A Letter to Angel

Dearest Angel,

We never had the chance to meet but a part of me knows you already.
Not fully but just enough to write you this short letter.

We met your family today and we felt your parents' pain despite their subtle attempts to hide behind their smiles and lively conversations. Your two ate's (elder sisters) are more quiet than their usual because in their young hearts they know it though still void of full comprehension.

Not too long ago, your unexpected coming became a momentous event for your family.
Everybody became excited and each one, in great anticipation, would have certainly dreamed how you would become the apple of each family member's eye. Both of your sisters may have been looking at some of their old stuffs and toys, wondering if you still would like them despite being outdated and out of fashion. Anyway, they know that it does not matter to you because you will just be overly proud to have wonderful sisters to play with and look after each other.

Your parents seek the best medical support they can find for you and your mommy. They wanted to make sure that your health and safety are foremost in their chosen doctor's agenda.

In the end though, God's plan for you prevailed.
It was not meant to be.

In a sudden twist of fate, you were called back to heaven while still only around 5 months inside your mother's womb. And as it turned out, your unexpected coming was preempted by your unexpected departure. Your family's joyful expectation became, in an instant, overcast with clouds of pain and grief.

I write to you because you are not only Angel as a namesake given by your parent but a heavenly-ordained angel, a cherubim playing angelic tunes with a golden lyre.
With your intercession, your family can grieve with the hope of healing in due time.
With your intercession, your family can cope with the pain of losing by being comforted by the truth that you are now safely back in our Lord's embrace.
With your intercession, your family can move on to find meaning from all of these hurts.

I know you can read this and our faith dictates that you will come to your family's side with your own prayers for them.
I know that you love them this much because we have seen how much they love you.

We join your family in prayers.

love,
Tito Rowin and Tita Menchie

PS. Please say hi to our Maia up there.


Angel was supposed to be the third daughter of our good friends but due to an unforeseen medical condition, she left them before even she was born. What makes the loss more painful was when the communist authorities strongly opposed and denied, as a matter of their alleged strict policy, their request to claim her fetal remains for proper Catholic burial in our home-country. Our grieving friends can only lift up to God all these things that has happened to their baby.

The Gift

After more than 10 years in China, we have finally added the most significant and meaningful decoration of the Christmas holiday season – the scene of Nativity. All the main characters from baby Jesus, Joseph, Mary, the angel, 3 wise men and to some stable animals were given to us in figurine sets. But since the manger was conspicuously missing, my son Zek and I decided to add this to our homeschooling art projects by making one from glued popsicle sticks and taped cut papers that we later painted in brown color to add a semblance of natural manger outlook. It turned out to be nice and we added a battery-powered LED light to focus on the infant Jesus. My wife gave us her sweet smile and nod of approval after we completed it. At last, we set-up the scene on top of a small cabinet.

One by one, I described to my son the characters and the roles they played in the scene. Since it was the first time he heard about the three wise men, he was quite intrigued at the gifts they were offering to baby Jesus – gold, myrrh and frankincense, if I remember them right. I told him these were the best and most expensive gifts during that time.

A few days passed and I noticed something was added into our Nativity scene. Partly obscured by the paper grasses on the floor was a brown plastic thing beside the baby Jesus.

Pure joy enveloped me as I smiled to myself upon knowing what it was. It was Zek’s Lego treasure chest with all the gold plastic coins that he believes to be the best and most expensive part of his toy collection.

He was offering them to baby Jesus as well!

This coming Sunday will be the celebration of the feast of Christ The King which subsequently will be followed by the four Sundays of advent in preparation for the birth of our Lord.

Once again, it is timely to ask ourselves this question – what kind of gift can I offer to our Lord for the coming Christmas? What will be the best and most worthy offering can I lay down in front of Him who is my King and my Savior?

Most of us know it but I would rather repeat this for the benefit of those who have forgotten amidst the materialistic and busy world we now live in – the BEST and MOST WORTHY gift, sans the glossy wrappings and silk ribbon top décor, that we can give to our Lord on His birthday is our pure, humble and gracious hearts. Needless to say, we are His PRICELESS brothers and sisters that neither money, prestige or power can compare in value.

Jesus, the Giver who is also the Gift, is waiting in great anticipation for our personal gift this year.

Let us not let Him wait in vain.

God bless.

Charity Without Borders

One morning, as my son and I were playing our own version of "football-jog" (where we jog around the small garden place while kicking a small football), we saw a lady preparing food for some stray cats. Zek being curious, stopped to look while and I admired the lady for such gentle and kind act from a distance. But as she placed the food down in front of the gray-stripped dark cat, she started to shoo-away the other two cats nearby. Zek glanced back at me with a confused look. "Why were the other two cats prevented from sharing food with the dark cat?", was certainly the logical question bugging my son at that very moment. All three cats looked unfed but why only feed this particular one and deny the others?

It bugged me as well.

There were some situations in my life when I was also prejudicial and selective in my intention to help. Just recently, when I saw the Pakistani people devastated by the relentless flooding in their country for many days, I took pity on them which ended there – just pitying them. Not that I needed to hop into the next flight to Pakistan and volunteer there, but I realized that I could have just easily prayed for them and doled out some amount to organizations helping them directly. I could remember well, that during last year’s Ondoy calamity in the Philippines, we have incessantly included the affected Filipinos in our prayer time and even organized financial contribution-donation from our friends to send to our country.

So why do we choose who to help, who to love?

Is it because of our preferences for blood-relations, nationality or religious affiliations?

Is it because of wanting to be recognized for our good deed?

Is it because we hope to be repaid in any form in the near future?

Even the bible tells us of one story (Matthew 15:26-28). where a woman with a daughter tormented by a demon begged Jesus for healing and was told that “it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it into the dogs”. She was from Canaan and in all likelihood, a Gentile. Jesus is a Jew, whose community has expressed contempt for such people. It was only her great show of faith which seemed to have moved the Lord to grant her request. Not necessarily, because Jesus already knew the immovable faith of the woman and was only taking the opportunity to preach to His apostles and to the people present there. He wanted to teach them that God’s love and salvation is for all as long as they will have faith in Him, regardless of a person’s background.

Jesus emphasized this furthermore in Luke 6 :32-34 when He told us,“ For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount”.

The challenge for those who are in service is not to be selective whom to serve and not to choose whom to love.

Matthew 25:33-46 made it clear that those who have fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, visited those in prison, welcomed strangers, cared for those who are ill and clothed the naked, they would be separated and grouped to the right side to be formally welcomed into God’s kingdom. The rest, who did otherwise, will be taken into the unquenchable fire. And when both sides asked the Lord when was He hungry or thirsty or ill or in prison, naked or a stranger, the Lord will say,” Whatever you have done to the least of your brethren, you have done unto me”. Note that He did not say ,”Whatever you did to your family member….”, or “Whatever you did to your community-member….”, or ,” Whatever you did to your Catholic brothers and sisters”. He did not specified any group but he gave the keyword of who should benefit from our service. They must be the “least” of our brethrens.

Indeed, loving anybody that falls in our category of “others” takes spiritual maturity from us all.

And yet it is possible because it is God who loved us first and continues to love us all.

No ifs and not a single but.

Neither should we.

God bless.