Our Presence is a Blessing

            Our Presence on earth is a Blessing.  This is the thought that kept lingering in my mind as we celebrate today, November 2, the Feast of all Souls.  In the Sambuhay Fr. Victor S. Nicdao says that this feast day is a “Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed … people who have gone before us who have influenced our lives, in ways more than one”.

            On further reflection I was inspired by an insight that, indeed,  our presence in this world is a Gift of God – that our presence is a manifestation of God’s love.   Hence, our presence in this world should be a blessing to people we meet or encounter.

            This insight gives me the courage and joy of doing a ‘Survey’ in our barangay, Centro 07.  This task requires a lot of leg work, patience and perseverance.  However,  the enlightenment that I get helps me to overcome all kinds of obstacles or hardships. 

            When I  think of my presence as a blessing to others, I am filled with a desire to bring this blessing to the people whom I will interview to accomplish and complete the Barangay survey.   I realize that this task gives me the opportunity  to manifest God’s love.

            Looking back at my past life,  I now see the great blessings I received from God through people who in one way or another made their presence felt in my life.   I recall how my loved ones, who are now enjoying the next life hereafter, have made their presence a  source of blessings to me.  Countless, indeed, are these blessings.  However, I would like to mention just one of them which has deeply touched my heart and has served as an example of what love really means.  Having passed the entrance test for admission to First Year High School at the Cagayan National High School, I was listed among those who were to be admitted in Section A.   I was then filled with joy.  But there was a financial problem.  We did not have enough money to pay the enrollment fees.   My mother, Toribia, who is fondly called ‘Ibay’,  then went to a relative by affinity and pawned her sewing machine for twenty five pesos.  It was a very valuable equipment for her but in her desire to let me pursue my studies she gave it up. The sacrifice she made on my behalf is truly an act of love, which remains deep in my heart and memory.

            Life in this world is, indeed, temporary.  Sooner or later we will have to meet our Creator ‘face to face’.  Our presence now, being  God’s gift,  should therefore be used as a source and channel of God’s blessings as we encounter people in our day to day life and in whatever way we can under the concrete circumstances.

by: Buddy Cagurangan

November 2, 2012