Follow the Footsteps

"Hello, Boonee, Boonee!," the elderly priest warmly greeted my wife, Debbie, late one evening in a church in Bronx, New York. From 1975-1978, Debbie was assigned as a working student in the President’s Office of the Colegio de San Jose Recoletos in Cebu where Fr Blas Montenegro OAR served as chief executive officer. It was 1995 and seventeen years had passed since Fr Blas had accomplished his tasks including the conversion of the college into a university, and here he was setting up dinner for his guest from the Philippines. As she looked around, Debbie realised that the austere environment was totally different from the comfortable and air-conditioned office in the school. There were no secretaries or assistants in the parish; so the 70-years plus clergy had to attend not only to preparing food, but all that was needed to make the church fully functional in its spiritual and pastoral works. Fr Blas said he visited families in the crime-infested community, where there was distrust among neighbours and where survival was a daily challenge. "Why have you chosen this place, Father?" Debbie asked. "This is why I wanted to be a priest in the first place, to live a frugal life, to serve the needy, to share God’s love to the least of our brethren, to follow the footsteps of Jesus," replied God’s servant whose face glowed with joy and contentment. Take note of this account: Peter began to say to him, "We have given up everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and (the) last will be first." (Mark 10:28-31) While there is nothing wrong in seeking a life of luxury, it must never be the primary concern in our lives. "Let love be your highest goal!" (1 Corinthians 14:1) Loving one another is not just about feeling concerned for others, but of actualising such feeling by treating others fairly, by respecting other’s rights and by caring and giving especially to the most vulnerable. The less we think of our own needs, the more that God takes care of us not only materially, but most importantly spiritually. "To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance." (Matthew 25:29) As Fr Blas fondly called Debbie "Boonee, Boonee" after the thin fish in the aquarium at the President’s Office, the Lord will lovingly call us by our nick names when we have fulfilled His work for us in this earth. by Mel Libre