The comforter
The story is told about a worried wife who called her friend, saying she suspected her husband was with some other woman because it was already late, and he wasn’t home yet. Her friend’s reply was: “Will you please stop thinking negative! Maybe he just met an accident or, maybe, he had a heart attack, okay?”
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In today’s Gospel (John 14:15-21), Jesus promised that He will give us an Advocate helper, who will be with us always and who will comfort us. The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete or the Comforter is the one who guides and enlightens us. May we, too, become helpers and comforters to one another. Are you a source of comfort and strength to others, or are you a source of discomfort and hurts?
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It is so consoling and comforting to know that the Lord is with us always. “In a little while you will see me, but you still see me, because I live, and you will live in me.” (John 14:19) In His farewell discourse, Jesus took the trouble of repeating over and over His promise that He would not abandon us or leave us as orphans. Yes, we have the blessed assurance that He will be with us always. That’s clear. But the question is: are we with Him, always?
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“In a little while” is a beautiful phrase that is loaded with hope. Suffering is not forever. Bad people are not forever. Suckers and milkers are not forever. In a little while our country will move on toward greater heights. In a little while it will be proven again that it pays to be good, and that crime does not pay. Keep believing. Keep hoping. Keep praying. Keep working on love.
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It’s May once again, the beautiful month of May, dedicated to Mama Mary. I remember how, as kids, we would spend our summer days in Bani, Pangasinan, climbing trees, swimming in the river, going to the barrios looking for spiders, or just frolicking in the summer sun. But the afternoons also found us gathering flowers and going to the church to offer our love and gratitude to the Blessed Mother. It was a beautiful practice, the memory of which to this day I keep in my mind and in my heart. May we not forget Mama Mary, our Mother.
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Today is Mother’s Day. How many mothers are forgotten or are taken for granted by their children? Worse, how many mothers are hurt by their children? One time an elderly woman came to me, crying and telling me that, perhaps, it was better for her to die already so that she would not be a burden to her children anymore. She went on to say that her children hardly called or visited her, and if ever they did, all she heard were their complains, their miseries, and their never-ending squabbles and quarrels among themselves. The greatest pain for any mother is to know that her children will not be all right and will not have peace with each other after she is gone. A mother does not need much to be happy. All she needs is love and assurance from her children, her “little ones.” Have you called, have you visited, have you hugged your mother lately? Better do it now, before it’s too late.
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I hold in my heart many lessons I learned from my Mama. But what I remember most as a child was her constant admonition to endure and be patient because everything is passing, and that things will become better—in a little while. I still could hear her words: “Itepel yo labat (just endure)”; “mandasal kayo labat (just pray); “mankalakal kayo (be good).”
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Some years ago, I learned a song titled “Walk in the World for Me” (A Healing Affair of the Heart by Deanna Edwards): “Walk in the world for me, sing a happy melody, and keep my memory, not far away; may you find that life will bring all the best of everything; take special care of you, for me today.” Words of Jesus, words of Mama Mary, and works of Mama that I hold dear in my heart to this very day.
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The month of May is the month of Mama Mary, a woman who from the very start was covered and guided by the Holy Spirit, a woman of faith who believed that God’s promises to her will come to pass. May we, too, become more docile, more submissive, and more obedient to the Divine Will. Fiat voluntas tua! Thy will be done Lord!
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Allow me to share this text message I received recently: “We heal our souls whenever we confess; we heal our spirit whenever we pray; we heal our body whenever we fast and abstain; and we heal our heart whenever we forgive.” May the Holy Spirit heal us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. May He heal us of our bad habits, and our broken relationships, and may the Holy Spirit heal our homes, our country, our world, our earth.
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Let me end with the words of a physician who said that in his 30 years of medical practice, he has prescribed many things, but he has come to realize that the best medicine is love. When asked, what if it doesn’t work, his reply was: “Double the dose.” May we who are in the business of loving continue to love, and keep on loving and doubling the dose, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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Happy Mother’s Day! As we pray for our mothers and for all mothers, we also pray for our motherland, our mother earth, and our mother nature.
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A moment with the Lord:
Lord, may we become comforters to each other. Amen.
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