Lessons From Lucy

Blurb: Lucy Torres-Gomez talks about Holy Week traditions, growing up in a household with faith, and how the power of prayer has figured in her showbiz career.

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week. The Holy Week is supposedly a time for reflection, penance and fasting. It is to be observed faithfully by those who believe in God--precisely why it’s called holy. But in showbiz, this is not the case as celebrities take this opportunity to go somewhere like Boracay and Puerto Gallera to party. Those who are jetsetters would go abroad to relax. But majority of us, and not only the celebrities, think of Holy Week as the time to party and have fun. This should be the time to reflect, to have time for ourselves, to have space and silence. Hopefully, we would realize sooner the real meaning of Holy Week especially during these very trying times due to the global recession.
This was one of the topics we had with the beautiful (inside and out) Lucy Torres-Gomez, when we had dinner with her and Dra. Vicki Belo at the Marriott Hotel, Thursday of last week. That was in connection with the opening of the first Belo clinic outside Manila. (Lucy was supposed to be joined by Cebuana and fellow Belo endorser Ruffa Gutierrez in that dinner with selected members of the press, but the latter was not allowed to leave her taping for ABS-CBN's "I Love Betty La Fea.") 
She proved to be very humble, lovable and adorable, more so when she spoke to us in Bisaya during the entire conversation. The better half of actor-TV host Richard Gomez said that in their house in Greenhills, their helpers speak Bisaya so that their only child Julianna is also good in the dialect. Even her husband can speak and understand Bisaya, thanks to frequent visits to her hometown—Ormoc City—where Richard bonds with everybody.
Anyway, I like Lucy all the more when she declared she would never go back to Boracay during Holy Week because according to her, “wa may Ginoo didto, puros ra party.”  Then she shared that “dili man gani mi padukdukon og tansan sauna before 3pm basta Biyernes Santo kay mura ra kunog gilansang nimo ang Ginoo.” She has developed her very strong faith because her grandmother was very religious, she said. According to her, they grew up believing that there is nothing impossible with God, and that anything is achievable through prayers. Lucy believes that “there is no hopelessness when you pray." Well-said, Lucy!
Actually, I have learned about Lucy’s faith through her Sunday column in the Philippine Star. She wrote about how she became a dance show host even if she did not know how to dance then. She also shared where she got the confidence to host a show when she was even afraid to speak before. Everything, according to her, boils down to prayer. In fact, Dra. Belo said that she should learn from Lucy to tap the power of prayer in dealing particularly with matters of the heart, especially after her much-publicized, very controversial break-up with Dr. Hayden Kho last year. “[My prayer is] 'dear God, I leave it all to you.' Kasi I’m matigas ulo. Lahat ipinagkatiwala ko sa Kanya, except love life, kasi gusto ko talaga ako ang pumili eh. Kaya ayun,” Dra. Belo declared.
Lucy is truly an endearing and very good influence. Celebrities should learn from her a lot; that everything they do should be centered on God. Since it's Holy Week, I pray that celebrities and everybody else will realize that material possessions will just decay, and that we are nothing but transient creatures on earth. This Holy Week is the best time to reflect about it and to take into account Lucy’s observance of Lent.
  Speaking of Belo, she was very ecstatic she recently opened her non-surgical branch at the Ayala Terraces because she really likes Cebu. She said she put up a clinic here because she loves coming here and is mesmerized by the Cebuano hospitality. She admires the booming tourism of Cebu and dreams of bringing medical tourism here. She also shared that she had done surgical procedures on about 10 Cebuanas at a “secret hospital.” Some of her clients are still not comfortable to have the surgical procedures done in Cebu for privacy reasons, except for first lady Margot Osmena who is very proud of her firm arms courtesy of Belo. 
If you are looking for a meaning Holy Week celebration, experience with "Easter Encounter” with the Verbum Dei Missionaries to be held at the Talavera Retreat House. This is open to all--from teenagers, young adults to married couples. For more details, call 253-3525 and look for Bro. Pablo.
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