One late afternoon, God was walking in the garden of Eden. "Adam! Eve! Where are you?", cried God. "We're here...hiding", Adam whispered. "Why are you hiding?", God asked. "Because we are naked", Adam replied. Sensing that something went wrong, God asked "Did you eat of the forbidden fruit?" "Eve told me to eat it", Adam said. When God confronted Eve, she said "The snake told me to eat it."
Fast forward, an angel of the Lord appeared to a young lady called Mary to tell her that she would become God's Mother. Mary's response was "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word." In contrast to our first parents who did not take responsibility for their failure, Mary accepted the role God entrusted to her. If Adam and Eve said "No" to God, Mary said "Yes".
Day in and day out, perhaps without us noticing it, we have said "Yes" to God. We have said "Yes" to Him in fulfilling our roles as spouses, parents, professionals, volunteers, students, workers, etc. There are moments when are in a roll in doing any of these roles, but there are also instances when we struggle, when we start to think "Does God really want me for this role?" I am sure that Mary did not fully understand the whole scope of becoming God's Mother. Ditto St Joseph who was tasked to be the protector of Mary and Jesus. The Finding in the Temple (Luke 2:41-52) gives us an idea of how Mary and Joseph did not understand the young Jesus' behaviour. In spite of their struggles, Mary and Joseph continued to say "Yes" to God. They remained faithful.
“God has not called me to be successful; He has called me to be faithful.”, St Teresa of Calcutta once said. In a results-driven society, we are often pushed towards getting results. In the parish for example, we may be tempted to focus on how many attended the Mass or other religious activities, how many volunteered for this or that ministry, how much money was collected for the fundraising project, and so on and so forth. All these are good in their own right, but what matters most is how faithful the community is. It is easy to give up when Mass attendance is dwindling, the collection is not enough, and the volunteers are few. Yet this is where God would see who would stay. Are we one of those?
Let us ask the Virgin Mary's help to always say "Yes" to God. He might be calling us to a particular role, but we do have a clear picture of what it may entail. For all you know you would have already been doing that role. Just the same, let's remain faithful. Think of the farmers who till our land. They do not know how the plants would grow and yet they look after it and later on harvest its produce. Being faithful shows dependence more on God's grace than our own efforts. Being faithful requires total surrender to God's will.
***
I would like to take this opportunity to convey my heartfelt condolences to the family of the late Fidel Ty, my godfather when I was confirmed. A man of few words, he was kind and supportive. He was, as his name suggests, a faithful husband and father. One unforgettable incident was Christmas 1987. Fr Regino Cortez, OP said Mass at St Rita Hospital that evening. After the Mass, we waited for a taxi to pass by, to no avail. Ninong Fidel was with his friends across the road and offered to give the priest a lift. While on our way to Letran, both found out that they belong to the same province! Now, they are reunited in the Father's presence!
May God bless your kind soul, Ninong Fidel. Thank you.
