WINNING DIVINE AND HUMAN FAVOUR

Have you ever seen a child or a baby superhero? Most superheroes in movies are adults. That is because children are often portrayed as powerless and weak. Today the all-powerful God presents Himself as the Holy Child (Sto. Nino). It is a description far from the image of a fearsome God in the Old Testament who created the entire universe in His words, who submerged the earth to cleanse it from sins, who destroyed armies of enemies, and who created a nation for Himself. The Child Jesus shows to us the strength of God through an image of a crowned child holding a globe and a scepter in his hands. How can this adorable Child be so powerful?

The strength of the Child Jesus lays in his ability to obey the will of the Father. Young as he was (twelve years old), the Child Jesus listened to the Father and was able to attend to His Father's concerns. We are pleased to see children following the instructions of their parents. The Father is pleased when the Son realizes His will. The ability to obey begins with the willingness to listen. Obedience comes from the Latin words ob-audire, meaning “to listen to.” Those who listen carefully to instructions are the ones who do the right things. Those who attentively listen to the instructions of a proctor have higher chances of passing an exam, for they are able to know what to do during the exam. Not paying attention to the voices and instructions around us may cause us to do wrong things, and worse, may even endanger our lives.

Listening is not enough. We have to be selective about what we are listening to. We may end up doing the wrong things because we listen to wrong voices. Once there was a jogger who kept listening to his iPod while jogging on a busy street. He was so immersed with the music he is listening to. When a vehicle was fast approaching him, he missed the shouts of people warning him from a distance. He ended up being injured by a vehicular accident that could have been avoided if only he was listening to the right voices at that particular moment.

When we listen to kind words, there is a big chance that we will be kind since we will know how to be kind. When we listen to lascivious words, we may end up either being lascivious like the person we listen to, or despising such lascivious person (that is if we are a discerning listener), and uphold what is decent and proper.

To whom then should we listen to; who are we to obey? We are to listen first and foremost to God, for He is our Father who desires only what is good for us, who instructs us through His Son with His wise counsel. We are to listen too to those who listened to the Father and reechoed His message to us. Mary and Joseph are examples of these people who listened to the Father and conveyed to others the same message they heard from God (They went to Jerusalem every year for the feast of the Passover as prescribed by the Law). Thus, Jesus listened and obeyed them. Do the people and the voices whom we listen to resemble that of the Father's voice? Do our voices and messages resemble that of the Father?

Knowing by listening to what we ought to do is just half of the task at hand. Knowing the Father's desire should move us to realize it in our lives, even if it means moving outside of our comfort zones. A child's comfort zone is the reassuring presence of his father or the loving arms of his mother. The Child Jesus left these that He may attend to His Father's business.

We hear the Word of God every Sunday. We access it in our social media anytime we want to. Have we realized and lived in accordance to the will of the Father? Have we busied ourselves with the will of the Father, or have we simply retreated to our old and sinful occupations? Have we become truly obedient children of God, or have what we heard simply passed through our ears because it is too inconvenient for us to obey them?

Obeying God will always involve inconveniences, for we are following Christ who suffered and died before He gloriously rose and sat at the right hand of the Father. Be consoled, however, that obedience to God will bring forth wisdom and understanding. It will truly please the Father.

By knowing and doing, listening and obeying the Father's will and those who reecho his message, we can truly become children of God who have increased in wisdom and age and in divine and human favor. Mga anak ng Dios na may pinagkatandaan, at kalugod-lugod sa Dios at sa tao.

We do not have to be superheroes to win divine and human favor.

By simply listening and being obedient to God’s word, we can surely become pleasing children of the Father.