Healing for Rickie

Healing priest and basketball fan Fr. Joey Faller went straight from Terminal 3 of the airport complex to the Tondo home of PBA operations director Rickie Santos for a pray-over the other day. Fr. Joey planed in from Davao City where he celebrated two Holy Masses, one at the residence of New City Commercial Center (NCCC) mall owner Helen Lim and the other, on the top floor of the four-storey building that was razed by fire for 32 hours, killing 38, two days before Christmas.

When Rickie’s wife Jessica called out for Fr. Joey to visit, he didn’t hesitate for a moment. Basketball has been close to Fr. Joey’s heart since he was a boy. When he was ordained 28 years ago, Fr. Joey had a cast on his right arm to immobilize a fractured wrist. He had suffered an injury from a bad fall during a pick-up basketball game. When the PBA held the Luzon leg of the All-Star Week at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena last April, Fr. Joey hit the mid-court shot to win the Shooting Stars Challenge with L. A. Tenorio over two teams, one bannered by Ranidel de Ocampo and the other by Marcio Lassiter. Fr. Joey, 52, often invites PBA players to perform in exhibition games at the town plaza in Lucban where he built the five-hectare Kamay Ni Hesus Healing Church and joins them on the court. 

When Alaska started this season at 0-2, the Teng family sought out Fr. Joey for a pray-over. The Tengs are close to Fr. Joey. Jeron and Jeric have played in Lucban on Fr. Joey’s invitation. Since Fr. Joey got together with the Tengs, Alaska has scored two wins in a row. “Basketball is life,” said Fr. Joey. “Once, I played five games in one day and after the last game, I celebrated Mass. I still take about 500 shots every day. I follow the PBA, UAAP, NCAA, NBA, ABL and other leagues. I’m up to date.”

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In Davao, Fr. Joey was invited by Fr. Sonny Ramirez to meet with the Lim family. “It was a family tree healing,” he said. “We prayed for the dead to free the living with healing.” The Lim family has been struck by tragedy lately.

First, the NCCC mall was gutted, leaving 37 employees of a call center and a security guard dead. Then, less than a week ago, Javey, the oldest of six children of Helen and the late Henry Lim, died at the age of 45. At the fire site, Fr. Joey celebrated Mass at 9 in the morning last Tuesday. The stench of death was still in the air. “We were only five but it felt like the souls of the dead were with us at Mass,” said Fr. Joey. “The dead bodies have been removed but there were charred remains all around.”

Fr. Joey established Kamay Ni Hesus in 2002. Every month, over 250,000 faithful flock to the Lucban complex for healing. During Holy Week, the site welcomes an average of 3.2 million pilgrims. He’s now in the process of constructing the Kamay Ni Hesus Healing Dome with a capacity of 5,000.

In Tondo, Fr. Joey prayed over Rickie in the presence of his family. Rickie, 51, suffered a stroke in early December and was confined in the hospital for a month. It was about 8:30 a.m. when Rickie stumbled and fell in the bathroom. He was rushed to the hospital and is now resting at home, undergoing physical and speech therapy. The right side of his body has been compromised but fortunately, Rickie is left-handed. Signs of progress are evident. He can see, swallow, move his left arm, sit up on his bed and put together words. Fr. Joey said recovery is around the corner, sooner than anyone expects. 

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During Fr. Joey’s visit, Rickie kept putting his left hand over his chest, a gesture of thanks. He smiled when his visitors talked about how in the PBA, officiating has now allowed players to play with more physicality and less restraint, how the game has become more exciting and how referees are more decisive in making calls. Rickie motioned that he monitors PBA games on TV. His wife said their children take turns coaching Rickie back to speaking when they come home from school.

Rickie’s buddy from way back, PBA head statistician Fidel Mangonon, was with Fr. Joey. Rickie and Fidel were classmates at Philippine Science High School. They joined the PBA in 1996 with Willie Marcial, now OIC commissioner, under then commissioner Jun Bernardino. Rickie earned a BS Biology degree at UP and was supposed to follow in his father’s footsteps as a doctor. The ground floor of the family’s home in Tondo is a medical clinic. His father and mother, a pharmacist, are now deceased. Rickie, an only child, took a different career path, however, and wound up in sports. He was a sportswriter and columnist with Champ Magazine, People’sTonight and the Manila Bulletin before moving to the PBA. Rickie rose from the ranks to become operations director.

There was an aura of hope, love and compassion as Rickie lay in bed with Fr. Joey praying over. There were tears in Rickie’s eyes as there were in the eyes of Jessica, their children and visitors that afternoon.