A MAN was inside a church kneeling in front of a big statue of Santo Niño. In his prayer, he said: “Santo Niño, please help me win the lottery. I promise that I will be here every day after work in front of you to pray a novena in your honor. And if I win the lottery, I will build you the biggest church in the whole wide world!”
So the man did as he promised. After work, he would pass by the liquor store near the church to buy a lottery ticket and then would proceed to the church to pray in front of Santo Niño. He would lay the lottery ticket in front of the statue and ask that Santo Niño would bless it so that the numbers would win.
The man would do this for weeks, month, and years. But to his frustration, none of his numbers would win, and there were no million dollars to retire and to build a church for Santo Niño.
One day, the man got upset. He spoke in a loud voice saying, “Santo Niño, I’ve been coming in front of you for years, praying that I would win the lottery. If you don’t grant me this favor next week’s Powerball, I will come back here and break you into pieces.”
Well, the sacristan of the church heard the man’s prayer. So he rushed to the rectory to tell the pastor about what he heard. “Father, do you know the man who is coming every day to pray in front of the statue of Santo Niño? I heard him pray this evening. He said that he would break the statue of Santo Niño into pieces if he does not win the lottery next week. What should we do? That is an antique and expensive statue donated by our richest parishioner.” The pastor responded, “Don’t worry. Here’s what you do: take out the big statue of Santo Niño and replace it with a smaller one.” “Oh, that’s a brilliant idea,” the sacristan told the priest. “Yes, I would do that.”
The sacristan did as the pastor asked him to do. He took out the big statue and put a smaller one.
That evening the man came to the church and to his surprise, the big statue of Santo Niño was missing. In place of it was a small version of the statue. The man got very angry, and so he said out loud, “Oh, Santo Niño, I see how smart you are. You don’t have courage, so instead of you facing me here, you sent your younger brother!”
I’ve often wondered why we Filipinos have a great devotion to Santo Niño. And I’ve heard one thing: that praying to Santo Niño is effective (mabisa) and powerful.
For example, a friend shared with me that the people of Leyte believe that a plague in their province stopped when they prayed a novena to Santo Niño and processed its image around the province.
But is it the statue that is powerful and mabisa or our deep faith? I’d say that it’s our faith that is effective. Why? It’s because it is a faith that is childlike.
And what is a childlike faith? It is pure, totally dependent on God, entrusting, humble, meek, and poor in spirit. That’s what God needs to see in us as we pray to him.
Haven’t we had this experience? It’s when we totally submit our will to God that we find help and healing. It’s this kind of faith that can move mountains as the Scriptures tell us.
I’ve shared with my readers that in May last year, my doctor found an unruptured aneurysm in my brain. This shocked my whole existence and so I turned to God for healing and asked prayers from many people. I’ve never prayed so hard in my entire life. I prayed like a child to God and submitted my whole being to him. I prayed the Holy Rosary every day and offered Masses for my healing. I didn’t just pray like a child; I became a child in total dependence to the Father.
And as you know, the Lord answered my prayer. When I went back to see my neurosurgeon for follow-up checkup after six months since my medical procedure, he told me not to worry anymore. I’m totally healed from my aneurysm. All I need to do is to take care of my health.
This childlike prayer is not only entrusting but is youthful.
Many of us would say that we’re aging. But we know that it’s only our bodies that get old. Our spirits and faith should never get old. God should always see this in us. He needs to see a faith that is youthful and hopeful, a “pananampalataya na sariwa sa pagasa, buhay na buhay at masigasig.”
I have a friend named Ricky. He is 50 years old. Today, he discovered something new about himself: a beautiful voice that had been buried for years within his being. One day, as he was sitting inside a bar in Hollywood, a man came to him. The man told him, “You now, I heard you pick up the microphone and sing. You have a great voice, and I want to work with you. I am professional voice trainer.” Ricky could not believe that such a person would approach him to ask if he wanted to be trained. To keep the long story short, Ricky agreed. What he and the trainer discovered was amazing: hidden in a fifty-year-old body is the pure and original voice of his youth that had been trampled by frustrations and disappointments of life.
We need to uncover this youthful voice in us—this youthful and faith-filled spirit. It’s the faith that is mabisa and powerful and that can heal and renew us.
So, today, let us ask God to grant us a childlike and youthful faith. Let’s not just pray to Santo Niño, but let’s also be like him: dependent on the will of his Father, entrusting, loving, and filled with awe and wonder. Amen.
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From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1999-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.