"I’m just grateful to God that He allowed me to reach this age," said Fr. Jess. "And that He allowed me to achieve something in my life."
In one of his reflections, Fr. Jess wrote: "God has made a covenant with me. He chose me to be a Jesuit priest. He chose me to work with married couples. He chose me to work with the blind. And God has proven that He can be extra generous with his grace."
Fr. Jess is convinced that when the Lord wants something done, He’ll make it possible. "One has to go on listening to the Lord. And when we see the Lord’s hand – we must not be afraid," added Fr. Jess.
Fr. Jess is a father-counselor to many a married couple. He is also a father to the 930 blind people who have completed the training courses at Ephpheta Foundation.
As a young man, Fr. Jess did not really know whether he was being called to the religious life. His desire to enter the seminary was a "vague" desire. Neither was he really wealthy that this option needed him to give up his wealth to serve the Lord. And, he also admits that there was no love of his life at the time and that no heart would break if he opted to become a priest. " That was 38 years ago. "But, through my life I have felt that God has been leading me to the apostolate I have come to love – the family apostolate."
It is of the Christian Family Movement’s (CFM) Marriage Encounter (ME) and Ephpheta Foundation that Fr. Jess speaks. "Here, I have found a group of people with real problems. It is these couples who have taught me and supported me in a common outreach – our preferential option for the poor – the blind."
Yes, God does work in ways that are not normally known to us. Just like what happened to Fr. Jess when he started with the CFM. It was when he was in the States taking his graduate studies in Milwaukee that married couples sought him out. They told him what CFM was about and he was hooked. He knew that the apostolate of counseling married couples to strengthen their lives together could not be put aside. He has since married 200 couples. However, he says that not all of them remain married today.
But Fr. Jess is quick on the draw when we ask if the ME is still relevant. "I will be in Tagaytay this weekend for an ME. And, I have been doing this every other weekend for almost 25 years now," says Fr. Jess.
And, yes, there are more people who attend the MEs in the provinces. The number of attendees in Metro Manila is not as big – but still there is a good number of them. People come because they are convinced by other people who have joined ME and have found the experience enriching.
"It is the couples who have been married between five and 15 years who are most active in ME," quipped Fr. Jess. He explains that young couples at this age are in search of a more meaningful married life. They are also in search of ways that they can better respond to God in their lives. And, when they discover how truly present God is in their daily lives they only want to give more of themselves to His service.
So, what are the biggest problems that married couples face?
"For men it is being able to communicate how they feel," said Fr. Jess. "Women can become overbearing." Sometimes people who join an ME end up separating from each other after the encounter. An act Fr. Jess does not consider a failure. "They just discover that they have problems they cannot resolve," he added.
During an ME everything is done so that the couples remain together. At an ME, the couples are given time to share each other’s feelings and they are also allowed time to be alone to assess their own feelings. They exchange feelings – and many times, the experience makes them gain a new understanding of each other, and a newfound respect and love for each other, too.
Fr. Jess recalls one couple with fondness. There was a policeman who was part of the Iglesia ni Cristo who joined the ME with his Catholic wife. After ME, he fell in love with his wife all over again. He wanted to be with her every day, to pick her up and bring her to work. This included her Wednesday Baclaran devotion. By the third Wednesday, the policeman was wiping the statues in Baclaran. "He asked to be baptized," said a laughing Fr. Jess. "I baptized him and also officiated in his Catholic wedding."
When a couple recognizes the presence of God in their lives as a couple they begin to live out this presence. This brings them closer to God and to each other.
"We are a very religious people and that is our strength," said Fr. Jess.
It was through the CFM that Fr. Jess was chosen for his second apostolate – ministering to the blind. It is the Ephpheta Foundation which helps find employment for the blind.
The story of Ephpheta’s beginings is equally interesting.
Fr. Jess said that he was approached by a faculty member of the school for the blind and deaf in Pasay. The faculty member told him that there was a need for a school for the deaf.
Ephpheta Foundation was born. Fr. Jess has been with the foundation since its inception 36 years ago. Nine hundred thirty blind people have finished the training seminars of Ephpheta – and there is a seminar ongoing with another 25 participants.
At Ephpheta, they train the blind to become reflexologists or masseurs. The center, together with the Rotary Club of Loyal Heights, helps these people find employment, too.
The name Ephpheta was given by Fr. Jess. "I was reflecting on the name and then I came across the word in the Bible. Ephpheta is the word Jesus used to heal the deaf," said Fr. Jess. "But afterwards, in the Bible, it says the Lord continued to heal others, like the blind."
"There are some people whom we help so they can take exams for school," said Fr. Jess. It is the desire of Ephpheta not just to help the blind find employment, but to help them achieve more in their lives if they can. And nothing is better than a good education.
Yet, the problems Ephpheta faces in dealing with the families of the blind and the communities where they live are not small. The journey starts with locating the blind in the communities their social workers visit. The government is not concerned about these people and it is the private sector that tries to help them out.
Fr. Jess says it is a miracle to witness how the blind change after the five-week seminar, which empowers them to work for themselves. "When they join, they are anti-social and insecure," said Fr. Jess. "But after weeks of working with other blind people they become empowered and outgoing."
The challenge lies in convincing families to let their blind family member join Ephpheta’s training seminars. Fr. Jess opines that many families would prefer to keep the blind at home. But, once the families let them join Ephpheta they are happier for it.
And it is here where Fr. Jess sees the Hand of God. "Miracles," he calls these changes. They become new persons, with a desire to live life and share their skills to heal others through massage – a sign of God’s work.
Is there anything more Fr. Jess hopes to achieve?
"They say that St. Ignatius de Loyola once asked one of his first companions this question: ‘If God said you could die now and directly go to heaven for what you have done or He asked you if you prefer to stay alive and do more work here, what would you choose?’ The companion of St. Ignatius answered that he would like to die," said Fr. Jess. "But Ignatius said that he would rather take the risk to do more for the Lord. That is how it is with me. I would like to live longer so that if God wills it I could do more of His work for my fellow men."
Indeed.
Love is blind.