The feast of Señor de Andacocha is one of major religious celebrations in the province of Azuay of Ecuador. The history tells us that an indigenous farmer named Manuel Corte Juela, found an image of Christ while working on his land. This image is very small in size, about 5 centimeters. He kept this image in a very respective place in his house, and thought this was a great sign of God for his life. One day, he was ready to go to another town to attend the Mass of Señor de Los Milagros. He suddenly received a revelation from Christ, saying that he did not need to go far away to attend Mass; Christ was here with all of his people. The message for him was to announce this and invite people to come to this place to celebrate a Mass; and the people from all over the world would come to worship God. He did what he allegedly heard from God's revelation. Amazingly, thousands of people came to adore this little image of Christ with a very solemn celebration. This small town, Andacocha, has become a pilgrimage sanctuary of thousands of people from all over the world every year.
Yesterday, I was with the Bishop and many priests from the Archdiocese of Cuenca to celebrate a thanksgiving Mass of the 25th anniversary of priesthood of two priests in this sanctuary of Señor de Andacocha. During the Mass, while looking at the image of Señor de Andacocha, I was thinking of a tiny God, not so big like I used to think about my own God. God actually is very small, small enough to be present in little things of our life, small enough to enter in our veins, our heart, and our little thoughts to make them great.
The new history of creation tells us that the universe began with a tiny ball. If God were present, where would God have been? Outside of that tiny ball or insider of it? If I have to answer this question, I would say that God must have been inside that tiny ball. This makes me imagine how tiny God was to be able to be present in that tiny ball. God must be very tiny! The very first energy, the “Ruah”, that made the universe happen seemed nothing. “The Nothing” makes the universe marvelous.
God chose to be small. God chose to be born to a poor baby in the manger. The poor baby Jesus had no discrimination. A little boy did not threaten or scare anybody. The rich and the poor, the old and the young could come to this little child without fear. God chose to be little so that everyone can come to God easily and defenselessly. Moreover, the little poor baby Jesus had made the poor joyful and the rich transformed. God chose to be small to change human life.
Perhaps, many faithful still praise God “big” and powerful as part of their cultural and religious mentality and education. My people still sing, “Nadie hay tan grande como Dios” meaning no one is so big like God. There is nothing wrong with this glorification. However, we need to recognize and receive a small and powerless God too. A God that was born to a little child, was insulted, crucified, and died on the Cross. Accepting a little and powerless God can make us small and humble like yeast, salt, and light in the world.
