Originally published in July-August 2008 issue of Misyon
It takes brave and selfless hearts to create history that is meant to change the lives of thousands of people around the world. However, the day in 1982 when a group of Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family stepped on Philippine soil for the very first time was more than just creating history. They were transforming the future. I can really feel this - for I am one of those blessed girls whose lives have been changed and whose future has been transformed because, once upon a time, there were brave and selfless hearts who dared to start their mission despite all odds.
When I was a kid, before I had been introduced to the Sisters, I considered those religious women with a piece of cloth wrapped around their head (that seemed to me to replace their hair) and whom I always saw carrying rosaries and Bibles, as weird, strict and absolutely boring. In fact, I viewed them to be totally different in almost all areas I could ever imagine. They had surrendered everything to God while I couldn’t afford to give even an hour of my entire week to Him. They were godly. I was worldly. Since then, I began wondering what it would be like if circumstances would play a joke on me by making me live together with nuns.
Then several years later, as my second semester in college was approaching, I woke up to the alarming truth that I had nowhere to run. I was sixteen years old that time - old enough to admit that the situation wasn’t a joke but for real.
How I lost myself
I was trapped. I realized that if we will get caught with limitations, our tendency is to look back or at least try to recall the piece of the puzzle that we have put in the wrong place. I remembered how my sister and I would fight because we didn’t have enough rice to eat. I remembered the time I heard myself praying that if there was a heaven, I hoped Papa was there. I remembered the enthusiasm I had right after graduating from high school. I remembered the broken promises … the false hopes … the unmet expectations … the feeling of being trashed. I remembered the day I went to UNO-R wearing a borrowed school uniform that wasn’t my size and a borrowed pair of shoes that didn’t fit me. I remembered trying to fix things. I remembered how I failed.
How I found myself
My life changed forever the day I started living with the Sisters. I learned that my wrong impressions about them should not last. For the very first time, I encountered Sisters who were fun to be with, doing ordinary house chores and filling the role of mother for many children whom they accepted, supported and loved as their own.
I found myself believing and dreaming again upon reading this line printed on the gate while waiting for somebody to open it the day I decided to stay in Holy Family Home, Bacolod City: A child redeemed is a generation saved. Eventually, I nodded my head in agreement. Then Sr Alma Alovera TC, from Titay, Zamboanga Sibugay, opened the gate and that was my first night with the Sisters.
Holy Family Home of the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters aims to welcome, protect, and rehabilitate children and youth in order to attain their integral formation and assure them of their Christian participation in society. It is a refuge for girls who have been abused and maltreated.
How I found others
The Sisters have taught me one of the greatest lessons about life: I am not alone. Because of them I am reminded that there are many people who suffered more and who badly needed help. The world is not just for me! Day after day, I could say that my desire to become a social worker is strengthened because of the Sisters, Ate Amie Tibus, the resident social worker, and the other girls in the home. It’s a noble act to be a light for others and to love them too. I feel very glad every time Sister Dora Hernandez TC, from Colombia, sends me to join in outreach activities. The emotion I feel when in the midst of my nothingness, I can still become an instrument in painting smiles and bringing enjoyment for my brothers and sisters is indescribable. Unconsciously, memories like those tell me that ordinary people possess extraordinary and inspiring stories that will prove to us that we can simplify complicated facts about living.
Just like me, I have witnessed how the girls who are my companions manage to move on after the darkest experiences that they have been through. They are able to go to school, to develop their potentials in singing and dancing, among others, and to be trained for independent living. They are part of the generation being saved.
How I found God
I can call this part of my existence the turning point because just like the vertex of an angle, everything in me started to twist the moment I had discovered God’s presence in my life.
The Holy Family Home girls are given the opportunity to reflect on the Gospel and to understand the doctrines of the Catholic Church better. Even though we have imperfections, hang-ups and weaknesses, we are guided towards the Christian way of life. Many girls with different stories and personalities mean a lot of patience, prayers, and love and intervention strategies from the Sisters together with other professionals. Undoubtedly, sometimes we are trouble-makers capable of tantrums and disobedience but the Sisters still continue to influence and bring out the best in us.
To meet Jesus after being like a lost sheep is such a wonderful gift. If Fr Luis Amigó OFM Cap, who founded the congregation and who was later a bishop, and the first group of Sisters hadn’t listened to the call of God or if they had gotten easily discouraged by all the frustrations and lack of resources they had to face at the beginning, what would have happened to us now? That’s it. This world needs brave and selfless hearts to create history that will touch lives and transform the future. We are the future and we praise God for bringing the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters to the Philippines. I praise God for making my way meet their way!
 |
| Teary-eyed. Me and Sister Alma |
No comments:
Post a Comment