"Put on your socks! It's cold." I told Chiara as she was playing in the living room.
"It doesn't matter", she replied.
I am sometimes puzzled that my daughter doesn't easily feel cold when her Mom and I would have wanted to bury ourselves under sheets this winter. One time, I told her again to keep herself warm. And again, she gave the same response. I retorted, "Why? 'The cold won't bother me anyway'? It made her laugh as she realized that I quoted Queen Elsa's last lines in the song "Let it go".
I saw the same behavior in our countrymen who braved the rain and all just to be with Pope Francis during his Pastoral and State Visit to the Philippines last week. I must admit that I wasn't able to focus that much on the Holy Father's visit, but from what I gather his trip was heart warming.
For his part, Lolo Kiko, as he was fondly called in the Philippines, reached out to them. His words "Some of you lost part of your families. All I can do is keep silent. And I walk with you all with my silent heart." cuts through the heart. St Francis of Assisi once said “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words". Papa did preach, but it was a moment when words won't be necessary or would suffice. His mere presence with the people per se was the preaching!
Moving on, the Philippine Church has asked believers 10 things to do:
Our country,in spite of many catastrophes (man-made or not) it faced and continue to face, has shown its openness and resiliency during those blessed days with the Pope. Let's take to heart his message. Let's proclaim it wherever and whenever. As he once said: "We have a Lord who is capable of crying with us, capable of walking with us in the most difficult moments of life".
With Jesus by our side, the cold - of sin and evil, of uncaring people, etc.- won't bother us anyway!
PS: There's two things that disconcerted me though about the recent visit. First is that there were three pope mobiles used instead of just one. Second is that children are caged to keep the streets clean during the visit. The first runs counter to His Holiness' simplicity while the second not only opposes the Pope's preference for the poor, but also prevented him from reaching to them!
PS: There's two things that disconcerted me though about the recent visit. First is that there were three pope mobiles used instead of just one. Second is that children are caged to keep the streets clean during the visit. The first runs counter to His Holiness' simplicity while the second not only opposes the Pope's preference for the poor, but also prevented him from reaching to them!
