Passion for the Mission

(My September 30, 2018 reflection -- the final day of the Novena to St. Therese)

St. Therese of the Child Jesus: 

Patroness of Missions

Good afternoon, brothers and sisters. I am Arlyne Acosta, assistant coordinator of the PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL. My husband, Noehl, is a lay minister. Together, we are the current coordinators of the Parish Youth Ministry and the couple coordinator of CFC-Youth for Christ.

St. Therese is the patroness of missions, but she never left the convent to go on mission.  However, she made sure to constantly pray for the missionary priests through the steps she would take inside the convent.    

St. Therese had an immense desire to be a missionary priest. Though she COULD not actually become a priest, she had nevertheless a “priestly” heart. She told Jesus, “I would travel every land to preach Your name... One mission alone would not satisfy my longings.” 

After graduating from college, I became a teacher.  I never imagined that I would be one, but it turned out that I really enjoyed working with young children, so much so that I found myself CONTENT with the joys of teaching.  I thought that it was my mission to be a teacher. 

However, after 8 years, I had realized that I wasn’t getting any younger and that I needed to get married so that I could have children of my own. So, when a co-teacher of mine told me, “Teach, sabi ng parents ko 95% ng sumasali sa SINGLES for Christ tumutuloy sa COUPLES for Christ...let’s not be part of the 5%!” So agad-agad ako sumali sa Christian Life Program ng Singles for Christ at sa 12 consecutive Sundays ng CLP, syempre, wala... akong... absent... ganoon AKO ka desperado!

But as God would have it, He purified my intentions and my desire to enter into a romantic relationship was put on hold when I fell in love with Jesus.  As I delighted myself in the service of the Lord, He called me to become a full-time missionary worker for the education arm of Couples for Christ.  I was going around the Philippines training teachers who would be serving in the Child Development Programs of Gawad Kalinga. It became clear to me that my mission was to actually be an educator.    

It was during my mission in Gawad Kalinga, which was the work with the poor program of Couples for Christ, that I fell in love with my husband.  We had already been serving together in SFC for 5 years, but it was there that I saw his passion in serving the youth of GK Prayer Mountain. I was awestruck on how he would relate to these disillusioned youth as he conducted values formation sessions.  He was tough on them...ang ilan sa kanila ay mga rugby boys, tambay, out-of-school-youth...he would yell at them to get their act together, but in the end, kung yakapin at lambitinan nila si Noehl…damang-dama ko na mahal na mahal nila si Noehl at naisip ko, “Kung kaya niyang mahalin ang mga batang ito, lalo na siguro ang sarili niyang mga anak.”  

So naging malinaw para sa akin na yung FIVE (5) na binabanggit sa akin ng co-teacher ko ay ang five (5) years pala na paglilingkod ko ng buong-buo sa Panginoon bago ako nagkaroon ng GG o God’s Gift at napakabuti talaga ng Panginoon kasi hindi lang asawa ang binigay niya sa AKIN, kundi isang “Mission Partner” sa paglilingkod sa mga kabataan. 

We got married in 2006 AND in the following year, our FIRST mission as husband and wife, was to become chapter leaders of Singles for Christ in the Cogeo-Padilla area. 

In the summer of 2010 we found out that I was pregnant.  We were overcome with happiness.  Our mission for family life had begun!  But on the weekend of Mother’s Day, we were told that our baby had no heartbeat.  Our joy had turned into overwhelming sadness.  Hindi ba dapat misyon ng mag-asawa ang magkaroon ng sariling pamilya?

In 2011, the Lord put our hearts back on track with our mission during the Feast of the Sto. Niño, when before the beginning of the mass, our former parish priest, fr. Neil Tacbas, spoke to Noehl about serving as the coordinator of the Parish Youth Ministry and before my husband could say anything, the opening hymn of the entrance song began.  After the mass, paglapit ko kay fr. Neil para mag mano, sinabi niya sa akin na tinanggap na ni Noehl ang pagiging coordinator ng PYM.  Parang na ambush kami!  

But we readily embraced our mission for the Church.  However, the kind of love that we were so used to giving wasn’t well received by the youth and their parents.  In front of fr. Neil I was told, “Paano mo mahahawakan ng maayos ang mga youth dito, eh, hindi ka naman ina?”  I was devasted!  For a year, Noehl served the youth alone.  Hindi niya ako pinipilit sumama sa mga activites, pero nakikita ko yung kalungkutan niya kapag aalis siya ng mag-isa para mag serve.  Mission partners nga pala kami…at sa tulong ng Panginoon, bumalik ang sigla sa paglilingkod ko sa mga kabataan ng St. Therese.

Lalong sumigla ang paglilingkod ko noong tinawag kami na mag serve ulit sa Singles for Christ dito sa ating parokya.  I was happy to be serving in the community wherein I had grown in faith and in love…and the best part was that they were serving as kuyas and ates to our Parish Youth Ministry members.  We were one big happy family!

Last year, was a year of affirmation that we were truly going about the mission that the Lord had called us to do. We took on our current service as the couple coordinator of Youth for Christ and it was here that I became a mother when a handful of our youth started calling me “momsy”.  In fact, without our prior knowledge, when one of them led the worship at a community gathering of ours, HE adopted US as his parents. Nagpakilala siya at dinugtong niya ang apelyido namin sa pangalan niya because in the absence of his missionary parents, he considers us as his family.  

It was also last year that that one (1) of our members from the Parish Youth Ministry and two (2) of our youth from Gawad Kalinga joined me in working in a non-government organization with the mission of educating low-performing, underprivileged youth.  Full circle na…ang dating pinaglilingkuran namin, ay ngayon naglilingkod na rin sa iba.

Just like St. Therese, who wanted to be a priest but couldn’t be one...I might never BE a biological mother, but I know that the Lord has given me a “motherly” heart to have been able to go on mission after mission to serve and continue to serve the youth that He has put under our care.

St. Therese, patroness of missions, pray for us. 

(Picture courtesy of IPY)