Fresh from the success of Talulot 2008, Bishop Leo Tumulak, Military Ordinary, several officers and staff of Magnificat Ventures Corporation, together with generous entrepreneur, Stephanie "Mei" Hao, and our "Carmelite Theologian" Brother Froilan Torres, trooped to the Maximum Security Area of Bilibid Jail in Muntinlupa through the office of Monsignor Bobby Olaguer, Prison Chaplain.
It was a case of one good deed deserving another, all miraculously interwoven by perhaps St. Therese herself. When we helped organize the 2nd visit of the Pilgrim Relics of St. Therese last January to March 2008, we ordered several commemorative shirts as part of our merchandising. Due to the rush, there were some shirts (416pieces to be specific) that quite did not pass our TQM. We returned these shirts to Penpen Shirts owned by Mei. This was in February 2008.
Fast forward to September. Elma, our staff in charge of the merchandising for the Relics, received a phone call from Mei expressing her intention to donate the returned shirts but she didn't know who to donate them to.
"Elma relayed the good news to me and suggested that we donate them to the prisoners in Bilibid", shares Olivia Dizon, wife of MVC President, Boydee. "I remember Brother Froilan telling me that when he was with the relics of St. Therese, it was particularly at the Bilibid prison that he shed tears. He was so touched by the sight of these prisoners kneeling befor and kissing the reliquary of St. Therese. I thought it was indeed St. Therese's calling for the prisoners to be the receivers of this generosity."
"When I told the generous intention of Mei to Bishop Tumulak during one of our meetings, he was so excited, he volunteered if he could say mass to the detainees. I quickly asked Brother Froilan to coordinate with Msgr. Olaguer if he could have us there."
The date was set, October 6; the time 9:00am. Mei brought her shirts, and we, the MVC family, brought tapsilog for 400 people, and 1,500 packages of bath soap, Happee toothpaste and the Novena booklet of the 9-Day Way of the Little Flower from the Relics Visit.
Bishop Tumulak celebrated mass with Fr. Chito Cardoza and Msgr. Bobby Olaguer with an excited and enthusiastic choir and over 300 inmates. After the mass, the inmates prepared a few song and dance numbers for us.
What made the visit truly memorable for us was the induction of the group named A.M.I.D.S.T. - Association of Maximum Inmates Devotees of St. Therese. Most of the officers of this new association were actually already on Death Row in the year 2000. It was at this time that a string of executions were already on-going. There were 7 more who were scheduled to be executed. In February 2000, the relics visited the Maximum Detention Prison and these 7 prisoners prayed so hard to St. Therese to ask God to spare their lives. A few days after, then President Joseph Estrada issued a moratorium on executions for the Jubilee Year. Eventually, the death penalty was abolished. For these 7 prisoners, they were at the cusp of death but they were given a new lease on life... and they gratefully credit that to St. Therese's divine intercession.
As a song goes: There can be miracles if you believe. Their story was one such miracle. We know that there are countless more. We also know that St. Therese will keep true her promise of spending heaven doing good on earth. She may not come down to earth herself, but she sends other people in her stead. We are only too honored to have been chosen to be her instruments of spreading the love of God to the prisoners on that day.
It was a case of one good deed deserving another, all miraculously interwoven by perhaps St. Therese herself. When we helped organize the 2nd visit of the Pilgrim Relics of St. Therese last January to March 2008, we ordered several commemorative shirts as part of our merchandising. Due to the rush, there were some shirts (416pieces to be specific) that quite did not pass our TQM. We returned these shirts to Penpen Shirts owned by Mei. This was in February 2008.
Fast forward to September. Elma, our staff in charge of the merchandising for the Relics, received a phone call from Mei expressing her intention to donate the returned shirts but she didn't know who to donate them to.
"Elma relayed the good news to me and suggested that we donate them to the prisoners in Bilibid", shares Olivia Dizon, wife of MVC President, Boydee. "I remember Brother Froilan telling me that when he was with the relics of St. Therese, it was particularly at the Bilibid prison that he shed tears. He was so touched by the sight of these prisoners kneeling befor and kissing the reliquary of St. Therese. I thought it was indeed St. Therese's calling for the prisoners to be the receivers of this generosity."
"When I told the generous intention of Mei to Bishop Tumulak during one of our meetings, he was so excited, he volunteered if he could say mass to the detainees. I quickly asked Brother Froilan to coordinate with Msgr. Olaguer if he could have us there."
The date was set, October 6; the time 9:00am. Mei brought her shirts, and we, the MVC family, brought tapsilog for 400 people, and 1,500 packages of bath soap, Happee toothpaste and the Novena booklet of the 9-Day Way of the Little Flower from the Relics Visit.
Bishop Tumulak celebrated mass with Fr. Chito Cardoza and Msgr. Bobby Olaguer with an excited and enthusiastic choir and over 300 inmates. After the mass, the inmates prepared a few song and dance numbers for us.
What made the visit truly memorable for us was the induction of the group named A.M.I.D.S.T. - Association of Maximum Inmates Devotees of St. Therese. Most of the officers of this new association were actually already on Death Row in the year 2000. It was at this time that a string of executions were already on-going. There were 7 more who were scheduled to be executed. In February 2000, the relics visited the Maximum Detention Prison and these 7 prisoners prayed so hard to St. Therese to ask God to spare their lives. A few days after, then President Joseph Estrada issued a moratorium on executions for the Jubilee Year. Eventually, the death penalty was abolished. For these 7 prisoners, they were at the cusp of death but they were given a new lease on life... and they gratefully credit that to St. Therese's divine intercession.
As a song goes: There can be miracles if you believe. Their story was one such miracle. We know that there are countless more. We also know that St. Therese will keep true her promise of spending heaven doing good on earth. She may not come down to earth herself, but she sends other people in her stead. We are only too honored to have been chosen to be her instruments of spreading the love of God to the prisoners on that day.
1 comment:
loooooove the title! :)
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