Painting Christ's love

For many years now, Catholic schools in the country have required students to join outreach activities. For teachers, it is unrealistic to expect that a one- or two-day exposure trip to poor communities will bring about an immediate lifestyle change in affluent students of Catholic schools. At most, these experiences only broaden their perspectives and the usual insight would be the realization of how blessed their lives are compared to the plight of their less-fortunate neighbors. While it is good that well-off students appreciate the blessings they receive, such insight still bespeaks of immaturity and selfishness as the spotlight focuses still on the self and not on the needs of the other. As teachers, however, we could only hope that these experiences would be the start of gradual enlightenment that money and ambition do not mean everything in this world.

It was thus a very fortunate experience for me to witness a couple of weekends ago how a few of my students from Xavier School, along with their schoolmates from other batches made the initiative of visiting our foundation school and start an interaction program with our students. They belong to a famous Christian movement popular in many Jesuit schools for transforming the lives of young students. Admirably, the group wanted to serve an apostolate community so that they could enact and embody the love of God they fervently feel in their movement.

 A genuine and meaningful interaction with the poor requires both action and solidarity. The group had wanted to help improve the quality of school life of the students. Touring the school and consulting its administrators, they came up with the idea of repainting the school canteen. To achieve this, they asked for volunteers from our students. On the assigned date, the Xavier students, instead of simply asking people to find a spot and start painting, divided themselves and formed groups comprising a mixed bunch of Xavier alumni and our students. Thus, they were assigned a specific portion of the canteen and off they worked. Fortunately, the very tiring and tedious task of repainting walls became light and enjoyable. Originally planned as a whole-day activity, efficiency, teamwork, and cooperation enabled the repainting of the school canteen to be finished in less than four hours. In that short period, new friendships were formed, but more importantly, something concrete was achieved — the canteen walls have become pristine white once again, and it was easy to anticipate and imagine how the rest of the student population will enjoy spending their recess and lunch in this now-conducive recreation space. 

But while a newly repainted canteen was indeed a welcome sight for our students, some shared how they also valued the gift of presence. They recalled how much they admired seeing very committed and dedicated people at work. “Mas masipag pa nga sila sa amin!” claimed Bernadette, one of my students when I asked what she thought of the group of Xavier alumni. She was impressed with how her new friends were so focused on work that they were able to finish tasks in the shortest amount of time possible. Mark, another student of mine, shared how he appreciated what the Xavier alumni had done. He claimed that they appreciate it more when people help not by donating material goods but through work and service. In this way, he shares, “We don’t merely receive. We also learn and grow in the process.”

Team spirit: Xavier students, alumni, and teachers work together towards a common goal.

And so, last Monday, I purposefully went to the canteen before the clock struck recess time. Students came pouring in expectedly with their wows, oohs and aahhs, and exclamations of “ang linis na!” But I am happiest most for my students who volunteered during that weekend, as they became witnesses to the true essence of Christianity, that of making God’s love a reality by sharing it with others. For these students, the message of the activity was clear: It is possible for the well-off and the less fortunate to work together towards a common goal. The canteen was certainly pure and spotless with its new coat of paint, but the Christian brotherhood they experienced through the activity was a greater and more immaculate sight to see and one that will not fade in their hearts anytime soon.