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He Gave His Only Son

"Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

John 21:29

• There should be less talk. A preaching point is not a meeting point.


• The dying, the cripple, the mental, the unwanted, the unloved-- they are Jesus in disguise.


• In the West there is loneliness, which I call the leprosy of the West. In many ways it is worse than our poor in Calcutta. (Commonweal, Dec 19, 1997)


• It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.


• The poor give us much more than we give them. They're such strong people, living day to day with no food. and they never curse, never complain. We don't have to give them pity or sympathy. We have so much to learn from them.


• I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper's wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?


• I do not pray for success. I ask for faithfulness.


• Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.


• If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

~Mother Teresa~

When I was still in Manila, Philippines and living in an apartment building, we had Mang Imong who we would call here in the US as an apartment manager. Nevertheless, his circumstances and the general conditions in my birth country are so different from here, that it would be easier to find the contrast between what is here and what is not there, what is absent here and what is present over there, a very poor country 7,000 miles away, than look for what is common.

Mang Imong and his wife and four children live in a small shanty near an unpredictable sea for most of the year and especially during the storm season Mang Imong would see the roof and other parts of his fragile home being blown away and washed out into the sea. Mang Imong told me once that they could not leave the seashore because that was where his wife could help augment the little income that he had (he earns less than 100 dollars a month) by asking fishermen for rejected catch from the sea and cooking this for the children. His wife does laundry for other people, while he runs errands for tenants and does odd jobs and repairs.

In Manila, we have a favorite quip: "Getting sick NOT allowed," and Mang Imong lives by this completely. Because almost everyone in Manila is poor or has no spare money, there is no time to get sick, and no time to rest. Another thing though that Mang Imong never forgets to tell me, especially after a particular fierce storm when he and his family would again start over rebuilding the shanty and gathering their meager belongings, is this: "God provides." When he and his wife would be tempted to just lash out in despair, they would say: "God sustains." In their married life of about twenty years that seems to be forever lived in a desert of physical want and poverty, they and their children have shared a life of abundant hope, love, humility, and laughter. Mang Imong's smile is the kind of smile that lights up not just his eyes but also whoever is with him. In his sorrows he draws from himself to comfort others. When someone commiserates with him he is gracious and thankful, but will always say, "There are a lot more people in a worse situation than I am." Because he has simply anchored his life's philosophy on this "God knows" Mang Imong finds a space in his heart to look out for others, as he believes God is already looking out for him.

I told you about his life not to make you ask, "Why can God be so cruel?" but to say, "With God, the human soul yields to the peaceable gifts of the spirit, that in spite of adversity, or better still, through adversity, we become strong, resilient and obedient to God, and through that, we are given true joy." As we can see, God does not spare those who believe in Him from harshness and difficulties; sometimes it even seems that those who believe Him receive the most blows. But through Mang Imong, we see how this hope and faith in God separates us from those who do not believe. For those who do not believe, despair becomes the end. But for those who believe in Jesus, despair and hardship become the instrument, the means to raise us up, up from this world, so that we can see that this world is not our permanent home. For those who do not believe, there is no other option but to despair, and to see nothing but a dark future. But for those who believe, we know that we do not know what will happen in the future, that is true, but we do know that God in all His tender mercy, will sustain us and give to us what is best for us. And we do know that even in the absence of material things, God can fill us with such joy and abundance in the heart, and peace.

Now, we have Lent, and with the economy in a horrible situation is it just a coincidence, or a Divine provision, with God providing us an opportunity to walk with Him, as He has been so gracious with Mang Imong? With the gloom and fear being perpetuated by those who believe that financial security is the ultimate security in this life, it seems that God, in His way, is asking us to stake our last hope in Him, to dare believe the impossible in Him, as St. Paul says, that in our tribulations, though unpleasant in this lifetime, will produce in us patience, righteousness, and the thrill of running a good race for a very good reward: a stake in our eternal future, which matters more than anything we have possessed or could ever possess here on earth. God knows that, like Mang Imong and his wife, we worry because we need to care for our loved ones. Nevertheless, let us pray that we do not lean too much on our own logic and understanding of things to forget that God sees and oversees all things. And so in trusting Him, we will not miss the opportunity of walking with Him this Lenten season. Amid the attempts by non-believers to distract us from this wonderful retreat with the Lord, let us find a quiet place in our hearts to listen instead to what Jesus wants to share with us this year. After all, He is the good news, the news that matters most.

Mang Imong depends on the goodwill of generous souls in his dire needs, for he does not have the material wealth of this world. But with his quiet faith in God, his life is an example he also gives and generously shares to those who fear taking the walk with Jesus. Already in this lifetime, Mang Imong has already been blessed with the gift of walking hand in hand with our Good Shepherd that no matter how dark the despair, that hope in the heart will simply not be extinguished. For like what St. Paul says:

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Mang Imong has already been transformed and freed from fear, and so can we, if we let God lead us and transform us, beginning this Lenten season.

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