MANILA, Philippines - William E. Barrett’s Lilies of the Field tells the story of Homer Smith, an African-American former army buck sergeant living an itinerant existence, who forms an unlikely friendship with a group of nuns from Eastern Europe who escape communist East Germany and find themselves in the rural western countryside of the United States.
Homer meets the nuns while driving across the countryside and offers to work for them when he sees them toiling away on a piece of farmland. He first encounters the mother superior, Mother Maria Marthe, who immediately believes that Homer was sent to them by God. Homer is troubled by this perception but agrees to work for them anyway. Despite the language barrier between them, Homer is immediately welcomed by the nuns and accepted into their fold. Homer soon finds Mother Maria Marthe to be strict and overbearing, and it doesn’t take long for his easygoing and carefree nature to clash with Mother Maria Marthe’s serious disposition and rigid ways. Homer also begins to feel anger when he learns that Mother Maria Marthe expects him to build a church for her. To make matters worse, the mother superior turns down Homer’s request to be compensated for his labor and even manages to silence his arguments with the use of Bible verses!
Homer’s initial feelings of appreciation for the warm welcome he receives from the nuns are soon replaced by resentment against Mother Maria Marthe. In spite of his antagonism towards her, the respect and sympathy he feels for the nuns prompts him to stay and to continue working for them, even though he knows he would get no pay. Despite his consistent rejection of the notion in the beginning and the seeming impossibility of the task, Mother Maria Marthe’s idea of having him build a church for the nuns weighs heavily on Homer. When an incident involving racial discrimination against him threatens to derail Mother Maria Marthe’s vision, Homer is suddenly given an impetus to embark on building the church, and he inexplicably even finds himself claiming ownership of the project. His own personal journey in building the church will not only change him, but will also change the community around him.
With the book mainly centered on the relationship between Homer and Mother Maria Marthe, Lilies of the Field is a story of one woman’s unwavering faith and another person’s inner transformation brought on by this faith. Indeed, with only Homer to look to for help, building a church seems like an impossible task for a group of women with very meager resources. It even seems like they could not depend on Homer for help when he continually clashes with Mother Maria Marthe and rejects her ideas. While a single event gives Homer a sudden drive to help them achieve their vision, a gradual transformation begins to take place in Homer as soon as he makes the decision to build the church. It is not the actual task itself that changes him, but it is his life with the nuns and his experiences that allow the goodness in him to shine through and to touch the lives of those around him.
While building the church, he gradually settles into a routine existence with the nuns, working during the day, eating meals with them, giving English lessons, and playing music and singing to them. Homer also finds himself providing for the nuns as he takes on odd jobs to bring them more food. Despite his initial antagonism towards Mother Maria Marthe and his repulsion at the notion that he is the answer to her prayers, he gradually begins to understand the mother superior’s faith in God and in his ability to help her fulfill her vision. Few words are ever exchanged between them in their conversations, and Homer is still constantly annoyed by Mother Maria Marthe’s seemingly incessant henpecking. Despite this lack of articulation and their contrasting personalities, a deep understanding still develops between them, and while he does not explicitly say so, the once itinerant Homer begins to feel a sense of belongingness with the nuns.
Homer’s story takes place at a time when racial prejudices were still prevalent in the country, and given their cultural and religious differences and even the language barrier between them, the unlikely friendship that he forms with the nuns may seem odd and perplexing for people during those times.
From his perspective, however, it is a friendship that makes sense and gives purpose and meaning to his life and work. It is within this sense of faith and community that Homer tries to complete the task of building a church for Mother Maria Marthe that transforms not only himself but even the community at large around him. It is also this faith that helps Homer overcome the obstacles in his way as he attempts to finish the construction.
Lilies of the Field is a simple story. It has no complicated plot twists, emotional confrontations or dramatic sequences. Its main character is a simple, unpretentious man of modest means and humble background. Other than his skills at carpentry and construction work, Homer Smith is not possessed of extraordinary or supernatural abilities or even of great power or influence. Despite his simplicity, however, Homer is a person of great kindness and extraordinary character, capable of love, devotion and compassion that even touched the people around him. His story is a message that all people are capable of understanding one another and of forming deep friendships with one another despite their differences. His journey in building a church for Mother Maria Marthe and the life that he shares with the nuns in that journey illustrate that even simple acts of kindness, done with great love and unwavering faith, could give hope, transform lives and maybe even create miracles.
While Lilies of the Field takes place at a time very different from the present, the book’s message of faith and love still resonates today.
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Maria Celsa Corina L. Kilayko, 33, works in the legal department of the Philippine National Bank and has been working as a lawyer for the past eight years. She graduated with a degree in Political Science from Ateneo and took up law at UP. She enjoys traveling, keeping fit, watching films, surfing the Internet and reading books.