The March 15, 2020 lockdown announcement was for me a welcome treat!Contrary to many unhappy and fearful reactions, I took it as a moment to be at home, to give myself some kind of respite, which I had wanted for so long.

2019 was a busy and challenging year. I and some friends had our hands full as we prepared for this Year of Ecumenism, Interreligious Dialogue and Indigenous Peoples together with our brothers and sisters from other Christian churches as well as those from other religions, collaborating with the Roman Catholic Church, especially because Bishop Socrates C. Mesiona, the Vicar Apostolic of Puerto Princesa had early on asked the help of the Palawan Focolare Community for this particular celebration. Hence, remembering Chiara’s words ‘to be at the service of the Church,’ we seriously took to heart this responsibility.

Now, after some days of rest, I started taking care of the flowers at home, which for some time had not been well attended to. Having the luxury of time, I also started some small vegetable gardening for home consumption, in addition to planting new flowers around the house. Watering these plants became one of my daily routines for the past three months.

In the absence of the daily Mass, being with the plants every morning became a moment of meditation. As a tiny leaf starts to grow, or as a new bud starts to appear, I am fully aware that each of these is God’s handiwork. I can only praise and thank him as the God of creation.

I would pause for some time, allow my eyes and thoughts to wonder and marvel at such goodness and beauty, which he and he alone can create.

Slowly as the colorful flowers began to bloom, God’s beauty and radiance are all the more manifested, for in each of them, is the very presence of Him who made them all. And as the sun gently scorches my back, even that is the love of God for me, for my health and especially for the plants.

Experiencing all this make up simple yet truly divine encounters!

The Joy of Sharing

Chiara Lubich once said, “To love is to be creative.”

In these days of lockdown, many protocols have to be followed, and one of them is to stay home, especially for senior citizens like me.

Near our place is a small fish port with a talipapa (periodic wet market), where people come to buy fresh fish, crabs, squid, and the like. There are also residential houses surrounding the area.

One day, I went to buy seafood for our home meals. Many people purposely came to buy the fresh catch of the day.

Meeting people while I hop from one stall to the other, a thought crossed my mind: ‘These are difficult times, some people probably cannot or are not allowed to go to the market to buy vegetables. Why not make an act of love, by sharing the abundant, robust green leaves of malunggay (moringa) at home with these people? Proven to be very nutritious, they can have it right here and for free.’ ‘Hmm, nice idea,’ I said to myself!

Responding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and with the disposition to love Jesus in the others, I came back the next day with Bing, our household helper. With our masks on, we distributed the freshly harvested dark green malunggay leaves to those interested, while observing social distancing at the basketball court in the area.

Moments later, we noticed that joy was in the air, with men and women coming to us, asking how much per bundle. Every time we would reply ‘It’s for free,’ we saw excitement in their faces and some would even call others to avail of the unexpected giveaway. Then more people came to get their share as well. What a picture of joy we saw, written all over their faces!

As we were leaving the place, the people were waving their hands saying thank you and goodbye, which somehow, touched me a bit and made me emotional. We went home with our hearts filled with unexplainable joy.

Here, I realized that it is not in the grandeur of things shared, that one can bring happiness to other people’s lives, a simple item like a free bundle of malunggay leaves can make it happen, especially in this period of pandemic. In essence, it is by using and doing ordinary things in an extraordinary way.

It is true; nothing is insignificant if it is done with, and out of love!

God’s Patience

One day, my friend Chit gave me some seeds of Blue Ternate, also known as Butterfly Pea. I was really happy because once it bears flowers, I can mix some of them while cooking rice and have nutritious light blue sticky rice for a meal afterwards.

But more than that, this plant has health benefits for the body, like antioxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-tumor properties, good for weight loss, and it is also beneficial for the hair and skin while reducing stress and anxiety among others.

Since it grows as a vine, I planted the seeds beside our atis (sugar or custard apple) tree for it to grow on. With much excitement, I watered it daily, together with the other plants around the house. Two weeks, three weeks up to almost a month had passed, but I did not see any sign of life coming out of the soil. Every now and then, Chit would ask about it, but I could only give her a sad reply. She too became sad.

Though I became impatient, I did not stop watering it, hoping that in God’s proper time, it would grow. True enough, after two months, I finally saw some fresh leaves slowly coming out. What a joy! I immediately updated Chit who was ecstatic at the news!

Then I felt as if a tiny voice was telling me, “How could you have been so impatient and unbelieving? Did you ever come to think of how long I have waited for your conversion, for all your frailty and unfaithfulness…” At that moment, I found myself making an examination of conscience and ended in praise and thanksgiving to God for his never-ending love, mercy, and patience for me despite all my shortcomings and failures.

In this experience, I realize how true is the wisdom of St. Paul, expressed in this verse:

“Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

Norma Valencia