Every time when I think back of “The Reluctant Saint” (TRS), only wonderful memories flood into my mind. I think back of the preparation, the rehearsals, and then the big night, the lights, the sounds, the dance, the drama, the singing, the euphoria of being on stage, the applause the spotlights, the friendships, the memories…
But yesterday, as I went for my GKK apostolate, I experienced for the first time the tragedy that was somewhat caused by TRS.
Our group leader brought us to a house, of which the father of the family met with a horrible accident on his way back from the performance of TRS. While on the motorcycle, he lost control of the bike just about 1km away from the church, he fell and crushed his head onto a metal bar nearby. All this happened in plain sight of his horrified family members who were in the car just behind him. After rushing to the hospital, he was pronounced brain-dead, at the mere age of 41.
As I stood beside the vegetated body of Joey Aguelo, looking at his body which had lost almost half the weight as compared to the chubby photo placed by the bedside, I was at a total loss of words. As I listened to the mother sharing the experience of coping with the situation, with the 8 year old daughter saying, “I am tired of praying, papa never gets up even after all our prayer.” And the 5 year old son quietly sitting beside the father and whispered “ daddy, it’s my birthday, please wake up and celebrate with us and don’t die!”, all, I could do was remain silent.
Suddenly it struck me, all my years of studies, all the inputs of scriptures, dogmas, philosophies and theologies… I could not think of a single sentence that was appropriate for the moment. All I could do was to offer my presence and my prayer.
Lately I have been very occupied with studies and assignments, inside me I knew I needed a balance, but externally I could not find a way to do so. I felt so distant from reality. As I visited Joey everything came into perspective. Beyond the walls of SATMI there are many lives and realities going on. Humanity is in motion. At times when we are so caught up in the ‘study’ of life, it is good for us to put down what we are doing and look at life itself. Recently our community was discussing on the value of going out, although the reasons might be many, but maybe one good thing is that stepping out of SATMI at times reminds us that we are still living in reality.
Typhoons had come and go, tsunami and earthquake had shattered lives, and I’m still thinking of how best to pass my exams. That doesn’t seem too right. Of course, I can’t dash out and start changing the world now, but it definitely helps for me to have perspective, and be aware of the world out there.
So, as we approach our anniversary of TRS, can I kindly call upon all who were involved, the students, the youth, the audience, the supporters, etc. to all keep in mind the person of Joey, let’s pray that St Alphonsus will shower his special protection upon him and his family, and may our mother protect and intercede for him always. Let’s also occasionally look beyond ourselves, and be reminded that there are other lives out there.
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