It was already 6pm, my wife and one of her small group members, Paula, came across a mother and her child (daughter) inside SM Makati. The mother and her family were recently rendered homeless because of a fire, and were begging for help. If there’s one gift my wife has, it’s detecting sincerity.
Elain and Paula thought of buying them food instead of giving them money. Elain told the mother, “Antay lang po kayo dito”. Elain started walking towards the grocery, the 7-year old daughter suddenly ran up to Elain and accompanied her. As they were walking, Elain got to know the name of the 7-year old daughter, her name was Iris:
“Ilan kayong magkakapatid?”, Elain asked.
“8 po kaming magkakapatid. May isa rin kaming kapatid na 12 years old, may anak na po.”, Iris replied.
“Nasaan tatay mo?”
“Nasa kulungan po, kasi nagnakaw siya ng hikaw na suot-suot ng isang tao”
The conversation went on as Elain and Iris handpicked around 150PHP worth of grocery.
“Wag kang gagawa ng masama ah, kahit sabihin ng ibang tao ‘ok lang yan’. Tutulungan kita ngayong araw, promise mo sakin magsisikap ka ah? Wag kang aasa lagi sa paglimos ah, asa ka kay God. Lagi kang magpray.”
“Nagprapray naman po kami, bago kumain.”
“Hindi lang bago kumain, magpray kayo tuwing may problema, tuwing may masayang bagay na nangyari. Naka-kain ka na ba ngayong araw?”
“Hindi pa po.”
“Ilan na ba tumulong sa inyo ngayong araw?”
“Isa palang po. Kayo palang po.”
After giving 2 cans of sardines, 1 pack of milk and 1 kilogram of rice, Elain told them to go home and eat dinner, because if they get caught by the guards in SM something else might happen. The mother and her daughter Iris, thanked Elain profusely.
Elain, moved by this experience, called me up:
Sobrang sincere nila Ace, nakita ko sa mga mata nila.
Compassion
Now me and Elain are here, at home, and I’m typing this at my laptop, in our air-conditioned room. We can just go downstairs to our food-filled refrigerator and grab something to eat. I got reminded about the amount of inequity the financial world has set upon us, I got reminded how much I take a lot of things for granted just because, I got reminded why the 'masa’ would vote politicians who promise them free things. Poverty is a place where circumstances force you to live in lack, it is a place where you have little-to-no opportunities and options for escape.
There were 2 recent fires that rendered 200 families homeless, one in QC and another in Divisoria. Whether what the mother and her daughter said to Elain was true or not, one thing is for sure: they were in poverty.
“Do you think they deserved to be there? I think it’s in their upbringing. They shouldn’t have done X, they should have done Y. How come? Do you have ideas how to solve poverty? etc etc”
These are conversations and questions that often leave us with a sense of judgment against the poor coupled with a twisted sense of gratitude for the grace of God, cheapening his grace for pieces of paper. I for one am guilty, but right now, as I write this I feel I’ve come across a simple yet more important question:
Do I know what will happen to Iris and her mom after today?
Honestly, me and Elain don’t know. One thing is for sure, if this question is the first thing that comes to your mind, it will wound your heart to think about it and ultimately, it will compel your body to move with that in mind. That wound is called compassion.
We cannot become starched Christians, too polite, who speak of theology calmly over tea. We have to become courageous Christians and seek out those (who need help most) - Pope Francis