Thursday of the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
“Batobalani sa gugma, sa daang tawo palangga.” These words from the Gozos in honor of the Sto. Niño de Cebu roughly translated as, ‘magnet of love that is loved by the people of old/by our ancestors.’ What is a magnet? A magnet is an object that is able to attract iron and steel objects. How does a magnet work? The magnet’s component atoms are so ordered that the material exhibits properties of attracting other iron-containing objects or aligning itself in an external magnetic field. The Lord Jesus being called as the ‘batobalani sa gugma’, the ‘magnet of love’ is something that we have heard in today’s Gospel when the evangelist said that a large number of people were following Jesus from different parts of Israel so much so that a boat was prepared for him so as not to be crushed by the crowd. This similar event in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus was also something that we have experienced and witnessed during the Fiesta Señor celebrations this year. An estimated 3 million people attended the solemn foot procession last Saturday. Thousands gather at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu in every Novena Mass held last week to the point that it was difficult to walk from one place to another.
Maybe we can ask ourselves, what attracted these many people to the Lord, the Sto. Niño, and those in today’s Gospel? The evangelist gives us a summary of the intense ministry of Jesus, highlighting His magnetic personality and powerful works and deeds that attract crowds from within and outside Israel. There was something in our Lord Jesus that attracted these many people to Him. In the other Gospel episode, there were those who said, after hearing our Lord preach, that His manner of teaching was different than the Pharisees of their time. There was power and authority in His words. Another reason could be His deeds of power, especially the healing that people experienced through Him. These are reasons enough to attract crowds to our Lord Jesus, the Batobalani sa Gugma, the Magnet of Love.
Looking at our experience during the feast of the Sto. Niño, people were drawn to the Child Jesus because of the many graces and blessings that they have experienced. Others were also there to ask and intercede to the Sto. Niño for certain needs. These are enough reasons too that gathered thousands and even millions of people to the religious celebrations held last week.
Brothers and sisters, in one way or another, we too as followers of our Lord Jesus, as Christians, we are drawn to Him because of varied reasons. Our life as religious is a manifestation that this attraction was so strong that led us to offer ourselves to Him until the end. May this closeness to our Lord Jesus lead us to also attract many others closer to Him day by day. Let our lives become another magnet that will bring our brothers and sisters, especially the young, to our Lord Jesus, the Batobalani sa Gugma, the Magnet of Love. Let us learn from Him. Let us listen to Him. Let us allow the Lord to renew us. Let us draw ourselves close to Him.
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