Devotee says: Forgive even the most hateful person

CEBU, Philippines - Many may find it hard to forgive someone whom you have built a family with but is also the same person who would break the family.

To some faithful though, forgiving such kind of people is not impossible with the help and guidance of the Holy Child, Senior Santo Niño.

A devotee from the southern part of Cebu shared her and her brother’s experience on how far they’ve gone just to make the latter’s family complete again after the wife allegedly had an affair with another man and even got impregnated.

Lorena (not her real name), 49, sharing her brother’s belief, said that holding grudges will not really help anyone in this journey, saying life is too short to keep hatred within one’s self.

She recalled her brother and his wife once living a simple life together with their two children in Cebu City, where his brother worked as a security guard.

Lorena said there were a lot of times that the couple fought because of suspicions that the wife had an affair with another man, to which the wife would always deny.

Concerned about her brother’s family, Lorena said she helped them move out from the city to their province so that they could start anew.

They rented a house just a few distances away from theirs and let the wife be the attendant of their store, considering her brother’s meager income.

“Gi-treat na g’yud namo na sila og miyembro na g’yud sa among pamilya. Kung wala sila’y bugas, kami mohatag. Kung unsa ang kailangan, ari sila namo og tabangan namo sila,” said Lorena.

However, last 2014, their world turned upside down when his brother allegedly heard from his wife’s phone a recorded “sweet” conversation of his wife and another man.

She further said the wife even cursed his brother in the said conversation. But what made it worse was when they found out that the wife was pregnant with the other man and it made his brother really angry.

“Grabe g’yud iyang kasuko ato. Mao nga iyang gipalayas pero usa niya gipalayas, gipabawnan pa g’yud intawn niya og kwarta,” she said.

Lorena said the two sons stayed in their custody while his brother continued working.

A few months later, they found out that his brother and his wife were again seeing each other and it made her and her siblings get angry at first. But eventually, they accepted their brother’s decision.

They then again moved to another place and lived together with the third baby, whom her brother accepted and treated as his own. However, another problem came when his brother stopped being a security guard and engaged in peddling illegal drugs.

She said they did their best to warn their brother and always reminded him that what he was doing will not do him any good. However, their brother did not heed their reminders until he was arrested during a police operation. He is now inside the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City.

After her brother’s arrest, Lorena said they knew they had to help their brother’s wife. At first, Lorena offered that she would only let the two children live with them. This left the wife alone striving for herself and her third child.

“Pag-una, wala g’yud ko ni-offer nga papuy-on siya ug iyang anak sa amoa kay bisan kami, apil mi nga nasakitan sa iyang gibuhat kay sa pagtabang namo niya, gitonto ra pud diay mi niya,” said Lorena.

However, Lorena, being also a member of a religious organization and a devotee of Senior Santo Niño, later realized she had to forgive and forget for them to truly have a happy and peaceful living.

Now, her brother’s wife, together with their three sons, is now living with them in their house. Lorena said she was also thankful to her own husband and children who understood her decision to help her brother’s family.

“Nahimo man gani sa Ginoo ang magpasaylo. Nahimo man gani sa akong manghod nga magpasaylo nga siya g’yud ang mas nasakitan. Ako pa kaha?” said Lorena.

She said she is now happy for her brother, who, eventhough is not with his family now, has them waiting for him to come home.

Recently, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines declared this year as the “Year of Family, Year of the Eucharist”. —/NSA (FREEMAN)