(This is Part 4 of ‘Father Olan, God, and the Rain’. Story by Peter Solis Nery. Translated by Celia F. Parcon.
*
Father Fritz Dayaday, secretary to the archbishop, met Padre Olan at the Archbishop’s Palace that was located in front of the Jaro Plaza. It was Father Fritz who gave Father Roland the nickname Olan. They were contemporaries as philosophy and theology students in the seminary although Father Fritz was ordained ahead.
The archbishop’s appointments were delayed that Thursday, and to wait out his turn, Padre Olan was entertained in Father Dayaday’s air-conditioned office.
They were very close friends; in fact, they were almost like brothers, so that Padre Olan immediately revealed what bothered his mind. He explained the concern that the faithful brought to him as well as his feeling that everyone in his parish seemed to be ganging up on him.
Father Fritz listened respectfully, but in the end, he could not help but say, “Whether you believe or not, I believe in miracles. Look at the case of the statue of the Blessed Virgin in front of the cathedral. I can testify to the wonder of it.”
It is said that the statue of Our Lady of Candles miraculously grows. From its one-foot size when it was found in the Iloilo River in 1587 by some fishermen, the statue has now grown to a height of over two-and-a-half feet. And from the time it was crowned by the Holy Father in 1981, its golden crown has been enlarged thrice.
Furthermore (and Father Fritz will attest to this as he was witness to the event), when the statue was being moved to the balcony that was constructed for the visit of the Holy Father Pope John Paul II in 1981, the chains that were meant to bring down the statue of Our Lady of Candles broke three times. The statue had become so heavy that ten people could not lift it.
They had to call upon the late Archbishop Alberto Piamonte to witness the transfer and to console the statue, or the move would not have been completed. According to Father Fritz, it was he who dressed Monsignor Piamonte with the full clerical regalia befitting a bishop and only then, as a prince of the church, did the archbishop plead with the queenly statue of the Blessed Virgin of Candles to allow herself to be lifted and moved to her new throne. After the archbishop had whispered to the statue, three men were able to lift it.
“I also believe in miracles,” said Padre Olan.
“But you are afraid to wager everything for the miracle of rain?” Father Fritz was unable to control his lips.
How could he disagree with Father Fritz? How could he remind him that the power and will of God can change the way of the world? That it is not a matter of the power of God being fulfilled but whether or not the will of God can be changed by our prayers.
The God of Padre Olan is not a god of petty things. The God that he believes in knows man’s daily needs. The God of Padre Olan forgives the sins of the world, brings peace, raises the dead back to life, and brings souls to eternal glory in heaven.
The God of Padre Olan has a reason for causing suffering from the El Niño and other catastrophes. All these reasons are unknown to Padre Olan, but he is not in a position to fathom the mind and the will of God. He firmly believes that God has not forgotten His creatures. God is not a sleeping God who can be awakened with prayers.
*
When the archbishop was ready for him, Padre Olan was brought by Father Fritz into the office of Archbishop Angel Lagdameo.
Like a little child did Father Roland Divinagracia report to Monsignor Angel. What a heavy cross was he carrying! His mind was confused, and he had mixed emotions. He had faith in God, but he did not believe that it was necessary to remind God through prayers that the people needed rain. He was ready to be with the people in prayer but he did not want the faithful to dictate how the church was to be run. Especially if the faithful were being corrupted by powerful businessmen like Don Beato Yngala.
The archbishop allowed him to let go of all his resentment. Then, when Padre Olan had put himself together, the gentle archbishop asked him, “What do you fear, Padre Olan? Are you afraid that your faith will be put to the test?”
“But Monsignor,” the voice that came out of Padre Olan was like that of a little child’s, and so he forced himself to speak more strongly, “what if it doesn’t rain? What if we do everything the people want and still it does not rain?”
“Believe, Padre Olan. Have faith like a little child. I believe that if we ask for it, God the Almighty will give us rain.”
“But what if I get frustrated?”
“It is not you who will fail. It is God! God will fall short if the faithful firmly believe that He will give what they pray for, and yet it does not get fulfilled.”
“Monsignor!”
Padre Olan was shocked by what he heard from the archbishop, but Monsignor Lagdameo just nodded, he who is Christ’s vicar and a prince of the Catholic Church in Jaro. Yet, Padre Olan could feel the sincere, simple but deep faith of the archbishop in the Merciful God.
Archbishop Angel Lagdameo smiled. “I will help you pray.”
Padre Olan could hardly speak. “Do you mean to say, Monsignor, that I can set aside the liturgy of the feast of St. John and replace it with a special liturgy?”
The archbishop smiled again. Then he asked, “For whom is the liturgy, Father? Have you forgotten your Greek?”
Padre Olan did not forget. He studied Latin and Greek in the seminary. The Greek word leitourgiacame from the word leitos, which was derived from leosor laoswhich meant ‘the people’; and from ergowhich meant ‘work.’ Work of the people, an undertaking by the people. And because he was a priest, the word also referred to his undertakings for the people.
Archbishop Lagdameo stood up and approached Padre Olan. “Open your heart to the will of the Almighty, Padre Olan, so that you may do what is proper in order to glorify God.” The archbishop gave the priest a pat on the shoulder. “As I said already, I will help you pray.”
Padre Olan was grateful. He felt a lightness in his heart. At that moment he understood why ‘Angel’ is his archbishop’s name. At that very moment he understood that God continues to speak to humankind through the prophets and the shepherds of the flock.
Padre Olan had just kissed the archbishop’s ring when Father Dayaday came in to remind the monsignor of a scheduled interview with Bombo Radyo about the proposed Reproductive Health Bill in Congress. (To be continued/PN)
