God's Way

         My dad just turned 73. The number shows he is already a senior citizen. But he is not that senior looking. Yes, he is retired. But he is not tired from life. His newest venture is farming. He has so much passion for it. Though he is not an agriculturist by training, his heart is one. He has spent so much time in personal research to discover and learn the latest techniques in farm development. He is self-taught and continues to learn from others, from observation and from experience. For him, this is not just a personal passion. This is his contribution in order to change the paradigm of our community in Bantayan Island. He wants to show the importance of the land and how to maximize it.

          Dad is one of the one hundred million Filipinos in this country. But he is more than a statistic indicator. He is more than just a number for us who know him and love him. We celebrated with joy the day of his birth to thank God for the gift of life. As always, he is never alone when he celebrates his natal day because he was born as one of the twins! For whatever reasons, his mother called him Teopistes and his twin brother, Teofisto; he is Titing, the other is Totong. If we were to look at their throwback photos, they were really identical. Even now. Same height, same build, same good-looking faces. Yet so vastly different because when God creates, He does so with quality. He fashions each of us in style. God makes it sure we have our own personal identity.

          The twins were born three months before the war of 1941. Two other siblings preceded them. One could imagine the difficulty of giving birth in a small island town. No hospitals or doctors were available. They just had “hilots” (quasi-midwife) to aid the women in their pangs of birth. When the war broke out, my dad’s family had to hide in a cave in a forested area to survive. Life was difficult. Yet they survived. They had to work hard. And never did they doubt that God was there all along. Through war and peace, God was not that distant. If things went wrong with my dad then, I wonder if I would still be his child. The thought might seem hypothetical. To me, it’s a mystery.

          In those days, the survival of the child hangs on the family.  Parents had to do great sacrifices to feed, protect and nurture their children. It was a great burden but it was done with great love for every child is considered a gift from God. Every gift is a treasure with a built-in responsibility. Parents saw it that way. They still do so today believing it is God’s way of raising a family.

The other Sunday, Pope Francis married 20 couples at the St. Peter’s Basilica, part of the Church’s effort to bring people especially couples to Jesus. In his homily, he reminded them: “It is impossible to quantify the strength and depth of humanity contained in a family: mutual help, educational support, relationships developing as family members mature, the sharing of joys and difficulties. Families are the first place in which we are formed as persons and, at the same time, the "bricks" for the building up of society.

The Pope gave the couples sound advice telling them that their wedding bliss will be tested but reassured them that Christ would be able to help them resist the "dangerous temptation of discouragement, infidelity, weakness, abandonment." He also added: “the love of Christ, which has blessed and sanctified the union of husband and wife, is able to sustain their love and to renew it when, humanly speaking, it becomes lost, wounded or worn out. The love of Christ can restore to spouses the joy of journeying together.”

The ceremony was the first time since Pope John Paul II presided over a wedding in 2000. That event highlighted Pope Francis’ desire to focus on the care of the Christian family. Next month he has called for an extraordinary synod (meeting) of bishops on October 5-19, 2014 to discuss on the “pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization.” Despite humanity’s progress, the human family continues to be the basic channel for God’s blessings to flow in the world. It is God’s way of showing He continues to care. It is God’s way of renewing the world from within. Thus the hope of humanity is still through the family.

At 73, my dad has so much to thank for. As his family, we are blest for the life he shared with us!

(This article appeared in Cebu Daily News, September 21, 2014)

 

St. John Bosco, a gift from God

              199 years ago on August 16, a poor boy was born in a small town in Becchi near Turin, Italy. His name was John Bosco. There were no signs in the sky that would foretell his future greatness. His arrival into the world was so quiet; not even his parents had any idea that one day he will make so much difference in the lives of countless young people in the world. The year 1815 marked the unification of Italy. A certain revolutionary spirit characterized the European climate. Somehow, it was the worse time to be born. Yet in the plan of God, everything has a reason. All things just fall in place when seen in the greater scheme of things. And into these chaotic times, God sent this child who will become a sign of God’s love for youth.

          When John was growing up, he became aware of certain supernatural interventions in his life. His reflective soul heightened his awareness of the presence of Jesus and Mary in the phases of his growth. But he had to struggle a lot. He had to work and study hard. His poverty introduced him to the harshness of reality. But his indomitable spirit and deep faith gave him all the courage to face his daily difficulties with joy and optimism. Having lost his father at an early age, his mother taught him to balance the strength of character and the tenderness of heart. He was able to unite this in his person making him both patient and kind. These are among the qualities, later as a priest, that will make him an effective “father and teacher of youth.”

          Then as a young country priest, he found himself thrust into a new world where there was no shortage of problems affecting the young people in society. He discovered a cruel society that preyed on them. In fact, people in the upper classes felt that these young people were not and could never be capable of civilized living. Many of them were illiterate, ignorant, law offenders and irreligious. There was only one solution for them – the juvenile prison! But here is where the creative vision of this priest, Don Bosco, would shine. He looked at this situation with a different perspective. He saw not just prisoners but possible upright citizens, not just scums or street boys but boys who could become good Christians. He saw them beyond the trappings of their present situations. Given the opportunity and the conducive climate, they can even be future saints!

          Don Bosco’s way of seeing things was marked by his great empathy and love. Because he was able to walk in the shoes of poor youth, he was able to understand them and their needs. Most of all, he was moved by the heart of the Good Shepherd who has deep compassion for the lost and the stray. It is this empathy and compassion that is most needed even today. Like the incarnate Son of God who identified himself with the vulnerability of the lost, the least and the last, we are to learn the value of being in contact and close to those who suffer.

          It is for this reason that St. John Bosco is a gift to the Church and to the world. In one of the articles of the Salesian Constitutions, it says: “With a feeling of humble gratitude, we believe that the Society of St  Francis de Sales came into being not merely as a human venture but by the initiative of God… Through the motherly intervention of Mary the Holy Spirit raised up St John Bosco to contribute to the salvation of  youth. The Spirit formed within him the heart of a father and teacher, capable of total self-giving … The Church has acknowledged God's hand in this, especially by approving our Constitutions and proclaiming our Founder a saint.”

          Things have so much changed since the time of St. John Bosco. The needs of the young have also become more complex. Modern technology and scientific advancement have created so much gap between the digital immigrants and the digital natives. Yet the principle that moved him is still relevant. St. John Bosco teaches us to contemplate the youth situation through God’s eyes! Young people will always be the center-piece of God’s affirming love simply because they are the future of both Church and society.

          On a more personal note, as a son of St. John Bosco, many times I am both challenged and overwhelmed by the vastness of the field of mission. At times, I wonder if I have made a difference at all for youth of today. Yet I feel consoled by the thought that I am not alone. There are thousands of us who keep the dream of St. John Bosco alive. We only have to walk the talk for the gift to become a transforming presence!