TWO J.A.’S AND LESSONS WE LEARNED FROM ONE ANOTHER
“Everyone must give according to what he has inwardly decided;
not sadly, not grudgingly, for God loves a cheerful giver.
He will multiply the seed you sow and increase your generous yield.
(2 Corinthians 9:7,10)
My lifetime friendship with Nok bore us two J.A’s. The older one is JASPER ANTHONY and the younger one is JOSEPH AUGUSTINE. Jasper or Jay Jay was born on August 9, 1983. I searched for a nice name that starts with ‘J’ in the book of names. I spotted Jasper. It means ‘treasure-bringer’. Because he was to be my first-born, I imagined him as a treasure-bringer. But I had to give him also a Christian name, that of a popular saint. And so I chose St. Anthony. About six years later, on June 7, 1989, another son was born to us. My husband chose St. Joseph as the patron saint and I chose St. Augustine, a doctor of the church.
Both Jay-Jay and Joseph are true treasures to us. We taught them about love of God and neighbor, especially the poor or those who have less in life. They played with the children of our house helpers. In their childhood days, Nok and I exposed them to acts of charity and told them stories of my childhood years. During our years in abundance, I used to bring food inside the car, stop for a destitute and asked Jay-Jay to hand the food to the destitute.
I also expanded the horizons of my children regarding their blessedness, awakened their social consciousness and responsibility. When Joseph was to turn seven on June 7, 1996, I challenged him to spend it in a more meaningful way. I offered to him the idea of sharing his gifts with orphans, but cautioned him about not receiving any gift in return. At first he resisted the idea. He asked, “Why?” I further explained to him that during the past 6 birthday celebrations, he received all the toys and things he wanted and that his guests were all privileged children. I told him about the plight of the poor children and how deprived they are. His heart melted and he agreed to bring the ‘Jollibee-packaged’ party to the orphans housed in Sta. Maria, Balibago. When the big day came, I was surprised to see the discipline of the kids. The social worker taking care of them prepared the kids. They were so well behaved and were very much delighted to see a mascot, watch a Muppet show and to share the food with Joseph. At the end of the party, the kids presented an action song to Joseph as their way of thanking him.
That night, on our way home, Joseph did not receive any material gift from the orphans but he received the best birthday gift. He said, “Mommy, this is the happiest birthday in my whole life!” I couldn’t fathom the inner joy of a seven-year old kid and I treasured everything in my heart.
The occasional exposures that I allowed my kids to experience bore fruit. Jay-Jay and Joseph grew to be very compassionate persons. “They grew in wisdom and strength.” There are many succeeding beautiful stories to narrate about their dealings with the ‘least, last and lost’, even in their young days. I love to share this one…
When Joseph was around eleven years old, Marie, his nanny observed him to be doing something unusual. Without my knowledge, Joseph regularly took a portion of meal from the kitchen, packed it, got a bottle of water and went out of the house. Days later, Marie found out that Joseph was regularly feeding an insane woman who took refuge at the small street perpendicular to ours. I was stunned when Marie revealed that to me. You see, even when I was regarded as charitable and gave sorts of ‘dole-outs’ to the poor, I had a weakness- I was afraid of crazy people and I couldn’t touch the beggars. For several days, I had already noticed the insane woman that Marie talked about. Many times my conscience would bother me. It dawned on me that this woman must be hungry and needed food or a least water to drink. I felt so much emotional pity for this woman and I would utter, “Lord, please help her”. Maybe had I listened more, God would have shouted, “Hey, that’s why you’re there, I want you to feed her”. But my overwhelming fear deadened my conscience. And when Marie told me about Joseph’s marvelous deeds, I was shamed. How could my 11-year old boy do it and I couldn’t? I summoned Joseph and asked him if he was not afraid of the woman. He candidly answered, “Why should I? She doesn’t hurt anyone. In fact, I’m very angry with the young boys teasing her.” I felt guilty all the more. Then I asked Jay-Jay, the older brother, “Jay-Jay, did you ever do something good for that insane woman?” Jay-Jay replied, “Of course, I have been buying her snacks”.
The remarks of my children hit hard on me. I composed myself, put some of my clothes in a plastic bag, packed the newly cooked meal and got a bottle of water. I went out of the gate and looked for the woman. As I was approaching her, goose pimples were all over me. I tried to take hold of my fear while handing her the goodies. She extended her hand and gave me her sweetest smile and said, “Salamat, ate, maraming salamat”. (Thank you, sister, thank you very much.) I offered to give her a bath. She refused and instead asked for money to pay for her fare.
From then on up to this writing, I have never seen that woman again. It is just as if God visited me and allowed me to conquer my fear. Somehow, I felt liberated from my fear of the insane. Truly, God works in wonderful ways. It was I who benefited much from the experience.
“Everyone must give according to what he has inwardly decided;
not sadly, not grudgingly, for God loves a cheerful giver.
He will multiply the seed you sow and increase your generous yield.
(2 Corinthians 9:7,10)
My lifetime friendship with Nok bore us two J.A’s. The older one is JASPER ANTHONY and the younger one is JOSEPH AUGUSTINE. Jasper or Jay Jay was born on August 9, 1983. I searched for a nice name that starts with ‘J’ in the book of names. I spotted Jasper. It means ‘treasure-bringer’. Because he was to be my first-born, I imagined him as a treasure-bringer. But I had to give him also a Christian name, that of a popular saint. And so I chose St. Anthony. About six years later, on June 7, 1989, another son was born to us. My husband chose St. Joseph as the patron saint and I chose St. Augustine, a doctor of the church.
Both Jay-Jay and Joseph are true treasures to us. We taught them about love of God and neighbor, especially the poor or those who have less in life. They played with the children of our house helpers. In their childhood days, Nok and I exposed them to acts of charity and told them stories of my childhood years. During our years in abundance, I used to bring food inside the car, stop for a destitute and asked Jay-Jay to hand the food to the destitute.
I also expanded the horizons of my children regarding their blessedness, awakened their social consciousness and responsibility. When Joseph was to turn seven on June 7, 1996, I challenged him to spend it in a more meaningful way. I offered to him the idea of sharing his gifts with orphans, but cautioned him about not receiving any gift in return. At first he resisted the idea. He asked, “Why?” I further explained to him that during the past 6 birthday celebrations, he received all the toys and things he wanted and that his guests were all privileged children. I told him about the plight of the poor children and how deprived they are. His heart melted and he agreed to bring the ‘Jollibee-packaged’ party to the orphans housed in Sta. Maria, Balibago. When the big day came, I was surprised to see the discipline of the kids. The social worker taking care of them prepared the kids. They were so well behaved and were very much delighted to see a mascot, watch a Muppet show and to share the food with Joseph. At the end of the party, the kids presented an action song to Joseph as their way of thanking him.
That night, on our way home, Joseph did not receive any material gift from the orphans but he received the best birthday gift. He said, “Mommy, this is the happiest birthday in my whole life!” I couldn’t fathom the inner joy of a seven-year old kid and I treasured everything in my heart.
The occasional exposures that I allowed my kids to experience bore fruit. Jay-Jay and Joseph grew to be very compassionate persons. “They grew in wisdom and strength.” There are many succeeding beautiful stories to narrate about their dealings with the ‘least, last and lost’, even in their young days. I love to share this one…
When Joseph was around eleven years old, Marie, his nanny observed him to be doing something unusual. Without my knowledge, Joseph regularly took a portion of meal from the kitchen, packed it, got a bottle of water and went out of the house. Days later, Marie found out that Joseph was regularly feeding an insane woman who took refuge at the small street perpendicular to ours. I was stunned when Marie revealed that to me. You see, even when I was regarded as charitable and gave sorts of ‘dole-outs’ to the poor, I had a weakness- I was afraid of crazy people and I couldn’t touch the beggars. For several days, I had already noticed the insane woman that Marie talked about. Many times my conscience would bother me. It dawned on me that this woman must be hungry and needed food or a least water to drink. I felt so much emotional pity for this woman and I would utter, “Lord, please help her”. Maybe had I listened more, God would have shouted, “Hey, that’s why you’re there, I want you to feed her”. But my overwhelming fear deadened my conscience. And when Marie told me about Joseph’s marvelous deeds, I was shamed. How could my 11-year old boy do it and I couldn’t? I summoned Joseph and asked him if he was not afraid of the woman. He candidly answered, “Why should I? She doesn’t hurt anyone. In fact, I’m very angry with the young boys teasing her.” I felt guilty all the more. Then I asked Jay-Jay, the older brother, “Jay-Jay, did you ever do something good for that insane woman?” Jay-Jay replied, “Of course, I have been buying her snacks”.
The remarks of my children hit hard on me. I composed myself, put some of my clothes in a plastic bag, packed the newly cooked meal and got a bottle of water. I went out of the gate and looked for the woman. As I was approaching her, goose pimples were all over me. I tried to take hold of my fear while handing her the goodies. She extended her hand and gave me her sweetest smile and said, “Salamat, ate, maraming salamat”. (Thank you, sister, thank you very much.) I offered to give her a bath. She refused and instead asked for money to pay for her fare.
From then on up to this writing, I have never seen that woman again. It is just as if God visited me and allowed me to conquer my fear. Somehow, I felt liberated from my fear of the insane. Truly, God works in wonderful ways. It was I who benefited much from the experience.
