From Above, Through Us, To Them

By: Ed Rowin Santos

Last Sunday, May 10, the Tsinelas Project of Maia Foundation and the parish of Holy Spirit went smoothly as organized. Poor children whose parents are NFA rice buyers lined up to receive their new pair of rubber slippers after the celebration of the Sunday mass by our parish priest Rev. Fr. Mike Paez. And because of the kind generosity of those who supported this project, we were able to add a light merienda snack of tetra-packed juice and enseimada bread to the delight of each child as well.Prior to this day, we were able to distribute nearly 200 tsinelas claim stubs representing nearly 250 children beneficiaries within the 2 week preparations. On that day, about 75% of those claims stubs were handed over while the remaining 25% are still allowed to claim their tsinelas when their parents purchase their weekly NFA rice subsidy. Any unclaimed slippers will be distributed to other poor children living near the abandoned railroad tracks of Malolos.

Once again we would like to give our heartfelt gratitude to those who donated and made pledges and prayed for to support this project.

Interestingly, that Sunday’s second reading heeds us to love not only in words but more so by action (read – 1 John 3:18-24) and the Gospel (read – John 15:1-8) reminded us to keep connected to Jesus as our vine because any good fruit we can bear is only the result of us remaining in Him despite all the life-pruning trials we undergo. It was as if, no, it was definitely our Lord speaking to all of us on that day with His message and call to share our blessings to others in need.

May the Lord bless you and your family abundantly for your generosity.
Maia Foundation

Tsinelas

On May 10, 2009, Maia Foundation will organize the distribution of free slippers to the poor children, 7 years old and below, from the Parish of the Holy Spirit. These children, who line up with their parents to avail for the inexpensive NFA rice, can be seen walking and travelling without slippers, a basic necessity for all especially for children who are always unmindful of the paths they are walking on. In one particular barangay school, children entering the campuses are seen without slippers going to classes. Each pair of rubber slippers cost roughly 20 Php and we aim to distribute 500 pairs. In this regard, we are knocking at your door for your generous sponsorship of 100 Php or donation of 5 new pairs of slippers.

Financial donors and sponsors may send their contribution to the bank account below:
Matt Ezekiel Santos
Acct# 034-3-03420966-0
Metrobank BF Homes Paranaque Branch

(Please keep you bank receipt for record purposes and send us a short email notice of the transfer for our record-keeping. Thanks)

Have a blessed weekend to all.God bless.

One Step Forward

A close neighbor told me during Maia’s wake that our experience itself was more painful since the “normal human life cycle dictates that it is the children who bury their parents and not the other way around.”

Indeed, the lingering pain is still deep, continuously crushing my mind, heart and soul until now. At times, it is as if my life will stop too for a lifetime that nothing seems to matter around me anymore. Oftentimes, I forget to say my prayer. But somehow, I need to get on going.

For me to move on from this hurtful event of losing a loved one, my 22 month old daughter, I have to start from the hardest part of it, that is, forgiving myself and stop looking for someone or something to blame. It is by fact really a tough thing to do, I need to continuously ask the prayers of people around me. For all our dreams and plans for the future our family was shattered all together, gone, vanished away so soon. Our world was totally flipped upside down. Starting all over again appears far-fetched and picking up the pieces left behind is excruciating. It can still really, really be hard to even think about it at times. If only I can just fall asleep and wake up without any tiny bit of sad feeling, but the truth is, I have yet to have a sound sleep after our ordeal.

A close relative replied to my recent blog entry by saying, "…and even if the message was clear, could you have done anything against it if it is God's will?"

My husband told me that comprehending death is beyond man’s intellectual capacity, “that is why there is God and it is none of us.” For here is where faith comes in. After all, the true meaning of life is that it ends.

I thought we would be inconsolable in anyway at all but their words are becoming increasingly accurate as time goes by that they hit me hard. I poured a lot of tears on it during our nights of prayer. It showed me clearly how our God wanted it to be and who am I not to listen and obey His mysterious yet great plan.

And as faithfully as He is to His promises, God never stop working on us. He is very comforting to us by continuously sending good people and friends on our way to help ease the grief. My in-laws came back with us here in China to be with us, to listen, to guide, and to pray with us for three straight months in spite of my incoherent attitude to everyone around me. A friend keeps asking me to stay in their place just to take our minds away from melancholy.

In Bo Sanchez’ latest blog and preaching series “Do you want to be very happy?” he clearly pointed out that the greatest hindrance to true happiness is fear. My husband told me that our greatest fear is over and nothing should deter us from seeking the true happiness that is meant for our family.

Again, we need to get on going. We may not be able to prevent or alter any divine intervention in our life, but we can always choose to still be happy after any tragic event that comes our way. We only need to look beyond this tragedy and look at God’s loving assurance.

O Holy Spirit, Soul of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten, guide, strengthen and console me; tell me what I should do; command me. I promise to be submissive in all the You desire of me and to accept all that You allow to happen to me. Grant only for me to know Your will. AMEN.