The Three Kings, Epiphany, and Sinulog

Many of us continue to celebrate January 6 as the Feast of the Three Kings (Melchor, Gaspar and Balthazar), guided by this account of Matthew, Chapter 2:

“When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, … behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.’ …. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded the6m, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

For many, January 6 marks the 12th day since the birth of Christ and the end of Christmas.

More importantly, we are reminded that January 6 celebrates the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, a feast that “brings to a perfect fulfillment all the purposes of Advent. Epiphany marks the liturgical zenith of the Advent-Christmas season.”

From the Greek word epipháneia, which refers to a deity's physical manifestation or revelation to mortals, “Epiphany is a Christian feast day celebrating the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ” when Christians are reminded to reflect on the nature of God's physical manifestation on Earth.”

It is interesting to note that while today’s feast focuses on Jesus Christ’s incarnation manifested to the three visiting kings, many remember/celebrate instead the Three Wise Men rather than Christ’s manifestation, rather than Epiphany!

Also, while many consider January 6 as the end of Christmas, here in Cebu, there are those who extend the celebration of Christmas until the Feast of the Santo Niño celebrated every third Sunday of January!

Added to the Christmas decors, expect statues and reminders of the Santo Niño to be out soon!

For the first time since the start of the epidemic, Cebu City will resume the public celebration of this feast at a new venue.

Preparations are now in progress --the city government busy with the physical and secular arrangements of Sinulog, the Church busy with the sacred dimensions of the Feast of Santo Niño.

Expect the return of the drums, the bugles, the dancers, the costumes, the vendors, the crowds!

From now 'til the 3rd Sunday, Cebu City will be on fiesta mode, an extended Christmas celebration mode!

And with the millions of revelers and worshippers, shall we also expect again the return of huge amount of wastes irresponsibly disposed of, especially in and around the Sinulog venue?

We welcome and applaud the early waste management preparations of Engr. Arleigh Gesta and the CCENRO team.

Beyond the warnings to the public about fines and punishment “for littering, smoking and urinating in public places,” we hope Engr. Gesta, the CCENRO and city government partners will focus more on educating/training the public about their important responsibility for waste management and cleanliness of the city.

We hope that with multimedia, CCENRO and the city will issue daily reminders to the public, not only about Cebu City’s Comprehensive Anti-Smoking or Anti-littering Ordinance but about the importance of responsible waste segregation daily, not only on the day of the Sinulog!

We also hope the Sinulog is used as the opportune time to remind all that effective waste management is everyone’s responsibility, not only the responsibility of CCENRO, DPS, and the city government!

The Catholic Church, businesses, communities, schools, everyone, everywhere should help in responsibly segregating and managing waste every day, not just especially during the Sinulog festival and the Feast of the Santo Niño!

Will the 2023 Sinulog celebration see the start of Cebu City’s responsible collective/participatory waste segregation and management?