Pope stories untiringly told

It is simply amazing that days after the special Philippine Air Lines flight that carried Pope Francis took off from NAIA, the ‘Francis fever’ is still raging. The recent visit is still fodder for the daily television shows, particularly the news, and people still stay glued for anything about Pope Francis and how Filipinos’ lives were touched by the 78-year-old Pontiff whose smile has an uncharacteristic glint of playfulness unique to him.

During the entire five-day visit, the leading networks picked out families who braved everything just to be physically present at the masses he officiated at the SM Mall of Asia or at the Quirino Grandstand. During the entire five-day holiday, we stayed home for a much-needed rest, nursing a nasty cold and cough, but we stayed glued to our TV set, hearing mass with the Pope on TV, one with literally millions of Filipinos struck with the Pope fever.

At the mass at what was once known as the Independence Grandstand, we marveled at the well-behaved crowd and wondered how communion would go with the endless rows of people waiting and saw how the people in front would pass on the host to others behind them, by hand, so everyone could get accommodated. The communion alone must have taken about 20 minutes as so many lay ministers mingled with the mammoth crowd.  Pope Francis waited patiently at the altar until the last communicant had received the host. Such was the devotion and utter respect of the Filipinos, for no one in the crowd jostled, everyone waited his turn respectfully and the famous “bayanihan” of the Pinoys came into play.

There was this family who braved the incessant rains bringing along the family patriarch who recently had a stroke, was wheel chair-bound and couldn’t speak.  The family members were interviewed by Noli de Castro and Korina Sanchez-Roxas and narrated how they came all the way from Cavite with the stroke victim in tow, everyone with black garbage bags that served as their raincoats and how they couldn’t leave their secured place during the mass, not even for a much-needed toilet break lest they lose their precious space.  They ended up using their empty water bottles and small plastic bags for this purpose. After the long two-hour mass, they were still smiling, their spirits buoyed, so firm in their belief that their patriarch will share in the Pope’s blessing and will eventually get healed. The long trek back to Cavite with a wheel chair-bound family member, with no private car to speak of, was another story.

The mother who brought her sick baby to be kissed by Pope Francis touched our hearts.  At this age, you would think we have heard everything, but the rare illness of the baby tugged at our hearts as my wife and I saw on TV how much faith this suffering mother had. The infant has something like hypertensive lungs (is this correct?) and how he couldn’t even breathe on his own.  Lugging the bulky oxygen tank and other medical paraphernalia, this young mother’s superb faith, the only thing she could cling to at this point in her baby’s life, didn’t want to wait it out in a hospital room but braved the rains and the crowd for that last ditch effort. I understood from the TV reporter that Pope Francis himself has only one functioning lung, but look at this affable, energetic Church leader who has reached the age of 78 and has the energy of someone much younger.  His five-day visit was packed, yet he seemed to run on a full tank at all times. Now, sadly, this baby lies in a hospital bed, terminally sick it seems, but like his mother, we are all hoping for a miracle.  Faith and prayers can move mountains.

 The five days spent in Manila and Tacloban, were packed with human interest stories, so touching in their simplicity of faith and disturbing in the complexity of their problems. The people of Tacloban prepared so long and hard for the Pope’s visit but this had to be cut short by nature’s call. It must have been so sad for the Yolanda survivors and for the whole of Tacloban, but such is life. The Pope himself felt so sorry for the townspeople, after all, this was one of the main reasons why he came here — to show them that he was one with them in their suffering.

After the Pope left, there were countless stories told and re-told of how the Pope’s visit touched so many simple lives. There is the story of the household servers at the Nunciature who spoke so fondly, yet so reverently about him — how he would stay behind after dinner to chat with them and ask about their families; how he dined so simply; how he gave them simple gifts like rosaries that he blessed; how he asked the servers to bring their husbands to the Nunciature one day so he could meet them personally.

The flight crew of the special Philippine Air Lines also spoke of their experience with the People’s Pope, how he found the “dinuguan” served to him as merienda an interesting dish and how he seemed to enjoy it too. The flight attendants, all well-picked I’m sure, treasured the once-in-a-lifetime experience. One of them had a child who died at a very young age.  She recalled how she couldn’t accept this for a long time, until her face-to-face encounter with the Pope changed all that and gave her inner peace. The pilot said that the honor of flying the Pope was definitely the ultimate highlight not only of his career but of his life. Throughout all these interviews, there were tears of joy at the most touching experience of having the Pope in their midst, so simple in his wants and so giving to others who were in pain.

What I found so honest about Pope Francis was his utter honesty.  To the endless questions of why God allows so much pain and suffering even to young children, he didn’t bother about politically correct answers — he simply said he had no answers, only God has the answers.

Mabuhay, Pope Francis.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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