Tireless hands

I call her Nang Sepa. She is a laundrywoman. Every Monday morning she shows up to take the dirty clothes. She comes faithfully. It has become her ritual rain or shine. When I fail to bring out my laundry bag on Monday, she comes again the day after. This woman does not say much. She is rather shy. When I look at her hands, they’re worn out from washing, ironing and drying. Almost all her life she has been doing such chores. She has mastered her craft.

On Saturday afternoon, she comes again. She brings in the clean laundry. She comes with a smile perhaps because she has been victorious in another week’s battle. Like all ordinary and simple people, every week is a story of struggle and small victories. This week is like all the rest.

I wonder every time what makes her do those things  day after day, week after week. Obviously it’s the pay that she gets. Though her sons and daughters are all grown up, there are still the “apos” who will benefit from the fruits of her labor. Maybe she just enjoys her job while listening to the dramas over the radio. Perhaps she just finds meaning in doing the laundry all these years.

But I will never doubt that there is love in her heart.

It might not be obvious but I could see it in her eyes. It is love that makes her sparkle with energy as she gets the laundry done. More than doing a mere chore, it is the expression of her spirit that rises beyond the routine. It is this love that makes even small people great. After all, it is not the things that one does that makes them extraordinary; it is the love that one puts into it that make them special.

I see Nang Sepa in the poor widow of today’s Gospel (Mk 12:38-44). This woman did something very normal. Her act of love was hidden in the great sacrifice behind her offering. The Lord was just too quick to notice all that are hidden. Her generosity was a fruit of her big heart. It was an act of faith in the God who is never outdone in generosity. She shared more because her love was greater.

And every act of love is never lost. Love is always rewarded. Love is the very reward itself. Jesus makes it clear in the end that after giving bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty or clothes to the naked, our very reward is Himself! Jesus will be our eternal life. Indeed, there are so many people in the world who spend their lives doing little things out of love,  but in secret.

At the onset of All Souls’ Day, I visited the graves of the Salesian Brothers and Priests in order to offer prayers. When I came to the tomb of Bro. Bernard Villasanta who died on April 2, 2008 his memory flashed so vividly. After more than twenty years of being in a wheelchair due to an accident, he continued to teach and write and inspire people. What I best remember of him was his trumpet.

On several occasions I heard him play at the end of the day the melancholic “Taps.” In the military, it’s a musical piece sounded during funerals to honor the sacrifice of a fallen soldier. In the seminary, he used to play it at the end of an important feast day as the lights went out. The eerie sound would reverberate in the silence of the night. Bro. Bern’s feet were rendered immobile but his fingers could still play each distinctive note of the “Taps.” His hands were tireless like his spirit.

As he lies in his grave the world will know little of the capacity of his devotion. Yet the Father who knows all that is done in secret will remember. God rewards tireless hands and loving hearts.
P.S. Happy Birthday to our Provincial Superior – Fr. Godofredo Atienza, SDB!