2nd of a series i cry for our old churches in ruins, but my heart bleeds for our people in their pains! october 17, 2013, thursday. i could not sleep well last night. it was a first, in a very long time, i have slept outside of the house under the skies and the moon and the stars. providentially, my sister had a tent made for whatever function we may need in the future. it did not have a place yet to be stored so we had it put in our frontyard. and it served its purpose for the moment. all my family were encamped in the tent for the night... even during the day. i now hear the women (and a few men) reciting the dawn rosary. they were also singing marian hymns and, from where i was, i joined them in prayer and in song. i prayed intently that the aftershocks may stop and for good weather. it had rained the whole night and there were fears, when it pours hard, it might cause more landslide. before i slept last night, i heard over the radio that there were already almost a thousand aftershocks since the earthquake struck --- some weaker than the others but a few were stronger! i asked god as everybody else does: when will this stop? for breakfast, we ate at the family table and even before we could finish eating, there was a very strong aftershock. everybody rushed outside, to each his own, while my brother, dr. toto, literally dragged me out of the house on my wheelchair. there were aftershocks... in 10 to15 minutes interval! the rest of the day, we were outside the house under the tent even though the heat was scorching as it is during the peak of summer. i did not dare enter the house with the aftershocks coming one after another. from outside the house, i was watching the news on the television. my other sister, who had now reported for work at our restaurant, bought the newspapers for the day and had it sent for me to while away my day. my older sister and my younger brother had assessed me earlier on the damages of our buildings. in the restaurant, there is a crack on the wall and the ceiling in the kitcken fell off. some tiles on the floors of the dining hall also cracked. at the beach house, except for a few hairline cracks on the walls and some lighting fixtures falling off from the ceiling and were broken, there was nothing major as well as at my mothers house. the greatest loss we suffered was on the loss of my brothers antique collection of decorative plates and jars. at first, he was worried about them... he had bought and paid for them from his hard-earned job. but later on, he reasoned out it was better to have things broken and destroyed rather than to have lost a life or two! this is what i gathered from the news on tv, radio and newspapers. the earthquake that hit bohol was described as a killer earthquake. it was measured intensity 7 on the reichter scale with a magnitude of 7.2 which is equivalent to 32 hiroshima bombs dropped on the island province of bohol. no wonder, it was very strong and it lasted long. as an aftermath, devastation was largely widespread. several houses had collapsed to the ground. properties are destroyed. bridges are broken and roads have cracked and have become impassable. landslides have caused big rocks and boulders to fall blocking the streets and highways. centuries-old churches fell down crushed to the earth. countless persons died, hundreds injured and a few missing. in the evening, after supper, we watched the tv news. i could not bear to see the images of the horrible scenes broadcasted repeatedly in almost all television networks --- of properties destroyed and lives lost. everytime i see our old churches in ruins and gone, my eyes well up and i cry and sob... but when i see people, especially children, my heart bleeds! the whole night, i was thinking about the series of events that have ensued following this calamity. the images of houses fallen to the ground and heavily damaged, roads and bridges destroyed, churches which have stood through time crumbled and pulverized into heaps of ashes and shambles... faces of people of all ages in anguish and in grief... children with tears in their eyes hungry and thirsty... they haunt me in my thoughts... even in my slumber! i began to think about what can be done and what i can do. IF ONLY, i could! but... WHY NOT! i cannot take all these sitting down on my wheelchair... i need to STAND (?)... and MOVE! while my heart melts for my people now suffering from the brunt of this catastrophe... this time, i have to be christs hands and feet! this was what i was ordained as a priest for... to bring god closer to the people and let this tremendous love of god be felt by his own. tomorrow...
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 10:12:37 +0000
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