White Hills Community

It is the desire of every family to live in a good neighbourhood. We want to feel safe, to associate with decent individuals, to raise our children in a friendly environment.

 

My family prayed for such an ideal place and found it in White Hills Subdivision in Banawa, Cebu, Philippines. It wasn’t even a community then, but a barren hilly landscape, when my wife and I bought a piece of property along with other middle-income earners wanting to have their first homes. Pagtambayayong, a non-government organisation, invited more than a hundred families to work together to build the community – and worked together we did. From the purchasing of the sizeable land to dividing the lots, from design planning to construction, and from road building to operating the subdivision. It was not smooth sailing through the journey, but despite the many problems, we succeeded due to the commitment of good people wanting only the best for their fellowmen.

 

The community built a wooden chapel and we had anticipated mass once a month. On one occasion, the priest told the congregation that he wondered why the chapel was not as beautiful as most of the houses in the subdivision. A few months later, the priest was awed at the concrete structure where he held mass, but still commented that the sound system did not blend with the refurbished chapel. The entire community was surprised because the following week a brand-new Ramsa PA system was delivered without anyone knowing from whom it came from. The kind gesture brought closer the community as each family thought of the other as the donor.

 

Jesus taught us: "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 6:1) Saint Peter Chrysologus (c.406-450) said in his sermon: "Righteousness that sets itself in the sight of others can expect no divine reward from the Father. It wanted to be seen and it was seen; it wanted to please others and it pleased them. It has received the recompense it wanted; the recompense it did not want, it will not have." But what is fascinating about doing a good gesture in secret is that it creates an environment of trust and love among the people who are benefited; while the Lord Almighty is pleased with the anonymous giver.

 

In his message during the Lenten season in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI stated: "In today’s world of images, attentive vigilance is required, since this temptation (of self promotion) is great. Almsgiving, according to the Gospel, is not mere philanthropy: rather it is a concrete expression of charity, a theological virtue that demands interior conversion to love of God and neighbour, in imitation of Jesus Christ, who, dying on the cross, gave His entire self for us." Let us imitate the selflessness of Christ in His living and in His dying. This is the key towards attaining not just a good neighbourhood, but an ideal world.

by Mel Libre