“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see, for I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” (10:23-24)
I always go back to this passage from St. Luke’s gospel when I attend retreats and trips because I believe that God uses every single moment of our lives to reveal more and more of Himself to us, especially when we set apart time specifically to do His work and ponder on His love.
With our eyes and ears full of awe, He revealed Himself to us when we built homes in San Vicente, Tarlac and Avanai, Quezon City. We were blessed to always be welcomed so warmly by the residents of these villages. It overjoyed our hearts to be received and sent off with the loving touch of the children every day as we enter and leave their village after a full day’s work.
One of the boys from Tarlac, Tan-tan, came up to me one day, holding my hand and asked, “Hanggang kalian po kayo nandito? Huwag po muna kayong umalis (Until when is your group staying in our village? Please don’t leave us yet).” I replied, “Hanggang Sabado pa kami dito. Bakit naman? (We’re here until Saturday. How come?)” Without hesitation, he replied, “kasi pinapasaya nyo po kami (Because you make us happy).” With a surge of joy in my heart, I sincerely replied, “Hindi, kayo nga ang nagpapasaya sa amin eh (no, you guys are the one that give us joy).”
Through all the tasks that we performed, the heat, fatigue and discomfort, never have I suffered so much, yet was so happy to do so for the sake of these children and their families. Never was I so happy to carry hollow blocks, bags of sand, and bags of gravel, mix cement, pass along buckets of cement and rocks, paint railings, dig holes in the ground, sweat through my shirt three times over and still sing, dance, play and pray with the children after. Never was I so happy and willing to give all of myself as a gift to these wonderful and deserving children of God.
How affirming it is that St. John Paul II himself, said that human happiness is guided by the Law of the Gift. He explained that “just as it is law that we need oxygen to live, the Law of the Gift dictates that true happiness is found by making our lives a gift to others by putting ourselves at the service of others rather than focusing on ourselves.”
We experience joy in its purest form only when God reveals His presence to us. Just as He gave Himself for us, it is in giving of ourselves to others that we begin to see the true nature of Christ. God called us to constantly seek and joyfully serve Him in the Philippines. The mission continues here.
[This testimony was written by AJ Cabaccang, a member of the YCOM GAT Mission team of 2014.]
I always go back to this passage from St. Luke’s gospel when I attend retreats and trips because I believe that God uses every single moment of our lives to reveal more and more of Himself to us, especially when we set apart time specifically to do His work and ponder on His love.
With our eyes and ears full of awe, He revealed Himself to us when we built homes in San Vicente, Tarlac and Avanai, Quezon City. We were blessed to always be welcomed so warmly by the residents of these villages. It overjoyed our hearts to be received and sent off with the loving touch of the children every day as we enter and leave their village after a full day’s work.
One of the boys from Tarlac, Tan-tan, came up to me one day, holding my hand and asked, “Hanggang kalian po kayo nandito? Huwag po muna kayong umalis (Until when is your group staying in our village? Please don’t leave us yet).” I replied, “Hanggang Sabado pa kami dito. Bakit naman? (We’re here until Saturday. How come?)” Without hesitation, he replied, “kasi pinapasaya nyo po kami (Because you make us happy).” With a surge of joy in my heart, I sincerely replied, “Hindi, kayo nga ang nagpapasaya sa amin eh (no, you guys are the one that give us joy).”
Through all the tasks that we performed, the heat, fatigue and discomfort, never have I suffered so much, yet was so happy to do so for the sake of these children and their families. Never was I so happy to carry hollow blocks, bags of sand, and bags of gravel, mix cement, pass along buckets of cement and rocks, paint railings, dig holes in the ground, sweat through my shirt three times over and still sing, dance, play and pray with the children after. Never was I so happy and willing to give all of myself as a gift to these wonderful and deserving children of God.
How affirming it is that St. John Paul II himself, said that human happiness is guided by the Law of the Gift. He explained that “just as it is law that we need oxygen to live, the Law of the Gift dictates that true happiness is found by making our lives a gift to others by putting ourselves at the service of others rather than focusing on ourselves.”
We experience joy in its purest form only when God reveals His presence to us. Just as He gave Himself for us, it is in giving of ourselves to others that we begin to see the true nature of Christ. God called us to constantly seek and joyfully serve Him in the Philippines. The mission continues here.
[This testimony was written by AJ Cabaccang, a member of the YCOM GAT Mission team of 2014.]