much as it becomes a time of unity for us Catholics, we are tagged as pagans or heretics for according to some individuals, we worship a statue or a mere image. I have never found the best way to explain our practice to non-Catholics until last Friday, 19th of January:
During the 5:30 AM Novena Mass, the priest told us a story of three suitors, who visited a girl they adored daily. One was a military officer, another a hunter, and the third a poet. The time for her to choose a husband came. On the fateful day, she hung a portrait of herself on the wall and asked the three to stand on the opposite side. She prepared a gun and said, “Whoever can hit my eyebrow will be my husband.” The military officer was elated. The challenge was pretty easy for him. And so, brimming with confidence, he went first and surely, his shot hit close to home. He was smiling as he handed the weapon to the hunter. The second man, who was also a marksman, fired the gun with no hesitation. His shot was closer to the eyebrow than the officer’s. Finally, it was the poet’s turn. He had never held a gun his entire life and as he aimed for the portrait, he was shaking uncontrollably. He placed the gun down. He was unable to fire a shot.
The girl approached him and said, “Do you not love me? Why would you not even attempt to do the challenge?” He answered, “I can never make myself shoot the very image of my love.” That moment made the girl decide that the third suitor was her true match.
The priest continued to talk to the crowd saying, “Have you ever noticed that if there is a loved one, who is not at home—maybe an OFW or a “seaman”—people who are left at home take his/her picture and place it in a frame, or even laminate it and carry it around or display it in the house? Some even place it under their pillow, believing that by doing this, it would make their loved ones dream of them. And when a child is seen playing with it or taking the picture for granted, the older ones, often our mamas, get mad and say ‘Don’t ever do that to your papa’s picture! Your papa works hard for us and he loves us dearly.’ But are we in love with the very picture that we cherish and take care of? No. We love the person who is IN the picture. We cherish everything the picture represents—memories, dedication, and possibly hard work. Similarly, we do not worship the statue or image of our Sto. Niño, but we adore the one it represents, Jesus himself who became man and mingled among us. He was born out of a woman and he was a child who walked this earth.”
It may be inappropriate for people of different faith for Christians to be devotees of Sto Niño. You may be disturbed that people wave to the dark little boy with curly brown locks or touch the base of his feet or his robes; or you may find it archaic or even paganish of us that we bring him around and dance with him in feathered outfits to the sound of drums and whistles. This is our way of integrating our Cebuano culture of how He was received when our ancestors converted—with music and revelry. It is a reminder that this land of strong warriors fell on their knees and hearts to the call of God.
And it does not matter, in my opinion, that we “shagit ug kusog,” or that we “sangpit” to the heavens the way we do since we are calling out to Jesus. Quoting Jay Mesa, featured in one of Nas Daily videos, “All religions are like fingers pointing to the same moon, except people spend too much time focusing on the fingers but not the moon.” Should you not spend your time perfecting your worship and faith rather than telling others what to do and how to act?
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”
Matthew 7:3
“Peace and Pit Senyor.”
