Filipinos abroad

Enid Sevilla, who is now in charge of the Paulist Productions in Los Angeles, sent me this article by Steve Ray, who is a convert to the Catholic Church.

He has written three best sellers: "Crossing The Tiber", the story of his conversion; "Upon This Rock", on the Papacy, and "John’s Gospel", a comprehensive study guide. He is currently filming a 10-video series called: "Footprints of God". The first two videos are out: "Peter, Keeper of the Keys", and "Mary, Mother of God."

This is his "Open Letter to Filipino Catholics".

"We stepped into the church. It was old and dark. Mass had just begun. We sat toward the front. We didn’t know what to expect here in Istanbul, Turkey. I guess we expected it to be a somber Mass. But quiet and somber it was not! I thought I heard angels joyously singing behind me.

"The voices were rich, melodic and beautiful. What I discovered as I spun around to look did not surprise me, because I had seen and heard the same thing in other churches around the world.

"It was not a choir of angels with feathered wings and halos. It was a group of delightful Filipino Catholics with smiles of delight and joy on their faces as they worshiped God and sang his praises. I had seen this many times before in Rome, in Israel, in the United States and in other countries.

"Filipinos have special traits, and these were beautifully expressed as I gazed at the happy throng giving thanks to God. What are the special traits which characterize these happy people? I will share a few that I have noticed — personal observations as I have traveled around the world, including visits to the Philippines.

"FIRST, there is a sense of community, of family. These Filipinos did not sit apart from each other, in different isles. They sat together, closely. They didn’t just sing quietly, mumbling, or simply mouthing the words. No, they raised their voices in harmony together, as though they enjoyed the sense of unity and communion among them. They are family – even if they are not related.

"SECOND, they have an inner peace and joy which is rare in the world today.

"When most of the world’s citizens are worried and fretful, I have found Filipinos to have joy and peace, a deep sense of God’s love that overshadows them. They have problems too, and many in the Philippines have less material goods than others in the world, yet there is still a sense of happy trust in God, and love of neighbor.

"THIRD, there is a love for God and for his Son Jesus that is almost synonymous with the word Filipino.

"There is also something that Filipinos are famous for around the world — their love for the Blessed Mother. Among the many Filipinos I have met, the affectionate title for Mary I always hear from their lips is ‘Mama Mary’. For these gentle folks Mary is not just a theological idea, an historical person, or a statue in a church — Mary is the mother of their Lord, and their mother as well, their ‘mama’ .

"The Philippines is a Catholic nation – the only such nation in Asia – and this wonderful country exports missionaries around the world. They are not hired to be missionaries, not official workers of the Church. No, they are workers and educators, doctors, nurses and housekeepers that go to other lands and travel to the far reaches of the earth, and everywhere they go they take the joyous Gospel of Jesus with them. They always keep the love of Jesus and the Eucharist central in their lives.

"My hope and prayer is that the Filipino people will continue to keep these precious qualities. I pray that they will continue loving their families, loving the Catholic Church, reading the Bible, loving Jesus, His mother and the Eucharist.

"As many other religions and sects try to persuade them to leave the Church, may God give them wisdom to defend the Catholic faith. As the world tempts them to sin, and to seek only money and fame and power, may God grant them the serenity always to remember that obedience to Christ and love for God is far more important than all the riches the world can offer.

"May the wonderful Filipino people continue to be a light of the Gospel to the whole world."

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And, from Rome, comes the official word that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has approved the canonization of Mother Eugenie, the foundress of the Religious of the Assumption. No date has been set, but it is expected that the canonization will take place in Rome during the second quarter of 2007. At that time – April, May and June, springtime in Europe – the great courtyard of the Vatican, in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica, can be beautifully decorated with flowers. The weather will be pleasant, and Saint Peter’s Square can accommodate 150,000 people.

This brings great joy to the Assumption Sisters in the Philippines. And to the Assumption Alumnae of Manila, of Antipolo, and of Iloilo – because it was the miraculous cure of a Filipina baby that fulfilled the last requirement for Mother Eugenie’s canonization.

When this child was still in the womb of her mother, arrangements were made that she would be adopted by a French couple. But when she was born, the complicated conditions of our government for adoption had not yet been satisfied. So the baby was left, for the time being, with a Filipino couple – Ditos and Carmen Bondoc. Carmen is an alumna of Assumption Convent. Ditos is an Alumnus of the Ateneo de Manila.

Time rolled by. The French couple tried and tried, but finally gave up. They went to Vietnam and adopted a Vietnamese baby. Meanwhile, Carmen, Ditos and their two adopted daughters fell in love with the baby. But they noticed that when the child was placed in her bassinette on her back, she never turned to either side. And if placed on her tummy, she never turned, either way. And her eyes did not seem to focus.

So they took her to a pediatrician. In his first examination of the child, he paled. He called in a specialist. As gently as they could, they told Carmen and Ditos: "She will never walk or talk. She will never see, or hear. She will be retarded. And she will not live longer than 18 months. The two lobes of her brain are not united.". . . . . . Every Filipino doctor who looked at the baby confirmed this.

Carmen and Ditos took her to experts in Houston. They said: "The diagnosis of the Filipino doctors was completely accurate. She will not walk or talk, see or hear. She’ll be retarded. And she will not live beyond 18 months."

So they brought her to Boston. There, the doctors agreed totally with the doctors of Houston and Manila. By this time, the scientific findings on this child made a sizeable pile. But Carmen and Ditos would not give up.

They brought her to Paris. Carmen gathered together the General of the Religious of the Assumption, and her entire Council. They placed the baby on the tomb of Mother Eugenie, and prayed with all their hearts that she would intercede for her with the Virgin Mary, with Christ Our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, with God the Father.

Today, that little girl is one of the brightest students in the Grade School of Assumption College in San Lorenzo. She is very affectionate. She loves everyone, and everyone loves her. The lobes of her brain are still disunited. By all the laws of medicine she should have been blind, deaf, dumb, crippled and then dead at the age of 18 months.

All the doctors who examined her – in Manila, in Houston, in Boston, in Paris, and finally the independent doctors of the Vatican – agree: there is no case like this in the history of medicine. The officials of the Vatican Curia have agreed: it is a miracle.

So Benedict XVI signed the approval, and the Alumnae of Assumption will flock to the Vatican for the canonization, in the beautiful Springtime of Rome.

What Steve Ray says is so true! The Filipinos are poor in the wealth of this world, but we are rich in the treasures of the spirit!

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