WE REMEMBER

“We remember how He loved us.”  Indeed, God loves us.  And often times, God shows us His love through other people.  Often during a prayer meeting, I would invite the participants to recall to mind the person who had evangelized them and who encouraged them to know God in a personal way.  In my particular case, it was my Papang, the late Architect Felipe Mendoza, who prayed long and hard, and in fact pleaded with me to come to a prayer meeting where I could get to know God as my God.  Today is Papang’s birthday, and I remember how he loved me.

This act of remembering what God has done to show His love for us is such a vital element of our journey in faith.  It enables us to worship the King of the Universe with abandon, full of thanksgiving in our heart.  It encourages us to face life’s challenges knowing that we are loved personally and in a deep way by a Good Shepherd, the Prince of Peace. 

Papang himself had accepted Jesus a couple of years before I did when he got invited to a Christian Life Program sponsored by the Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals.  Ever since I knew him, Papang was never a “religious” person; our family’s religiosity was primarily led by Mom, and we lived our Catholic religiosity with faithful devotion.  But the moment when Papang accepted Jesus as his savior, he became a new man.  I mean, he was on fire!  I would see him sitting in our porch poring through the bible and studying it.  His life and circle of friends started to revolve around his growing intimacy with men in the BCBP.  He actively invited not just his entire architectural staff, but many of his fellow professionals to embrace Jesus as their Lord.  I could hear singing and worshipping by his staff during work hours. 

But Papang’s only frustration was getting his eldest son, namely me, to join him in his walk in faith.  I was happy for Papang’s renewed faith.  And I was impressed at his discovery of scripture.  After all, he had not enjoyed the benefit of a Catholic education; he studied in a public school.  As for me, Papang enrolled me in a good Catholic education, from elementary religion classes all the way up to Theology courses for four years in college.  I thought I was sufficiently full, and together with my mother, often attended early morning daily Mass.  And that’s why I thought it good for Papang to deepen his faith even at this advanced stage in his life, and that he was finally understanding what I had already known.  Or so I thought.

It was on his birthday, May 26, 1986, when Papang decided to cash in his chips.  (By the way, that was his 69^th birthday; I turn 69 this year.)  It so happened that the first session of the Christian Life Program was going to be conducted that very evening.  Afraid to be disappointed yet again, Papang gently approached me saying, “Come to the session tonight with Daisy, and let that be your birthday gift to me.”  I couldn’t decline, and my calendar was free that evening; I couldn’t even fake a cough or a sneeze.  And so Daisy and I attended session 1 entitled, “God’s Love”.  My life has never been the same since then.

Together, Papang and I grew in the Holy Spirit.  I became active in BCBP, engaged in service, blessed with the gift of knowledge and speaking, and took on positions of servant leadership.  Papang eventually became one of my most devout listeners when I would preach.  He once gave an honoring to me by jokingly saying to the guests in my party that I was his “treasure”, because I was his most expensive child.  So true, not just financially, but because Papang handed to me the Pearl of Great Price.   He passed away at 82 in the year 2000.  Had he lived long enough, he would have been ecstatic to listen to his eldest grandson, Edric, who has become himself a gifted preacher at his own service at CCF.  The mustard seed of Papang’s faith has become a flourishing tree. 

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe; You empower fathers to raise their sons in the knowledge of Your ways.  Hallelujah!