In a little while...

THE STORY is told about a worried wife who called her friend, saying she suspected her husband was with some other woman because it was already late, and he wasn't home yet. Her friend's reply was: "Will you please stop thinking negative! Maybe he just met an accident or, maybe, he had a heart attack, okay?"

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In today's Gospel (Jn. 14, 15-21), Jesus promised that He will give us an advocate helper, who will be with us always. The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete or the Comforter is the one who guides and enlightens us. May we too become helpers and comforters to one another. Are you a source of comfort and strength to others, or are you a source of discomfort and hurts?

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It is so consoling and comforting to know that the Lord is with us always. "In a little while you will see me, but you still see me, because I live, and you will live in me." In His farewell discourse, Jesus took the trouble of repeating over
and over His promise that He would not abandon us or leave us as orphans. Yes, we have the blessed assurance that He will be with us always. That's clear. But the question is: are we with Him, always?

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Someone once said that if religion has done nothing to your temper, it has not done much to your soul. There are people who profess that they love God and yet go on hurting other people. There are people who claim to be members of this and that religion, devotees of this and that-but the bottom line of true love of God is keeping His commandments. The basic moral rule to follow is: Do good and avoid evil, which is completed in Jesus' command to love God and one's neighbor.

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What can we say about leaders who claim to be public servants and yet continue to cheat, steal and plunder? Such leaders are called -- fakes, cheaters and liars. And what do we call people who suck blood money from the poorest of the poor? Suckers! And what do we call rich and influential people who continue to make milking cows out of our people? Milkers!

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"In a little while" is a beautiful phrase that is loaded with hope. Suffering is not forever. Bad people are not forever. Suckers and milkers are not forever. In a little while our country will move on toward greater heights. In a little while it will be proven again that it pays to be good, and that crime does not pay.

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We join all laborers in their quest for just wages and commensurate compensation. How come there are people who hardly labor and yet rake in so much money and wealth? How come corrupt people seem to get away with graft in our country? I don't know. What I do know though is that there is no real sense of fulfillment and dignity in a person who uses others. What I also know is that stolen money will be used in the end for the condemnation of him/her who acquired it. Careful, careful! Don't forget that someday you and I will face our Creator.

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It's May once again, the beautiful month of May, dedicated to Mama Mary. I remember how, as kids, we would spend our summer days in Bani, Pangasinan, climbing trees, swimming in the river, going to the barrios for spiders, or just frolicking in the summer sun. But the afternoons found us gathering flowers and going to the church to offer our love and gratitude to the Blessed Mother. It was a beautiful practice, the memory of which to this day I keep in my mind and in my heart. May we not forget Mama Mary, our Mother.
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Lest you forget, May 8 is Mother's Day. How many mothers are forgotten or are taken for granted by their children? Worse, how many mothers are hurt by their children?

One time an elderly woman came to me, crying and telling me that, perhaps, it was better for her to die already so that she would not be a burden to her children anymore. She went on to say that her children hardly called or visited her, and if ever they did, all she heard were their complaints, their miseries and their never-ending squabbles and quarrels among themselves.

The greatest pain for any mother is to know that her children will not be all right and will not have peace with each other after she is gone. A mother does not need much to be happy. All she needs is love and assurance from her children, her "little ones." Have you called, have you visited, have you hugged your mother lately? Better do it now, before it's too late.

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My mother is now 84 years old, still strong to make a five-hour trip to Pangasinan, still working for her children after all these years. I hold in my heart many lessons I learned from her. But what I remember most as a child was her constant admonition to endure and be patient because everything is passing, and that things will become better-in a little while.

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Inviting you to join the Walk with God to Manaoag this coming Saturday, May 7, 2005. We will start the three-hour walk at 6 a.m. from the Urdaneta Church, and we will have the Mass at 11 a.m. in the Shrine of Our Lady of Manaoag.

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A moment with the Lord:

Lord, help me to be patient and to be hopeful because things will be better, in a little while. Amen.