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Reflections for the Working Soul
Gospel: John 10: 1-10
"I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."
Working mother
By Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas, SDB, DD
The words of Jesus in verse 10 of the tenth chapter of the Gospel of
John were my inspiration to write the phrase at the tombstone of my mother's
resting place: "She gave her life that we may live." Nanay Deling,
as we her children fondly called her, worked so hard in order to augment
the income to support our large family. She would do a variety of jobs
from menial ones, such as buying vegetables from village farmers and selling
them at the city market, to some top-level ones like managing a small-scale
RTW (ready-to-wear) garment factory. She was a very hard-working mother
who never tired spending her time and energy for us, giving us not only
the physical nourishment but above all the moral and spiritual formation
we most needed. She was not only the medium for our physical and human
life but she was also instrumental for the development of our "more
abundant" life -- the emotional, psychological, social, moral, and
spiritual aspects of life.
Moreover, my mother also gave her time and energy for our neighbors who
needed help. She would spend time to assist some of those giving birth;
she was always ready to lead the prayers for the dead, and to serve as
nurse in administering medicines to some sick people in the remote places
of our village. While she was not a professional midwife, or pastor/minister,
or nurse, she did those jobs with skill and competence and, as I observed
in the many occasions I was with her, doing them with great faith and
love for God and with kindness and care for those she served. I have seen
how those whom she served were greatly satisfied; in a sense, they received
"abundant life" (healing, some inner peace and satisfaction)
through the work my mother did for them. I guess, it was her way of trying
to imitate the Great Worker Jesus.
(E-mail the author at preciousbishop@yahoo.com)
'Kina-career ang pagnanakaw'
By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS
Driving to work the other day, I noticed the missing railings on the flyover
-- I think it's the Zamora bridge leading to the motel zone in Sta. Mesa
-- a repeat of the situation of the now-repaired Edsa-Greenhills flyover.
I understand the missing parts, being made of steel or some other metal,
are sold for recycling. Ironically, as I drove, I also heard someone over
the radio, ranting on about thieves among civil servants, and how thievery
has become a way of life in the Philippines which, the commentator fumes,
is number one in corruption in Asia.
A little later, from my workplace, I couldn't reach my sister's land
phone; by texting she informed me that the neighborhood's phones were
busted because the telephone cables had been stolen again -- for the fourth
time, in fact. It seems that thieves have made a habit of it already --
harvesting the cables barely a week after they're installed. "Ano
ba 'yan!" I snorted about my day's beginning: first the missing railings,
then the comments on the radio, now telephone cables.
It seems more and more people have made a "career" of stealing.
In today's lingo, that translates to "Kina-career na nila ang pagnanakaw."
From the uneducated domestic helper who makes a quick buck by overpricing
the galunggong she buys at the wet market, to the trusted accountant who
"doctors" the records to pad up his own bank account, all who
steal (we all do, somehow) do steal because they/we are listening to a
voice other than the Good Shepherd's. This other voice tells us our happiness
lies in the tangible things we buy, own, hold on to -- and that other
voice comes from the Master Thief himself who wants to steal our souls.
If we desire real abundance, we'd listen not to the greatest thief of
all, but to the One who gave us life.
(E-mail the author at teresa_de_manila@yahoo.com.)
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