When I was young, I see the church as a building or structure where people usually go to pray. And I had no idea what they were doing inside the church. In my younger years, I didn’t usually go to church to attend a mass or to even say a short prayer. I was just a simple young girl who loves to play outside and go around with my friends. I remember, the only time I go to church was when I have new clothes or shoes to wear. My attention span was so short that I feel bored in the middle of the mass and I don’t want to finish it anymore. When the priest has started to talk in front and give his homily, I usually go out. I do not listen to his homily. It was installed in my head that I need to have new things first before I can go to church. We aren’t rich so having new clothes only happens during Christmas season or if my father is back at home after spending 6 months working as an Inter-island seaman.
When I was in elementary, we moved out to a different house because our previous house got burned. It was a different city, different barangay, and most especially different neighborhood to get along with. I don’t know anyone there, and we are still adjusting. But as the time goes by, I started to have new friends and they are a group of people who approached me first.
One afternoon, an old lady came to us and immediately talked to the person beside me. She wanted to invite my friend to be a choir member in the chapel nearby. She even told my friend and added “if you want to invite your friend also, she can also go with you.” I immediately answered “NO!” because in my mind, “why would they invite me to something like that, and I don’t like it.” I don’t know how to sing, more so, to sing in the church. I even jokingly said that I don’t want to become holy. But the lady insisted, so, me and my friends tried joining and eventually became members of the choir.
From then on, I started attending the mass every Sunday and participated in any church activities. During that time, I don’t really understand what I am doing: I go to mass, sing, and that’s it. And started to realize that this is what they do in the Church. When I started to realize how the church works, I don’t want any more to miss any Sunday celebration. At first, I do not understand myself but I find myself loving going to church and would always want to participate in many activities there.
One day, I heard that our chapel will soon become a Mission Station. I have no idea what a mission station is, I am only familiar with the chapel, parish and cathedral. Out of curiosity, I asked one Nanay what is a mission station and she explained it to me carefully. According to her, the Mission Station will be headed by a priest or nun who will live with us in the community.
Our chapel, later on, became a Mission Station headed by our Chaplain, Fr. Wilfredo Samson, SJ, who came from Ateneo de Zamboanga University who served as the Vice President for Formation for 10 years. I couldn’t imagine that a Jesuit priest would be assigned in a poor area and did not hesitate to go to the peripheries. We are so blessed and lucky to have him in the mission station.
In his stay in our community for almost 7 years now, a lot of things have changed, many people have changed, and he helped a lot of people especially during the pandemic last 2020. This assistance was made possible because of the help of all his friends / benefactors and the volunteers in the community who willingly gave their time and effort to help fellow citizens. It was during the pandemic that I became an active member of the church. I started to do volunteer works by helping many people in our community such as feeding program for the children, teaching them through catechism sessions and accompanying fellow volunteers.
One significant experience I had during pandemic was when we started the Community Pantry where we gave the people 5 kilograms of rice, vegetables, canned goods, among others, at least twice a week. My family became a beneficiary as well of this community pantry. Being a volunteer in the Jesuit Mission Station – Kalookan was a very meaningful experience to me. It taught me a lot of life lessons that transformed me to who I am right now. Seeing the smiles of every person that we are helping and the simple “thank you” that we received to each one of them makes me very happy. It taught me to be grateful even to the smallest things that have happened to me; to always be grateful for all the graces that I have received and to the people who are untiringly helping other people; to always do “More” in everything that I do; and to always willing to serve others for the greater glory of God without expecting in return. It felt very fulfilling being able to give my time to help other people and the opportunity to make them feel loved. This led me to start loving and embracing the mission.
We are now in the Synod on Synodality where Pope Francis wants that the church should listen more to the needs of the People. We are invited to be a companion for others, a people of God that journey together. I believe, the Synodal Church is already happening in our community. The Church that goes to the peripheries where the church wants to involve all the people no matter who & what they are or what they do. All are involved whether you are rich or poor.
I realized that the Church is not just a building or a structure where people go to pray and attend mass. The Church is the People: like the volunteers who are always willing to give their time and effort; life Fr. Willy who untiringly works for and with the poor and; like the benefactors who are always willing to generously help especially the poor.
The invitation to all of us now is: to be a church that listens, cares, unites and responds to the needs of the people. And in listening, and in being with each other as Church – maybe this is the one that will unite us fully – amidst the many divisions in our world and in our society.