Faith and do-gooding

A special guest at yesterday’s “Bulong Pulungan sa Sofitel,” which also served as a birthday celebration for two stalwarts—the Bulletin’s Deedee Siytangco and the Star’s Joanne Rae Ramirez—was “healing priest” Fr. Fernando Suarez.

He is now based in the island of Iling in Occidental Mindoro, ministering to humble farmers and members of the Mangyan community, the “poorest of the poor,” Father Suarez told the group.

While his spiritual healing takes him to posh locales in the country, he said the time he spends with the folks in Iling has taught him many valuable lessons. One of these is the insight that in life, you must “give while you do not have enough,” teaching the poor folk to let go of their fear of hunger, of poverty, and instead seek to help one another achieve a better life. To this end, he has called on friends to help the community, supplying families with solar lamps (there is no electricity on the island) and water systems.

What binds all those whom he has prayed over and sent away to recover from their ailments? Father Suarez said their relief from earthly pains could be attributed to their “faith and submission to God.” This is a lesson that the Bible teaches us, as with the story of the lame man who was cured by Jesus, he said. “The story of faith lies not with the man who was cured, but with the community who tore down the roof of the house to lower the man to Jesus, so strong was their faith that Jesus would heal him.”

***

Also guesting at the “Bulong” media gathering were the officers of the Rotary Club of Manila 101 who were marking a major milestone in their project “Education in Motion.” The project, said current president Majella Villaroman, is thus called because it involves the use of a mobile van equipped with computers and other high-tech learning tools that visits different public high schools and stays on campus for a month while students and teachers undergo training. The project is cosponsored by the Rotary Club of Sarasota, Florida.

The brainchild of former club president Tess Tumangan, “Education in Motion” aims to equip young people undergoing the K-to-12 program with skill sets needed to compete globally in a rapidly technologically developing world.

To recognize their partners in the endeavor, Villaroman, together with Tumangan and Rotary district head Obet Pagdanganan, awarded mobile devices to officials and outstanding students of Torres High School, one of the first institutions to join “Education in Motion.” Awarded were principal Gene Pangilinan, teacher monitors Lady Chris Capati Leonardo and Ava Asuncion, and students Claraine Dy, Angel Salapuddin and Carmina David.

So successful has the program been, said Villaroman, that students tested on their aptitude on the subject matter scored an impressive success rate of 97 percent!

***

Indeed, doing good spans the entire range of human concerns and priorities. One is helping public school students compete with their counterparts here and abroad. Another is providing the basic necessities to the poorest and most neglected. Yet another is responding to the needs of the Catholic faithful, specifically for safer, more secure places of worship.

Among the reported 42 foundations, firms, families and individuals who responded to the appeal for support of the organizers of the recently concluded 51st International Eucharistic Congress, was the Wong Chu King Foundation (WCKF), one of the early donors to the Congress’ fund-raising efforts.

As its way of supporting the Eucharistic Congress, the WCKF chose to undertake the construction of the “Agony in the Garden” meditation stop in the “Garden of Thanksgiving.”

The garden is a depiction of events in the life of Jesus and was designed to be “a sanctuary of prayer and reflection where pilgrims can freely come to meditate and offer prayers” located inside the Archbishop of Cebu’s residential compound. The “Agony in the Garden” features a kneeling Christ pondering his upcoming passion and death, inviting reflection and meditation among pilgrims who flocked to Cebu for the Congress.

This is but one of many projects recently completed with the WCKF’s support, the majority of them coming to the aid of faith communities and parishes in need of assistance.

One of them is St. James the Apostle Parish in Iguig, Cagayan, which is situated in a quiet hillside retreat but turns bustling during Lent and Holy Week with pilgrims visiting its famous life-size Stations of the Cross. The growing number of pilgrims and visitors had so severely taxed the facilities of the parish that local church authorities, including Archbishop Sergio Lasam Utleg of Tuguegarao and parish priest Fr. Carlos Evangelista approached the WCKF for help in the repair and renovation of the 251-year-old church.

Work began last year, and last January the nine-month project was completed and turned over to the parish. Since the Wong Chu King family members are devotees of St. James, the archdiocese gave them a statue of St. James the Apostle as a token of gratitude.

Also in Cagayan, the parish of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Nannarian, Peñablanca, located in one of the poorest areas in the province, received assistance from the WCKF for the repair and expansion of the 45-year-old church. Some 400 regular Sunday Mass-goers had to fit themselves in the chapel that could accommodate only 150, because termite infestation had weakened the structure. The WCKF agreed to support the effort, and construction is ongoing. Parishioners can thus look forward to attending Mass in a roomier and safe structure, the better to worship freely and with peace of mind.