MANILA, Philippines - We have different kinds of fathers. Some may have had a nurturing, loving father.
Others lost their fathers to premature death. Some never even met or knew their fathers. Our experience of fatherhood oftentimes also depends on the age, circumstances or passages that our own fathers were undergoing when we were growing up. An elder son experience of his father may be different from that of the youngest child, if the father was much more advanced in years. But one thing we can depend on is that we all have a father who is changeless — our Heavenly Father. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He loves us with such a perfect love that He gave us His only begotten son, Jesus Christ. Jesus made the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear. Until today, He is with us, as He promised “I am with you always, until the end of age.” Jesus wants to heal us from our physical infirmities, as well as from our inner hurts, fears, hopelessness, because He wants to give us life and to live it to the fullest.
This is the core belief of the healing ministry of Father Fernando Suarez. He believes that through the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and through our personal healing from our physical illnesses, Jesus wants to bring us closer to himself, to experience him in a personal way.
Testimonies speak of the healing they received from their health impairments such as severe asthma, thyroid problems, skin disorders, leukemia, diabetes, scoliosis, paralysis, and a variety of heart conditions. Many people diagnosed with stage four cancer have testified that they were miraculously healed, their laboratory tests declared clear by their much-surprised oncologists.
I, myself, was healed of a lump at the back of my neck when I was invited by friends Celia and Jun Gutierrez to attend the groundbreaking of Monte Maria Chapel in Barangay Buck Estate, Alfonso Cavite. With Fr. Suarez’s healing touch, the lump subsided by the time the Mass was finished.
When people thank Fr. Suarez, he insists that it is not him who is healing: “I am only an instrument.” During an interview at the beautiful office of Milrose Corporation, owners of Museo Walo, Fr. Suarez revealed that we get sick because there is a disconnect between our physical, emotional and spiritual life. He believes that love, or the “lack of love,” is the main reason why people get sick. Oftentimes we search for this love through things, relationships, experiences but it is only the love of our loving father through Jesus Christ that fully satisfies. With Jesus, Fr. Suarez reminds us that we do not need to spend for cell load or Wi-Fi. His love is free, and instantly available.
When asked by Trixie Concepcion why he does not go into a trance when he conducts his healing, Fr. Suarez says that he actually prayed and requested that he not go into a trance; he wants to experience the healing, because these are beautiful encounters with God.
Fr. Suarez had a simple, ordinary childhood in Batangas before he migrated to Canada with his family. It was there that his superiors encouraged him to share his gifts with others as a way of continuing his Jesus ministry.
“I am nothing special,” he says with characteristic modesty. “I am not very intelligent or extraordinary in looks or background. In these times when we are particular about branding, my healing cannot be attributed to me but to Jesus Christ.”
In all his photos and posters, Fr. Suarez makes sure his face is covered by the chalice and the host to make sure people remember the power behind their healing. Trust and belief is what our Father wants from us. He recalls a request for prayer by a friend Trina David who was in New York. Even though Fr. Suarez was in Baguio at the time, he prayed through the cell phone. Then, the next day he got a call from her… and she thanked him. “Hi! Fr. Suarez… It’s Trina. Charlie was at my house during your Mass… he had lung cancer and a brain tumor… He is now healed… The doctor was baffled and he can’t believe what happened.” She added: “Thank you, Fr. Suarez, for praying for my friend over the phone.”
What is important after our physical healing,” Fr. Suarez reminds people, “is that we encounter God’s love. When one is healed physically, do not stop there. Jesus has much more to offer. There is a deeper form of healing, the joy of having true intimacy with the Lord.”
Through his healing Masses in Ireland, London, Australia, Paris, United Arab Emirates, Bethlehem, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Indonesia, New Jersey, California and elsewhere, many people of different religious beliefs who have been healed begin to search for the power behind the healing and seek a deeper meaning in their lives through newfound faith.
There have also been many skeptics, those that challenge Fr. Suarez. He remembers how in one healing Mass a person wanted to test him by walking with a stick as if he could not walk. But by divine inspiration, Fr. Suarez prayed for him and his real health problem, which was his stomach cancer.
Some may not be healed right away. But God — in his wisdom, in his power, in his time — will always heal. Sometimes the consolation and happiness is the new awareness and deepening relationship with God himself.
Fr. Suarez recounts the story of an 85–year-old woman who, together with her entire family, went to Monte Maria to celebrate her birthday. After the Mass, the woman said it had been the best moment in her life. The children were so surprised. They had tried so many ways to make their mother happy, and it was only then that she was truly happy. Truly we all hunger and thirst for God and the inner peace and joy he gives us is the only thing that satisfies.
Fr. Suarez chose to come to the Philippines and set up Mary Mother of the Poor Foundation because his greatest happiness is to be with the poor. His ministry, aside from healing, supports many poor families in the country.
However, Fr. Suarez also shares that his travels enable him to heal our Overseas Filipino Workers. In most cases our OFWs suffer from a different form of pain — that of loneliness, and a deeper longing for their motherland.
He encourages them to bring their loneliness to our Heavenly Father through Jesus. He reminds our OFWs how important it is for them to cling to our Father’s love. They may occupy menial jobs, but they are loved and valued by our Lord. It is necessary that we each feel this intrinsic value as a person. When we have our own personal relationship with God, we know ourselves completely, so that when others judge us, we will not be affected.
Having this assurance of God’s deep love for us, we will know ourselves and our self-worth. Through our Father’s love we experience total healing. Complete healing is when we desire to be good, as the Father has been and will always be good to us. Today, Father’s Day, may we “experience and understand how long, how wide, how deep and how high God’s love truly is.”