Shades of Hope
In the midst of the catastrophic claws of Typhoon Hiayan/Yolanda are some poignant moments.
During our devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help last Wednesday, we prayed for the victims - for those who died and for the survivors. After singing our concluding song, I asked everyone for one more minute and offered prayers for the souls of those who died. Everyone stayed, and so we prayed.
As people were leaving, a woman approached me and thanked me. She was from a town in the outskirts of Tacloban. She said that as we were praying, she had a vision of souls going up to heaven being welcomed by the Father. She said it made her feel better. Like most of us, or maybe more than most of of us, she had been crying and was so worried about her own family there. The good news is that she just received a text from her brother that morning and they are alive, albeit hungry and homeless. But they know a lot of people who died. They say the uncertainty has driven some people to wander aimlessly in disbelief. She spoke of sending money through their parish priest - of this same priest taking care of his flock with the meager food supply he had. This priest prepared "lugaw" everyday just to make the rice last longer while hoping help will arrive before they run out. She spoke of a people who knew how to deal with typhoons as Leyte is in the main path of almost every typhoon - except this one was a lot more powerful and deadly, and they did not know how to deal with this devastation. Her eyes look tired, her voice cracked, but she said she was glad she came as the prayer made her feel better, and hopeful, and thankful.
This afternoon, my Vietnamese manicurists and I were talking about the typhoon. She said she was crying as she watched the news. Her husband said that on Vietnamese TV, there is a plea for help from the Vietnamese community to send help to the Philippines - because the Filipinos helped them. Many of the Vietnamese people in the US went through the Philippine Refugee Processing Center. There, they were treated with respect by the Filipinos. I take this personally, having had the privilege of working with Vietnamese (Cambodian and Laotian) refugees in Bataan.
You reap what you sow. Kindness begets kindness. Golden rule. These are all true.
And so, despite the chaos, the bickering, the blaming, the scheming and all the dark intentions of a few, the Filipinos, with the help of their fellow Filipinos and of the international community, will rebuild and rise again.
God bless us all.
During our devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help last Wednesday, we prayed for the victims - for those who died and for the survivors. After singing our concluding song, I asked everyone for one more minute and offered prayers for the souls of those who died. Everyone stayed, and so we prayed.
As people were leaving, a woman approached me and thanked me. She was from a town in the outskirts of Tacloban. She said that as we were praying, she had a vision of souls going up to heaven being welcomed by the Father. She said it made her feel better. Like most of us, or maybe more than most of of us, she had been crying and was so worried about her own family there. The good news is that she just received a text from her brother that morning and they are alive, albeit hungry and homeless. But they know a lot of people who died. They say the uncertainty has driven some people to wander aimlessly in disbelief. She spoke of sending money through their parish priest - of this same priest taking care of his flock with the meager food supply he had. This priest prepared "lugaw" everyday just to make the rice last longer while hoping help will arrive before they run out. She spoke of a people who knew how to deal with typhoons as Leyte is in the main path of almost every typhoon - except this one was a lot more powerful and deadly, and they did not know how to deal with this devastation. Her eyes look tired, her voice cracked, but she said she was glad she came as the prayer made her feel better, and hopeful, and thankful.
This afternoon, my Vietnamese manicurists and I were talking about the typhoon. She said she was crying as she watched the news. Her husband said that on Vietnamese TV, there is a plea for help from the Vietnamese community to send help to the Philippines - because the Filipinos helped them. Many of the Vietnamese people in the US went through the Philippine Refugee Processing Center. There, they were treated with respect by the Filipinos. I take this personally, having had the privilege of working with Vietnamese (Cambodian and Laotian) refugees in Bataan.
You reap what you sow. Kindness begets kindness. Golden rule. These are all true.
And so, despite the chaos, the bickering, the blaming, the scheming and all the dark intentions of a few, the Filipinos, with the help of their fellow Filipinos and of the international community, will rebuild and rise again.
God bless us all.
posted by PHLOR TORREJOS at 8:46 PM
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