On Feb. 25, 1991, the people of Sorsogon filled the Saints Peter and Paul Basilica to the rafters eagerly waiting for a healing session to begin. Unfortunately the plane bearing the healer was unable to land in Sorsogon hence the session was abruptly canceled. With a heavy heart, a young priest named Fr. Gerard Devesa had no choice but to be the bearer of heartbreakingly sad news.
"I am extremely sorry," he told the crowd, "but it’s time for you all to go home. The healing session will not push through today as planned." The families of the many sick patients who waited patiently, earlier filled with so much hope and great anticipation, stared back at him in disbelief. An unrelenting woman approached him and said, "Father please, at the very least, we simply cannot go home without hearing Mass first. And besides, you already heard our confessions."
Surprised and embarrassed by this retort, the very shy Fr. Gerard obeyed. Nervously he prayed and prepared himself behind the altar. As he put on his chasuble, something unexpected happened. He felt heat radiate from the topmost part of his head which started to spread. As he began walking towards the people, he felt his entire body emitting this heat but was totally unaware of where it was coming from.
Throughout the entire Mass his body continued to emit this unusual heat. Humbled during his homily, he confessed to the people how ashamed he was of himself for not having thought of celebrating a Mass even if their special guest didn’t arrive. How could I not have realized the importance of this Mass?" he humbly lamented.
While he was talking the sponsors were suddenly filled with awe and began to whisper to one another. Something strange and divine was happening here. Those who knew him would attest that he was a shy speaker. More than this, he couldn’t even speak the Sorsogonan vernacular. But there he was standing in front of this huge crowd fluently delivering his homily, in the local dialect.
Fr. Gerard proceeded to pray. He asked the Lord to heal all those who were sick, those who heard Mass and those who said their confessions that day.
"Afterwards I was so shocked when people asked me to lay hands on them. I couldn’t do it. I told them I am not a member of any charismatic group and I just don’t know how to do that. It is Christ who knows what you need. All I can do is pray for you." Finally everyone went home.
After a week Fr. Gerard was so surprised to be told by family members that many of their sick loved ones got well during that Mass.
His mentor Bishop Emeritus of Sorsogon Jesus Varela D.D. encouraged Fr. Gerard to practice this special gift of healing. "It’s a gift of life," the bishop said. "Not for yourself but for others. You must pursue it. " Since then his ministry has started.
Bishop Varela shared: "I relieved him of parish work in Sorsogon so he could go full time healing. Great miracles were performed by the Lord through Fr. Gerard. In and out of the Philippines, to Guam, the United States and Europe he has gone. Patients have been healed from cancer, pain, blindness, infertility, the crippled, a shattered kneecap, the list goes on. He goes about daily visiting and healing the sick while spreading the good news. He holds regular healing Masses at Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park, Makati every first Friday at 3 p.m. Yes, he now lays hands on them, he laughs, no longer the reluctant healer he once was.
Last Oct. 7, 2006 marked his 25th year as a priest. Many families whose lives he has touched and continues to care for converged at a special Mass to celebrate the fruitful years God has given him. People from all walks of life joined hands in prayer for this man who remains as simple and humble as the day he started.
Shares Lucy Lee, a friend and supporter of Fr. Gerard: "Many people wanted to give him money for their healing yet he didn’t accept. But having a soft spot for the poor eventually won him over. He started a carefully planned Healing Servants Foundation to channel the funds that people insisted on giving. His main objective is to give hope to the underprivileged and uplift their spirit. Since he brought up the idea to friends in September 2002, we have enjoyed doing volunteer works for this foundation. Our projects are concentrated in Sorsogon where Fr. Gerard first started his priestly ministry.
The foundation’s Divine Healer Learning Center located at El Retiro, Cabid-an Sorsogon started in 2003 with two makeshift classrooms for nursery and kinder. Today it has a total of 181 students. The school is in the process of repairing damaged classrooms due to typhoon Milenyo. At the same, new classrooms are being built to accommodate upcoming Grade 4 students and new enrollees. (For the benefit of the school, a concert called "Tabang" will be staged at the Music Museum on March 30 at 8 p.m. featuring the Three Tenors (Sec. Joey Lina, Sec. Angelo Reyes and MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando), Pilita Corrales, Jose Mari Chan, The Company, Nolyn and Liza Cabahug, Mel Feliciano and the Solid Gold Dancers, Beverly Salviejo plus surprise guests.)
The foundation’s poultry, piggery and candy-making livelihood projects give the beneficiaries a chance to earn a living. Instead of a dole out, the foundation aims to give them a chance to feed themselves and their families.
"Healing of the mind is just as important as healing of one’s body," Fr. Gerard says.
He said that there are times when someone would approach him to say: "Father please pray over my stomach ache." He would ask him: "Kumain ka na ba? Have you eaten?" Then the person would shake his head and say no. This situation pained him that he finally found a way to feed them. But he was quick to point out that it is also important to teach them how to feed themselves.
"In an adjacent property is our housing program for the homeless poor. We have so far provided homes for 24 families. We choose our beneficiaries well and we require them to help in the construction of their own homes," said Fr. Gerard.
He added, "For value formation, after the 9 a.m Sunday Mass, we provide food and catechetical classes for children and young adults."
One good thing about sickness is it somehow brings families closer. Though not everyone receives physical healing  chances are, when they come together to pray and ask God to heal their sick loved ones, the entire family will receive precious gifts of spiritual healing.
(Would love to hear from you. E-mail me at miladayjewels@yahoo.com)