When You Come to Serve the Lord*

JUN & JEAN URIARTE

Sirach 2:1

My child, when you come to serve the Lord,  prepare yourself for trials.

We were comfortable in our spiritual journey. We had upper and lower Couples for Christ household prayer meetings, which we never missed. We were close to our brothers and sisters in both households, and prayer meetings were always a source of joy and consolation. We served on the CFC Board of Elders and accepted invitations to give talks to various CFC communities. We attend online Mass daily, pray the Rosary daily as a couple, and sometimes with our grandson. We celebrate the CFC Lord’s Day with the entire family every Saturday evening before having Jean’s specially prepared dinner. Our two grandchildren look forward to this celebration. We pray over our son and his wife, and they, in turn, pray over their two children. We read the Scriptures every night before sleeping and recite our evening prayers. We praise and thank God every morning. We pray before meals. We write our monthly Letters of Aquila and Priscilla on time. In other words, we found our spiritual comfort zone and were thankful to God, happy and contented.

Then, Jun was nominated and subsequently elected to the CFC International Council. I refused the nomination verbally and in writing three times, but a brother persistently persuaded me to accept the nomination. I finally relented, placing the matter entirely in God’s hands. When I was elected, I said, “This must be God’s will. Therefore, I surrender and accept, but Lord be always by my side.”

At the first meeting of the International Council (IC), the theme discernment retreat, and the IC planning, I saw again the immense amount of work ahead of us (as when I was in the IC before). The monthly IC meetings last nine hours. There are monthly Board Committee meetings. There are IC caravans and numerous invitations to give talks, attend anniversaries, and make pastoral visits. One of the consequences is the delay in writing this Letter because we could not find sufficient time for reflection. But what saps one’s energy is the occasional acrimonious debates during service meetings, which could not be avoided due to the passionate stance of some members arising from their deep love and concern for the community.

On 12 August 2023, while we were in Baguio for the theme discernment retreat, we woke up to find email messages showing unauthorized fund transfers from our Landbank account, withdrawing the entire deposited amount. The six withdrawals were made in the middle of the night over less than an hour. Our attempts to recover the stolen amount have been met with bureaucratic responses.

Then, during our recent visit to our newly renovated ancestral home in Unisan, we found that it would require extensive roof and ceiling repairs. The contractor used substandard materials, applied an inadequate coat of paint, and ignored sources of leaks. We had to hire another contractor to do immediate repairs to avoid more severe damage, which has become very costly with the current skyrocketing labor and materials prices. To make matters worse, three of the four-room air conditioners no longer function and must be replaced.

We are thus reminded by the words of the prophet Sirach 2: 1-6:  

My son, prepare yourself for trials when you come to serve the Lord. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in times of adversity. Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great. Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune, be patient; for in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation. Trust God, and he will help you; make straight your ways and hope in him.

With these assuring and comforting words, we remain undisturbed, trust in God and hope in him, and believe we are in the loving and protective embrace of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whom we visited in Mexico City on our 50th wedding anniversary.

Indeed, in October, we will visit and honor the Blessed Mother again to thank her for her prayers, protection, and provisions. First on the list is Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, whom we visited in 1997. The Virgin Mary appeared to Catherine Labouré in 1830 and tasked her with producing a medal. The Medal was originally called the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, but because of the numerous accounts of miracles by those who wore it, people began to call it the Miraculous Medal.

Next on the list is Our Lady of La Salette, who appeared to two young shepherds, Melanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, in 1846. There is a shrine at the apparition site atop the French Alps. Like Jesus, we want to go up the mountain, pray and meditate, and prepare for our eventual encounter with God. We will have a recollection and renewal of marriage vows (our 55th wedding anniversary) to be officiated by a Filipino priest, Fr. Michael Linga, M.S. The words of a pilgrim inspire us, “The place is so tranquil, beautiful and the peace you get by just standing there is enough to make all your worries go away. This sanctuary is a slice of heaven.”

As we go down the Alpine mountains, we will visit Our Lady of Laus, who appeared to Benoite Rencurel, a young shepherdess, many times over 54 years between 1664 and 1718. A church was built at the site where people occasionally smell the odor of sweet perfume and where the oil from the sanctuary lamp has worked many miraculous healings.  

We will make a brief stop at the statue of Our Lady of the Waters in the garden of the Church of St. Gildard, where the incorrupt body of St. Bernadette Soubirous may be viewed. When asked how the Blessed Mother looked in her apparitions, Bernadette replied that the image of Our Lady of the Waters reminded her the most of how Our Lady appeared.

Our last destination is the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar. When the apostle James evangelized in Spain, he faced great difficulties and severe discouragement. In AD 40, while he was praying by the banks of the Ebro River at Zaragoza, Mary bilocated from Jerusalem and appeared standing on a pillar to James, accompanied by thousands of angels, to console and encourage him. It is the first Marian apparition in the history of Christianity. The church of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza is the first church dedicated to Mary in history.

Our October pilgrimage is a great blessing from the Lord. It confirms the irrefutable truth that God’s graces pour abundantly from heaven when you come to serve the Lord. Amen.

*Taken with permission from Volume 20 Issue 8, Reflections of Jun and Jean
Uriarte, August 2023