A Big Heart for the Poor

In 2008, I was working as the parish priest at St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in Babuyan Islands. One time I was invited to attend a dinner by a group of Letran alumni. It was the induction of officers of a group known as Letran Grupo de Fil-Chino. This group is composed of Letran graduates who are Filipino-Chinese. Since I was still assigned in the Dominican community of Letran in Manila, while working in our mission station in Babuyan Islands, officially I am still a member of that community.

In that dinner, I happened to be seated beside one of the group’s members by the name of Charlie. Charlie was in his mid-60 at that time. He smokes a lot and drinks beer a lot. Everybody in their group seems to know Charlie. He is very vocal and seems to be very congenial with everybody. According to group’s members, Charlie is their class president for so many years even long after they have graduated from Letran. All the other batches before and after Charlie’s batch look up to him as their “hepe” or leader.

After introducing myself to him, Charlie asked me, “Father, where are you assigned? I don’t see you in Letran.” I told him I was working in our mission station in the Babuyan Islands. Surprised to find out where I am stationed, he asked me what I did to deserve a punishment of being thrown to a far flung island. When I told him that I did not commit any misdeeds to deserve a punishment, but I actually volunteered to go there, he was even more surprised with my reply.  He learned about the situation of my island parish from the stories of my experiences that I shared with him. As if in disbelief, he exclaimed, “What?! You volunteered to go to Babuyan Islands?! From now on I will help your church and your mission.” That was how my friendship with Charlie began.

After that chance meeting with Charlie, he pledged to donate a certain amount of money every year for our mission in the islands. He told me that his church is already very rich, that is why he has decided to give his tithes to my mission work. He even told me that he will not be able to bring with him all his money when he dies, so he better donate it to the poor. Later on I found out that he was not a Catholic. He belonged to a Protestant denomination. The envelopes where he used to put his donations bear the name of his Christian fellowship church. And since he is Chinese, he also has a Buddhist affiliation. He told me that it doesn’t matter to him if we have different religion because he believes that we have one and the same Lord, Jesus Christ.

My friendship with Charlie continued even after I ended my tour of duty in Babuyan Islands. Once in a while, whenever I am in Manila, I would contact him and we would meet. We would have dinner and spend time talking about my mission work and his experiences in helping people who are in need. I would say that Charlie is a jolly and a spiritual person. And he has a big heart for the poor and the needy.